Enough is enough – again

More than 10 years ago, Enough is Enough was the title of landmark research commissioned by the VGLRL. It showed 20 – 25 percent of GLBT people had faced physical assault. Reports since by ARCSHS such as Coming Forward show little change in this situation.

I’m digging out the ‘enough is enough’ phrase now following the horrendous assault on Chrissy Lee Polis, trans woman, in a Baltimore, USA fast-food outlet. (Warning: if watching the video online, it contains strong violence.)

Two people assaulted Chrissy for wanting to use the women’s toilet (a possible topic in itself, see www.genderproject.net.au/toilart ). Employees watched and filmed the incident on mobile phones. People are heard in the background cheering the perpetrators. The manager made some intervention to stop this. Ultimately it was an elderly female who drove the attackers away.

Yes, employees have been fired since. But is that enough? Surely prevention is the better option than dealing with the aftermath. What could help prevent the attitudes leading to such an assault?

Prior to the addition of the gender identity attribute to Victoria’s Equal Opportunity laws in 2000, trans people were assaulted and raped in workplaces. Ten years of equal opportunity law have seen a reduction in extreme incidents like this. Clearly, therefore, equivalent federal laws can help too.

Ensuring state and federal equal opportunity bodies have the powers to investigate systemic discrimination and that such bodies have adequate funding to do all their work would help.

Funding a gender centre and the Anti-Violence Project to enable proactive education would change the prejudice that leads to such incidents. Laws regarding homophobic harassment could strengthen equal opportunity laws. All options to act on — now. Enough is definitely enough.

On behalf of Victoria’s GLBTI community, we send strength and healing to Chrissy Lee Polis.

info: Sally Goldner is VGLRL treasurer and TransGender Victoria spokesperson.