{"id":7630,"date":"2018-06-13T11:59:20","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T09:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7630"},"modified":"2018-06-13T12:02:07","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T10:02:07","slug":"gloves-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/7630\/","title":{"rendered":"Gloves Off!"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a transgender female I have often been bullied, intimidated and harassed. These experiences left me with mental scars.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

moans one Melissa Griffiths in The Guardian<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

And much of this assault happened in public. One day I was walking through a train station towards an escalator when I was approached by a man. As we both went down the escalator he put his hand on my leg and moved it up towards my genitals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Any man who goes around putting his hand up the dresses of transgendered women in public is likely to be mentally ill and in dire need of help.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d I said. He stopped and moved away from me. I was too stunned, scared, and shocked to do anything more about it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps not as shocked and stunned as he’d be if he moved his hand up a little higher, but his reaction is fully consistent with one who isn’t in possession of a full set of marbles.<\/p>\n

I went home thinking there must be something wrong with me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lord no.<\/p>\n

I began to believe that being treated like this is part of being a woman, when it is not and should never be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So you never consulted with any women about what being a women entails before transitioning? You just went right ahead and learned on the job, as it were? Sounds like something a reasonable person would do.<\/p>\n

We must value ourselves and recognise we are worthy, because we deserve dignity and respect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dignity and respect are earned, not demanded.<\/p>\n

People can say you \u201cbrought it on yourself\u201d or the perpetrator is \u201cknown\u201d for it, or is \u201cjust joking around\u201d. When you mention it to someone or even dare to complain about it, they try to dismiss it, telling you to move on, forget about it. But you can\u2019t. The damage is done.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The damage is done all right, but I’m not sure some nutter’s hand up her dress is the main culprit.<\/p>\n

This ends now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If part of being a woman means seeking out high drama, Ms Griffiths is taking to her new role like a duck to water.<\/p>\n

We can no longer allow our schools and workplaces to act as breeding grounds for bullies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sorry, is this about bullying at school or sexual assaults on escalators?<\/p>\n

If we stand back and do nothing, well, nothing will change. This is why I decided to become involved with\u00a0Now Australia: I want to change society and the workplace for the better.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Society must change at the whim of a bloke in a sun dress.<\/p>\n

Too many people suffer in silence. In my community, the rates of suicide and attempted suicide are among the highest in the country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s because your community is rife with mental illness and rather than getting treatment their fantasies are indulged. When reality inevitably bites, they can’t cope. Now, are you helping or hindering?<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the true figures around sexual harassment in the transgender community are yet to be measured.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The true figures around sexual harassment of bluegrass-loving cricket fans are also yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

There is evidence to suggest that particular groups, such as young people, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and people with a disability may experience higher rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment than the general Australian population.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This appears to be saying that sexual assault of minors in Aboriginal, Islander and foreign communities\u00a0is rife.<\/p>\n

I have heard many stories of what transgender people go through, in job interviews or the workplace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Questions regarding their abilities? Concerns over the mental health? Doubts over whether they can work in a team or handle criticism?<\/p>\n

Imagine being a transgender woman in an interview situation, nervous yet excited about the prospect of finally gaining employment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m trying, but I keep getting hung up on what I’ve been doing to date if not working.<\/p>\n

You arrive only to have the information sheet on a clipboard chucked on your lap.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Are you sure you’re not confusing this with a public hospital?<\/p>\n

Once you fill out the form, it\u2019s picked up by an employee wearing gloves. GLOVES.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Really<\/em> sure?<\/p>\n

If this is not intimidation, then I don\u2019t know what is. This happened to somebody I know who prefers to remain anonymous.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The horror. Only now is the full trauma of living life as a transgender woman becoming apparent.<\/p>\n

When one goes through these experiences, there is often nagging self-doubt. Sadly, stories like these are not uncommon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another interviewer was wearing socks?<\/p>\n

We must create workplaces free from bullying, intimidation and sexual harassment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And gloves, apparently.<\/p>\n

We now have an opportunity to do this, as well as support those who are suffering in silence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Could their silence also not be a sign they are quite content and don’t need your “support”?<\/p>\n

The mission of Now Australia is to clean up toxic workplaces.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nothing in the article indicates she has any experience of Australian workplaces, unless the interview room counts.<\/p>\n

Our message will be heard across the land.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Including those Aboriginal towns, which doubtless you’re intending to visit? Do let us know how that<\/em> goes.<\/p>\n

(H\/T William of Ockham<\/a>, who asks in relation to the picture which accompanies the article:\u00a0Session musician for The Sweet, Mud or Slade?<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a transgender female I have often been bullied, intimidated and harassed. These experiences left me with mental scars. moans one Melissa Griffiths in The Guardian. And much of this assault happened in public. One day I was walking through … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[62,111],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7630"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7630"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7633,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7630\/revisions\/7633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}