comment, opinion,

When was the last time you used your birth certificate for something? When you handed it over, what did you feel? Probably not much. But if you’re transgender it’s a different story. Using your birth certificate when you’re transgender is a terrifying experience. You never know how you’re going to be treated. Am I about to be abused? Will I be able to do the thing I came here to do? What will this person think when they see I have the wrong gender marker? Transforming Tasmania wants our government to allow trans people to change the gender marker on their birth certificates without being forced to have invasive, high-risk, and often unwanted surgery. It’s not a radical idea- most of the developed world has already done this. Australia has fallen behind France, Ecuador, and even Pakistan, just to name a few. In Tasmania, birth certificates can already be changed for other reasons For example, if you’ve changed your name, or if you were adopted by someone who wasn’t your biological parent. The only thing that can’t be changed is your date of birth. But there is an even better solution than just making it easier to change your gender marker. We can take gender off birth certificates. If it’s not there, you don’t have to worry about changing it. People should still be allowed to have it on there if they choose, of course. And nobody with an existing birth certificate would be forced to get a new one. But if a child grows up and discovers they’re not quite like their peers, they won’t be forced into a box just because that’s what it says on a piece of paper. Removing things from our birth certificates isn’t new either. We took race off Tasmanian birth certificates decades ago, because having it on there could only lead to discrimination. Gender is the same- there’s no longer any reason to keep it there. In the end, a birth certificate isn’t about your gender. It’s not even a historical record. It’s about proving who you are. And for me, who I am is not the same as who everyone thought I was when I was born. We don’t choose our gender. Trust me- I know, because for the longest time I tried to simply “choose” not to be transgender. I desperately wanted to be like everyone else. But it just doesn’t work that way. The fact that gender is deeply-set is also why it is it important for our leaders to take action against so-called "conversion therapy". Such "therapy" doesn't work. It’s abuse. In fact, the UN Human Rights Council classifies conversion therapy as torture. But there are compassionate, evidence-based therapies and supports that can help people who are questioning their gender. As an adult, I did a course of Acceptance Therapy- I wanted to learn to accept the body I was born in. The end result was acceptance that actually, I really am trans. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t understand what was happening to me when I was a child, because there was no education in schools around gender at that time. Instead, the rest of the world taught me I was broken. I was taught that being transgender was a punchline. I was taught that non-binary people didn’t exist. By the time I was a teenager, I believed my only option was suicide. Luckily, I didn’t succeed. Almost half of trans young people have previously attempted suicide. But studies by Beyondblue have shown that when trans young people are supported by their families, their rate of depression goes down by 50 per cent. Acceptance and compassion is the only way to keep our young people safe. Gender education programs in schools don’t “teach” children to be transgender, because that’s simply not possible. They just make it safer for children who already ARE transgender to seek the help they need. The rate of people who are transgender hasn’t changed. But the rate of people who feel safe enough to express who they are is going up. These programs save lives in a very real and literal sense. Transforming Tasmania calls on our government to act with compassion and with dignity, to give that same compassion and dignity to gender diverse Tasmanians. Tasmania’s strong Yes vote in the postal survey- despite the gender-based fear campaigns- shows the clear path of action. It’s time we caught up with the rest of the world.

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