Suzy Wrong: Warrior Critic

Suzy Wrong is a Sydney-based theatre critic, blogger, and performer. Most recently, Wrong was chosen by Sydney WorldPride to model the Amsterdam Dress, made from the national flags of 71 countries where being LGBTQIA+ is still illegal.

Earlier this year, the flag of her home country, Singapore, was removed from the dress, following the government’s recent announcement that they intend to repeal Section 377A, a colonial-era law that criminalises sexual activity between men.

The Advocate Opened Her Eyes To Her Oppression

“I was the last one to wear it with the Singapore flag, which I feel was a really excellent, special experience for me,” Wrong said.

To commemorate Transgender Awareness Week, Star Observer talked with Wrong about growing up, finding herself, and the challenges faced by the trans community.

Wrong’s career as a performer started in 1992 during national service, which is mandatory for all Singaporeans assigned male at birth. Initially terrified of what it meant for her to be in the Singapore Armed Forces, Wrong was posted to its Music & Drama Company after basic military training, where she experiences some of her greatest joys and challenges.

According to Wrong, at the time in Singapore, little was known about queerness due to media restrictions. To get around the restrictions, she subscribed to the American LGBT magazine The Advocate, which she could afford to do due to her family’s affluence. Reading the magazine made her more aware of LGBT rights, her own oppression, and the possibilities she could explore.

She says, “Because you’re so used to being oppressed and have your feelings suppressed, you almost learn that it’s normal. You learn that your misery is normal. You learn that your hardship is normal.”

“It is, in a way, liberating,” she continues, “because you stop believing the falsehoods about you being somewhat born defective. You learn to think that ‘no actually I’m not defective. Actually, your values and the way you run society is wrong and there’s a way to fix this.”

Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

In 1994, at the age of 21, Wrong saw the Australian road comedy film, Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and was captivated by the footage of the Sydney Mardi Gras. Two years later, she moved to Sydney and attended the University of New South Wales to get a degree in Theatre & Film Studies. It was here that she finally felt what it was like to be accepted, and where she met
her “tribe”.

“[It] was really great to feel like you are not breaking the law simply by desiring a certain type of clothing or desiring a certain kind of sexual experience,” she said.

“I made friends really quickly at the University. I found my tribe, Asian queer people, very, very quickly… We discovered gay life in Sydney together, went up and down Oxford Street weekend after weekend for years.”

Wrong feels that the past decade has brought increasing attention to trans rights, which has led to progress but also strident pushback.

She says, “Suddenly everyone’s talking about trans people in sport, and that involves a lot of sport in schools. And people are talking a lot about trans toilets, you know, things like that, which were never an issue.

“I think some people in the media and some people in politics are using these things as a way to identify themselves or make themselves prominent.”

Wrong: Prioritise What Your Gender Means to You

When asked for advice for people questioning their gender identity, Wrong says, “I think for a lot of people there is an urge to rush things, understandably, because it’s really hard to live in the wrong gender. There’s always a need to feel like you need to get things happening really quickly for you.

“But I would say, try to take your time with it. Also understand, you need to be very clear about what gender means for you versus what your gender means to other people.

“You need to find a way to prioritise what your gender means to you over what your gender looks like to other people because what you feel about yourself should always come before what kind of ideas other people are imposing on you about your gender.”

Wrong continues to write theatre reviews (ten years and counting). She is currently writing on a TV series, “that may or may not be produced.”

Trans Awareness Week takes place from November 13 – 19 with Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20.