Trans call for law reform

Sydney’s sex and gender diverse community will celebrate the International Transgender Day of Awareness tomorrow with a call for greater recognition and protections in federal laws.

Activists will be calling for a federal equal opportunity law to protect transgender people regardless of whether they have chosen to undertake surgery. Also important are consistent laws for official and identity documentation reflecting affirmed gender identity, not surgical status.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s inquiry into gender issues has heard many stories of problems with federal agencies issuing incorrect or invalid documentation that threatened the privacy and safety of transgendered citizens.

The Commission has now launched a Sex Files blog on its website as a forum to discuss gender diversity issues.

The Sex Files blog is looking at the difficulties people who are sex and gender diverse experience in being identified as their true sex or affirmed gender in official documents and government records, Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes said last week.

He has invited people to tell their stories publicly and comment on the issues raised by others, but participants can choose to post anonymously.

The International Transgender Day of Awareness was founded in honour of the Compton diner riot on 15 August 1966 opposing police harassment in San Francisco.

Information about the HREOC consultation and the Sex files blog can be found at www.humanrights.gov.au/genderdiversity.