Gender is a life-long Journey

Sadly, barely a month goes by without an attack on trans and gender diverse people by mainstream media and conservative groups. It is dangerous to amplify these media falsehoods and lies.

As community led organisations, we are again compelled to pull together meagre resources to offer support and care to the many trans and gender diverse people AND their friends, families, allies and service providers who will feel the impact of this scrutiny and scorn.

Trans and gender diverse people, no matter their age or stage of life, deserve to thrive. We deserve access to gender affirming and inclusive healthcare, mental health care, social support services and community spaces. 

Exploring our gender identity 

For many of us, gender is  a journey starting in childhood and continuing throughout life. The way we become gendered as kids in childcare, through teenage-hood and relationships, in employment and as families is something many, many people find puzzling. Gender, and the rules around how you do gender, is a source of curiosity, regardless of whether you are gender-diverse or feel relatively comfortable with the sex you are assigned at birth. 

The fact is that some people, regardless of age or stage of life DO change their minds regarding the specific details or nuances of their gender identity AND THAT’S OK. 

Gender can be fluid. Our colonial systems like us to stick to rigid binary categories of male/female, rich/poor, black/white, right/wrong. To be in between or in motion makes us hard to evaluate, treat or understand. And yet we have always existed and will continue - despite violence and opposition.

The right to access affirming services 

All people, including trans people, have the right to assess and reassess their needs throughout their lives and to access health care at every turn. 

People have the right to alter their medication regimes and seek medical care to support these choices. Trans people may and do at times reaffirm their sex assigned at birth. People need to feel empowered, educated and informed to make these decisions and have timely access to healthcare. It is OK for a person to make different decisions throughout the course of their lives.

Regardless of how anyone identifies or names their gender, they are worthy of love, compassion, support - and services that reflect these best principles of humanity. People who reaffirm the sex they were assigned at birth, or ‘detransition’, or ‘retransition’ are no different in that regard. They are few in number, however it doesn’t make sense to deny them the right to be themselves just because the way they express that might change at some point in the future or have been different in the past. Regardless of gender, regardless of age or our stage in life, we all deserve care and compassion.

We’re here for you

TGV wishes to acknowledge that gender is a life-long journey and we’re here for you whenever you need us. Soon we are opening a drop in space in Naarm. We make regular pit-stops around Victoria to visit our partner collaborators and rural/regional community members. Our virtual peer and social support is open to TGD community nationwide. We are committed to uplifting and supporting our TGD (and frequently volunteer-powered) peer orgs across Australia. If you’d like to support our work, we’d love your support. If you're not in a position to help financially you might consider volunteering or becoming a member so that you can stay up to date with our programming.

If you’re triggered or discomforted by the ideas we’ll see take over the airwaves again in the next week or so, please reach out. There are community organisations and groups across the country who want to help and this is an incomplete roll-call but includes some of those who are most prepared and resourced to be on stand by for you.

Switchboard is here for you if you need to talk about it.

QLife also offers a help line and webchat available nationwide from 3pm-12pm everyday. 

Transcend is sharing a collection of plain-speak facts on young people & gender affirmation that you can share to address misinformation. [link to download social media tiles here]. 

The Trans Justice Project and Victorian Pride Lobby have just released a timely report, ‘Fuelling Hate’, and can support you in sharing the impact of transphobic discourse with your MP. 

Zoe Belle Gender Collective amplifies trans voices and makes it easy for allies to offer support here. 

Rainbow Community Angels are making it easier for people based in Victoria to keep running gender-diverse activities and events, despite the haters.

In ACT A Gender Agenda are running ongoing events and peer-support activities here.

In NSW The Gender Centre offers a range of services and support viewable here.

Parents of Gender Diverse Children have a virtual parents hub here and have compiled a great collection of books, blogs and podcasts here.   

In Tasmania, Working It Out offers groups and support for gender-diverse people alongside work with the wider LGBTQI+ community. 

Trans Folk of WA have 6 different online support groups with further info here.

This is not a comprehensive list of organisations or groups around the country who love and support trans people. If you know of a service who can help, and we can help platform, please let us know at enquiries@tgv.org.au If you are in need of help, know that you’re not alone, it feels better to share, and together we can be healthy, happy and fabulous!