When I was accepted to present a paper on trans* issues at the Inaugural Asia-Pacific Human Rights conference I first felt elation, and then panic. What exactly had I gotten myself into?
As it turned out – a most memorable experience.
Whilst day one didn’t really hit the mark with me (it felt like a warm up to the main event), day two was impressive. The plenary in the morning set the tone, with Anton Enus, Georgina Beyer, Dr Dede Oetomo, Professor Ian Anderson and Rosanna Flamer-Caldera presenting. There was plenty to capture my interest – from Dr Oetomo’s recounting of depictions of alternative genders and sexualities in ancient Buddhist creation myths to the double discrimination faced by queer women in South East Asia.
The rest of the day left me wishing I had some sort of super power to enable me to be in more than one place at once. As I don’t, however, I had to stick with picking some favourites from amongst the concurrent sessions and so took in presentations on Government, Health and Community Advocacy. The Government session was a particular highlight, as the Victorian Government’s proactive approach to promoting human rights for all, including the LGBT community, provided food for thought regarding the room for improvement back here in WA and the sorts of demands the queer lobby could be making.
At the conference end, the closing address by Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes was yet another inspiring speech that made clear the Commissioner’s support of our community.
All in all, it was an excellent conference, with opportunities to meet activists from around the world, a focus on the practical application of human rights principles and a scope that encompassed issues from the whole Asia Pacific region. There were interesting discussions around the use and appropriateness of words like ‘advocacy’ ‘activism’ ‘heterosexism’ ‘homophobia’ and ‘oppression’, as well as a critique of the limitations of labels and identity politics. I was particularly heartened to see the awareness of the particular needs of minorities within the minorities – such as trans* people, and Indigenous and disabled GLBT individuals. With the next Conference scheduled for Copenhagen in 2009 it will be interesting to see how the discourse, and indeed the world has changed during the intervening time.
Oh and my presentation? There was no need for panic. The delivery to a good sized and appreciative audience went just fine, and I got some lovely feedback. In a forum that featured such a diverse range of speakers and issues, it was a privilege to be able to educate others about the needs and efforts of trans* people in Australia.
Aram Hosie presented on the issues facing trans* individuals in Australia at the conference.
