Members of the LGBTIQA+ communities, their friends and families gathered at the Northbridge ‘Pride’ Piazza on Sunday as Queer Liberation Boorloo held a rally focusing on the government’s pledge to remove the Gender Reassignment Board.
Debate on the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024 resumed in the Legislative Council on Tuesday afternoon.
Ahead of the debate rights activists and community members voiced their call for the Cook government to take onboard feedback from those the new legislation is supposed to benefit.
Pride WA President Michael Felix added his voice to those calling for change. Felix taking to the stage was notable as it’s been many years, potentially decades, since a leader of Pride WA has publicly spoken out on a political issue at an event that was not held by their own organisation.
“Everyone deserves to live and be their true selves, free from discrimination and violence every day. We want a world where every trans and gender diverse person can see themselves represented, and be able to celebrate themselves the way that they want, and be able to enjoy their life.” Felix said, noting the strong links between all parts of the LGBTIQA+ communities.
“The current legal framework fails in its protections and it is deeply flawed. We want to see this system changed, and be reflective of how people can freely live their lives as as they wish to identify. This isn’t just a legal issue, it is a fundamental human rights issue.”
Union organiser and rights advocate Alex Wallace said while the government’s long overdue action to remove the Gender Reassignment Board was welcomed, they also needed to ensure the replacement process for changing your gender on documents met community expectations.
“The Gender Reassignment Board is one of Western Australia’s great true evils. WA Labor have kept their promise to abolish the board, and I do welcome that. Now I ask them to finish that promise and listen to the trans and gender diverse community of WA to get this bill right.” Wallace said.
Wallace argued that people over the age of sixteen should also be allowed to change their gender if they wished.
“At 16, you can work. You can sign a contract and get a bank account and more. You shouldn’t have to be dead-named on your payslips or your bank card because your unsupportive parents won’t sign your forms to change your name.” Wallace said.
They also suggested that the government should not be dictating the gender descriptions that people may apply to themselves. In it’s current form the bill will allow for male, female and non-binary, Wallace argued that people should be able to put forward a greater range of terms.
Thirdly they called for the new process to be stripped of the requirement for people to get a medical professional to sign off on their decision.
“Enough, with the medicalization of our lives, an amendment that would bring us towards real and true self identification, exactly like the Victorian model. No gatekeeping behind expensive medical visits or requirements for surgery or HRT or psychologist. We know who we are. We live our lives every day, and we should be the authority of our own lives.” they said.
Artist and activist Del Victus spoke to the gathering about their experiences as a person who is intersex, noting that while the government purportedly widely consulted on the development of the legislation – people who are intersex felt they had not been approached.
“I’m proudly intersex, and I’m in a position of having survived the unseen, all too common and largely institutionalized brutality of how this society deals with intersex bodies, to the point where I am able to be openly intersex.” Victus said. “It is a privilege to be able to speak on intersex issues as it’s not an option to so many of my kin.”
The activist said the government should be bolder in their approach and remove gender markers from birth certificates completely.
Nova Sobieralski from Queer Liberation Boorloo said it was unbelievable that the Labor government had taken so long to take action.
“Eight years ago, the government committed to change for gender regulations. We’ve got it now, and now we’re calling on them to get the legislation right. The bill before Parliament will abolish the gender board, but in all other regards it is among the most conservative gender regulations in in the country.” Sobieralski said.
Representing Rainbow Futures, Nat Latter also echoed the call for self identification free from medical professionals.
“We want self identification. We want self description. We want teens to have safe pathways to self identification. We want equality, not cumbersome medical processes to get some stranger to sign off and validate who we are.
“So what’s on the table now without these amendment means we have to pay for doctors to sign off on our identities, and if you don’t want medical treatment, then you have to find the right doctor, which is not easy in this medical system.” Latter said.
“We must fit our identities into boxes not of our own making.”
Do you need some support?
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:
QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au (Webchat 3pm – midnight)
QLife are a counselling and referral service for LGBTQIA+ people.
DISCHARGED: info@discharged.asn.au / discharged.asn.au
Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au
Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au
