The murder of Mayang Prasetyo was a horrific crime. The Indonesian woman is believed to have been killed by her partner, who then dismembered her body and attempted to destroy her remains in the kitchen of the couple’s Brisbane apartment.
Some of the media reporting that followed was simply atrocious. Reports focused on Ms Prasetyo’s gender history and her employment as a sex worker. News sites searched the dead woman’s social media profiles and lifted the most provocative images they could find.
The most sensationalist reporting came from Queensland’s Courier Mail and the majority of public criticism was directed at the News Corp publication. This newspaper was not alone though, many publications around the world chose to sensationalise the story with phrases like ‘She Male’ and ‘Ladyboy’.
The trans community was justifiably outraged. Given the easily accessible guidelines that journalists have for reporting on people who are transgender, there is no excuse for any publication to utilise such offensive terms.
Those editors and journalists who proclaim that they didn’t mean to cause offense are simply not doing their job if they didn’t consult the reporting guidelines. Those who proclaim they are unaware of such sensitivities in 2014 are seriously out of touch with society.
Sadly Mayang Prasetyo’s experience is not a rare occurrence. People who are transgender are significantly more likely to experience physical violence and death.
On Thursday November 20th at 6pm our own communities will gather at the Urban Orchard in the Cultural Centre to acknowledge Trans Day of Remembrance. The many transgender people who have been killed around the world will be remembered.
It’s injustices like these that remind us that the call of Pride is still needed, perhaps more than ever. While many of us now enjoy a life with a great deal of equality, there are still large sections of our own communities that are yet to experience that reality.
Equally many countries would look to Australia and wonder if the freedoms we enjoy will ever be obtained in their own nations.
Last month Belgrade in Serbia had its first Pride parade in four years. The night before the parade thousands of people protested, calling for “death to faggots’. When the parade went ahead, the city streets were empty, there were more police present than marchers. After the parade religious groups help ceremonies to ‘cleanse the city’.
When we get our chance to march for Pride on Saturday November 22nd it’s not just a celebration of the freedoms we have, but a chance to show the whole world of our success and progress, to inspire others to continue the battle.
It’s also essential that we look at our own society and clearly define the injustices that have not yet been eradicated.
Happy Pride
This editorial was published in OUTinPerth’s November edition.
