Resource you might need to Get through the Latest Anti-Trans Media Round

For reasons beyond the community’s control, it looks like trans and gender diverse people are being made to take another turn on the are ‘Trans people real" merry-go-round. Again. This week it’s the ‘transwomen do exist because someone’s allowing them to make cis-women unsafe’, version grabbing headlines. Instead of pointing out all the reasons why trans people don’t make anyone unsafe, and are being used as part of an ideological thrust to divide women, I thought we’d instead focus on the positive news currently doing the rounds.

So here in no particular order are some informative, trans-affirming articles to help you get through this latest hate-storm and unseasonably cold weather.

First, The US Supreme Court surprised everyone by enshrining in law that sexual orientation and gender identity fall under already existing sex, race, colour, nation-of-origin and religion based anti-discrimination protections. Read about it here.

And while it’s true that this weeks historic win in the US supreme Court has little to do with Australia, it’s not quite that simple. As Sally Goldner of TVA points out here, the upholding of LGBT workplace protections in the US has highlighted existing weaknesses in Australia’s laws.

Here’s a an article worth reviewing about Tasmania’s recent legislation Marriage and Gender Amendments Act. It turns out that allowing trans and gender diverse people to amend their birth certificates hasn’t had any negative legal effects on Tasmania. As the spokesperson for the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute has put it, the Marriage and Gender Amendments Act mainly benefits transgender and gender diverse people, allowing them to change birth certificates without invasive surgery and choose from a diverse range of gender descriptors without “com[ing] at a cost to most other Tasmanians.” Surprise, surprise! Oh and here’s a cute little clip explaining  sex and gender in terms of the Tasmanian Marriage and Gender Amendments Act.

And as we move into another week focusing on JK Rowlings recent screed on why upholding the basic rights of transpeople to exist directly harms cis-women, there have been a number of fabulous articles unpacking why Rowlings and other Gender Critical voices are just plain wrong. Check them out here and here. Also have a look at what some positive feminist support of trans and gender diverse people looks like here.

And finally, Netflix has release Disclosure, a documentary about the way Hollywood has exploited trans lives on big and small screen. It’s fantastic, moving and enraging all at the same time.