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OK, we're going to begin just so that we can capitalise on time. My name is Geetha Misra and I'm facilitating this session and I think my main role is to try to keep time. And since I know my speakers well, we've all developed our own strategies of how I'm going to stop them. So they're going to self introduce themselves and we just and we begin. So annoy me. Good afternoon, everyone. Uh, my talk today [00:00:30] is entitled. What is trans activism? A critical reflection on the activist. The that was So my name is Naomi and I am the chairwoman of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines. That's our logo. We believe that not all women and girls were assigned female at birth. Our organisation is also known as strap to know more about the work that we do. You can log on to TS Philippines dot com our website or you can like [00:01:00] us on Facebook. We have a fan page just, um type facebook dot com slash strap dot manila And for news and events about my organisation and the things that we do, you can go to strap Manilla dot blogspot dot com. OK, let me just give you a few fast facts about trap. It's a women's group and the first transgender human rights organisation in the Philippines, all for and by transgender or transsexual Filipinas or [00:01:30] Trans. We are going to turn nine years old this year. Last year we made history by being the first activist organisation in our in our country to give out an award to those who promote transgender equality, acceptance, empowerment and dignity. Called the awards, we have a five fold mission which includes promoting positive and empowering images of trans [00:02:00] through our trim media engagement. We also act as a support contact and information group for transsexual girls and women, and towards the end we created an E group where people can share information. We also have our websites and our Facebook fan page, where people can know more about the work that we do. We also work in educating people about transgender needs, issues and concerns in the Philippines. Um, every year we hold the transgender Day of Remembrance. In November, [00:02:30] we conduct a lot of workshops and panel discussions about trans issues. Also, one of our missions is to establish working relationships with government agencies, non government organisations, including women's groups, other human rights organisations and transgender lesbian, gay, bisexual or TL BT groups. Of course, our primary work centres around fighting all forms of discrimination based on gender identity and expression. [00:03:00] So just a picture of the members of our organisation. We are, um, growing slowly and our membership is actually national. Now let me tell you some highlights from the last Activist year in October 2009. Our current vice chairwoman Rica um, shot to fame when she entered a reality TV show the Filipino version of Big Brother, which [00:03:30] put to for the issues that transsexual Filipinas in the Philippines face. In May 2010, our Civil Service Commission released guidelines on how to process, verify and handle lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender applicants of our civil service examination in June 2010, Strap joined or the first International Congress on Gender Identity and Human Rights, which happened in Barcelona, [00:04:00] Spain, in July 2010. An anti discrimination bill, which seeks to penalise discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, was reintroduced in our Congress in September 2010 I was featured in Uno, which is a men's magazine in the Philippines. In November 2010, we held a dialogue with the Psychological Association of the Philippines, or PAP, in support of the Stop Trans Patho [00:04:30] campaign, which seeks to retire trans identities from manual of mental disorders by the year 2012. Now I would like to turn to some of the these events that I mentioned to you in detail the trans identity in the Philippines. There is no indigenous term for transgender people, so our organisation felt a need to coin a new term that would symbolise our experience as transgender [00:05:00] people. So is a new term that denotes transgender or transsexual Filipinas. It comes from trans or trans transgender transsexual and which is short for Filipina. We launched this identity to about three years ago at the Manila Pride March, and so this year it will turn three years old. It includes all females of Philippine descent who were assigned male at birth. [00:05:30] Unfortunately, in my country, gender identity and sexual orientation are conflated and up to now we are still perceived as extreme versions of homosexuality that we are just gay men in dresses. So when we launched the trans Pina identity, we decided to do some transgressive um, inscription of the Filipina of Filipina womanhood by dawning on the traditional Filipina [00:06:00] dress at the Bride March. In May 2010, the Civil Service Commission released a national memorandum on the handling of LGBT applicants of the Civil Service exam for transgender applicants. The memo asked that if the applicant has changed his or her physical appearance or physical sex to conform with his or her gender identity or orientation, require him or her to submit [00:06:30] an authenticated copy of his or her birth certificate to establish his or her sex identity. This additional requirement is obviously burdensome to trans people, and we felt that it constituted a kind of procedural discrimination. But when we discussed this issue in our organisation, not everyone disagreed with it. Some, uh, some of our members, in fact, felt that to require trans people to submit an additional document was quite fine. [00:07:00] And since this happened just last year, it was surprising that it did not refer to the Yogyakarta principles. In September 2010, I was featured in a men's magazine and I was. We were all quite surprised when one of our members, um, expressed her displeasure and asked why the spokesperson for the Filipino trans community in the Philippines is generally [00:07:30] a beautiful woman. Bright has a degree and is generally single and between the ages of 21 to 30 years of age, She went on to ask, What of the other teaching women who are not as beautiful or who do not hold degrees but one who has worked in the blue collar field. For example, a woman who is married is in her forties or fifties. In July 2010, uh, left his party list in Congress [00:08:00] reintroduced an anti discrimination bill, which was quite similar to the one filed in 1999 by another leftist political party at Bayan. So this new bill was a copycat of the old one, and the old one was passed about 11 years ago. What was it was, um, proposed 11 years ago. So unsurprisingly, both of them do not refer to the Jakarta principles, although they do provide their own definition [00:08:30] of sexual orientation and gender identity. Both bills are silent on transgender people and the penal system. And of course they do not make mention of legal change of sex. Now I want to turn to the legal and social situation that Filipino transgender people face. In 2002, a clerical error law was passed in my country which disallows the change of [00:09:00] sex in the birth certificate, although change of name is still allowed. In 2008, our Supreme Court banned a decision called the Silva versus Republic of the Philippines, which denied the petition of a transsexual woman to change her birth to change her sex and her name and her birth certificate. So because of this decision, it has been difficult for trans women to change their their sex. In 2009, the Supreme Court allowed [00:09:30] an intersex man to change name and sex from female to male discrimination face, um involving trans people is widespread. A lot of transgender people in in the Philippines are unable to access education, employment, housing and public accommodations. Trans health is not covered by private or public insurance, and there's no protection from hate violence. In 2010, [00:10:00] our Supreme Court allowed party, which is, uh, an LGBT political party to run in the 2010 elections. But it questioned its invocation of the Jakarta principles, saying At this time we are not prepared to declare that these Yogyakarta principles contain norms that are obligatory in the Philippines. There are declarations and obligations outlined in said principles which are not reflective of the current state of international law and [00:10:30] do not find basis in any of the sources of international law. Enumerated under Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, petitioner has not undertaken any objective and rigorous analysis of these alleged principles, alleged principles of international law and ascertain their true status. In June 2010, [00:11:00] the first international Congress on Gender Identity and Human Rights or was held in Barcelona, Spain. It sought to bring together trans activists from all over the world to come up with their own yoak Carta principles, a sort of declaration of Barcelona that would outline the human rights claims of the global transgender community. After the conference, four working documents in the areas of criminalization and gender identity, access to health and gender identity, freedom from discrimination [00:11:30] and gender identity and legal sex change were made available, but ultimately it failed to craft a unified declaration of Barcelona. In 2009, a campaign was launched from Spain, which involved the global trans community as well. UM it sought to retire trans identities from Manuel of mental disorders by the year 2012. [00:12:00] The campaign was called Stop Trans Patho and Strap in the Philippines decided to support and join this campaign towards that aim. We held a dialogue with the Psychological Association of the Philippines and we were quite surprised with the questions they asked during the round table discussion that we have. It did not have to do with the The question did not have to do with the campaign. Nor did it have anything to do with how to retire [00:12:30] trans identities from animals of mental disorder. Instead, they were very basic questions like At what point in your life did you question your identity? How does your family feel about your gender identity? Is transsexualism the same as being homosexual? What's more telling is that in support of this campaign, strap conducted a rigorous internal consultation within the organisation within. Within the organization's ranks [00:13:00] And so we had to ask our own members to be able to support STP, 2012. We need to know how you how you view gender, what is gender. And even among our ranks, we had diverse answers. Gender is what distinguishes between male and female. Gender is what you express or how you want people to perceive you. Everyone thinks that gender can be found between our legs, which is wrong. These are answers from our members. Gender is what determines our social role. Gender [00:13:30] is all in the mind. This is the most interesting answer that one of our members give gender is a person's identification of his or her sexual orientation. So we see that in this answer, there is a conflation of the ideas of sexual orientation and gender identity. And this is in the year this. This was just last year. Now I'm sharing all of these with you because these [00:14:00] are the realities that we face. Um, and I think that as activists working on the ground, we cannot ignore these things and we have to contend with them because strap is growing into an influential activist organisation in my country and we have to confront these issues head on. Um, as we make sense of the work that we do because for me, as the leader of that organisation, we have to be clear [00:14:30] what the end goal of trans activism is. Is it a gender recognition law? But whose interest does that serve? Are we just being copycats of the the the trans activist achievements in Europe or in the West? Is it a national organisation? Do we do we really need a national organisation for trans people in my country? Given the fact that we are linguistically, culturally, economically diverse and at the same time, we [00:15:00] have to ask, How shall these goals be met? If we do decide what the trans agenda is, how do we go about achieving those goals that we set? And lastly, is there such a thing as a good trans activist? What constitutes good activism and what makes a good trans activist? The international human rights community must accept that the development [00:15:30] and understanding of human rights and transgender discourses around the world are uneven and fragmented, as you saw in my presentation. So I contend that we need to find ways to work with and around this unevenness that strikes a balance between diverse and competing local needs and international agendas. And always, activists must be critical of the work that they do and ensure that whatever it is that [00:16:00] they're doing, whatever kind of trans activism they're doing, it is actually promoting and protecting the interests of the communities that they serve. So thank you to the Wellington Art Games for having me. I would like to, uh, make a special mention of Barry Taylor, Katri Evans, Jack Burn, Sam and Jacob MC who helped to get me here. And of course, um, I would like to acknowledge the help of the Australian Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Without his help, I would not have been here. [00:16:30] Thank you. Good afternoon. Wow, that was great. And it was She still had four minutes left. So, Ava, I hope you'll follow suit and finish in time. So introduce yourself and go for it. Uh, good afternoon. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Ava Lahiri, and I'm from India. I'm a transgender, rather a gender variant activist from [00:17:00] India. And my paper is basically on decriminalisation of homosexuality in Commonwealth Asia rather Indian subcontinent I'd prefer to use that word. Yes, but when we think of the word Indian subcontinent, it's first. We introduced this particular word at our geography book because the map of Indian subcontinent looks nicer. When we walked down in the street at New Zealand Cuba Street, [00:17:30] we saw Indian restaurant. They sell Lari Kebab, which truly in an Indian restaurant, Lahore Kebab. It reminds the Indian subcontinent. And also there are similarities for gender and sexuality. When we discuss about the gender expression and sexual orientation with a particular law, which is Section 2 77 which applies which criminalise, uh, this subcontinent people. [00:18:00] There's another similarities in India. Bangladesh and Pakistan, also in Sri Lanka, are among the few countries in the world where transgender and the hijra still exist, deprived of their traditional roles as caretakers of harms. The main occupations are, but which is basically a blessing in return for money or begging or sex work seem to be outside of the pale of normal society. They can't really seek employment [00:18:30] anywhere, nor do many of them rather I use the word us have the necessary documentation that marks us as citizen with entitlements and rights recent developments in the law in India are set to change such discriminatory condition not only for Hijra and the trans population, but for the wider community of transgender and people in same sex relationship. In September [00:19:00] of 2001, a well known NGO in Delhi, Nas Foundation filed a public litigation in public interest litigation at the Delhi High Court to challenge Section seven of Indian Penal Code. Their contention was that this proviso which penalised what it calls unnatural sex mainly sex between men, was against the Indian Constitution and violative of fundamental rights. Eight years. We have to wait. Eight years later, [00:19:30] July 2009, the Delhi High Court pronounced that Section 2 77 should be read down to exclude consensual sex between adults. Justice, a P Shah and Justice said, We declare that Section 2 77 i PC in so far as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private. It's violative of articles 21 [00:20:00] 14 and Article 15 of the Constitution. Widespread celebration, greed, dis judgement seemed to open the door for the open expression of sexuality, especially between people of the same sex, particularly men and transgenders. The Nars Foundation petition also made the link with the threat of HIV and AIDS, claiming that forcing consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex to go underground [00:20:30] increased the difficulty of addressing the spread of HIV and AIDS. But while the expression of sexual preferences and the act of consensual sex and have been freed from the shackles of the criminal law, many injustice still remained, particularly for Hijra and the transgender people. It's only recently that the Indian Passport Office gave recognition to what is now known as third Gender, and Hijra, wishing to identify themselves as [00:21:00] such, can now do so more. The Indian census, enumeration of which began earlier like last month in February, will no longer remain blind to the Hijra and the transgender population, but will include a new identity. Male, female and other look at like in one way passport office Use the word. Initially, they use the word E, which is Yuna derogatory again. Then they come up with the word T, which is third gender and [00:21:30] now the in Indian Census. They use the word others uh, which can be claimed by the trans people. This development follows on an earlier movement in 2000, move in 2009 to issue Voter Identity card, which is issued by the Election Commission that recognised the category of others. The process of decriminalisation of transgender and and people who want to live in same sex relationship has begun. But recognition [00:22:00] is one thing. Amalgamation into a normal or mainstream society is quite another transgender and may now be counted in the census may be able to cast their votes, but will they get jobs? Things have been beginning to move on the front, too. On paper at least, a recent suggestion by the chief justice of Madras High Court [00:22:30] that there should be a reservation for the third six in government jobs and education has been the catalyst for the discussion on the rights of entitlements of people on the margins of society. Tamil Nadu is one of the one state that has pursued an open policy towards transgender people, giving them the title of Arani and setting in a place. A number of uh supportive measures include the [00:23:00] setting of Special State Welfare Board Karnataka State. The Karnataka government passed a resolution in them a 15 per cent of the reservation under the category of two A, which is the back of the Backwards Commission and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. NCR recently announced a monthly pension scheme for transgender people and the National Legal Service Authority has now included transgender in the definition of marginalised group, which entitles [00:23:30] them to receive free legal aid or so many things coming to our you see the problem. The problem is we transgender people are relegated by the by ourselves and by others to be beggars for acceptance, dignity and equal opportunity and not as the rightful recipients of it. And just like the good old saying goes, beggars [00:24:00] are not whatever the powers that be give us, we just have to accept like an obedient, hungry dog to its master. Social acceptance through has now been slow in coming. Transgender and terra still remain marginalised, as do people in same sex relationship. But my paper was also [00:24:30] talking about the other neighbouring countries, so I'll just quickly go through the story about Bangladesh and Pakistan well in Bangladesh, Prosecution under section 377 of B PC, which effectively makes homosexual sex illegal, are extremely rare section 377 hence does not impair Bangladesh. Moderate image of the world and question about the country's human rights record on the issue of homosexuality are avoided [00:25:00] in the international arena. Nonetheless, Section 377 of BC forces a local LGBT community into a shadow existence. Their official illegality silences their voices in the people in the public service. The LGBT rights movement in Bangladesh is growing rapidly, and the voices for the repeal of section 377 BC are becoming a little louder. The issue is bound to emerge into a public battle over the young nation's [00:25:30] religious and cultural identity, human rights and modernity, and will pose a challenge to a policy maker, religious authorities and leaders of civil society alike. In Bangladesh, religion remains the single most persistent obstacle for LGBT rights. Political leaders in Bangladesh will use traditional interpretations of Islam as an excuse to keep Section 2 77 on the books once the issue of homosexuality has risen to broader [00:26:00] public awareness and Pakistan Pakistan, reportedly being one of the few countries in the world where homosexuality is punishable by death, according to the LGA. Pakistan is one of the eight countries today still retaining capital punishment for homosexuality in Pakistan. Law is a combination of colonial and Islamic law. Under the Pakistan Penal Code, which is known as the PCC, Homosexuality is deemed a crime [00:26:30] that is punishable by prison sentence with the Islamization the new word of Pakistan policies. Under the rule of General Mohammad Zul HAQ, Islamic Sharia laws were intervened and with the existing law. Under the colonial aspect of law since 18 60 was a crime punishable by sentence of 2 to 10 years in prison. However, when the Islamic laws were introduced [00:27:00] to the system, amendments include primitive forms of punishment like whipping off 100 lashes to death by stoning a homosexual Pakistani may face. I either seek secular or Islamic or in some cases, both punishment combined. These have never been carried out quickly in Sri Lanka. Five minutes quickly in Sri Lanka, LGBT people [00:27:30] living in Sri Lanka may face different legal and social challenges than non LGBT living in Sri Lanka. Homosexuality may be technically illegal under the broad provision dealing with gross indecency and no national legislation exists to protect LGBT people from harassment and decriminalisation. Yet since the 19 nineties, there has been a growing movement to advance the right of LGBT Sri Lanka. [00:28:00] As of 2010, no national and local laws exist in Sri Lanka or has been introduced to protect LGBT i Sri Lankans from discrimination and harassment. While the national Constitution does contain a broad prohibition against decriminalisation decriminalisation, the courts have not applied its sexual orientation or gender identity following the principle of parliamentary supremacy. The numerous convention and act signed and passed by [00:28:30] the parliament of Sri Lanka since 19th century penal code may have already annuled its application and validity in respect to the anti sodomy and gross indecency laws. These same arguments were used by the New Delhi High Court into 2009 judgement that effectively invalidated the 19th century sodomy and gross indecency laws of the British enacted penal code, which is shared by both India and Sri Lanka. Clearly I was yesterday [00:29:00] I was talking one of my fellow participants here and was asking that do you what is the current situation in South Asia and how does the New Delhi activism? New Delhi ruling effects to mobilise communities in South Asian country. And then the answer was, it's clear, Uh, the legal [00:29:30] changes is a one part. We need social acceptance. We need social mobilisation, religious acceptance. Look at the opposition currently, which is, I mean in the New Delhi court case is currently under the Supreme Court and who are opposing us mostly the religious leaders religious and they're looking for from a very narrow religious point of view. [00:30:00] So the suggestion of my friends is Please don't use the word. What is the implication of section 377 in your life, or rather in our life? Use the word being LGBT IQ. What's impacted you much? Possibly. Section 77 come last. In the list of challenges, we need more social acceptance. We need more [00:30:30] religious acceptance in the region to fight the battle. Thank you very much. How you doing? Welcome. Ok, that was great. My my name is Joey Mata and I am the founder and executive [00:31:00] director of the Tonal LA Association, the only LGBT organisation in the kingdom or the Queendom. I'm proud a mother of five adopted Children, and, um, before I go into my, uh, presentation, um, on Naomi Fontana's presentation, Um, every time [00:31:30] anyone present anything on transgender or talk about transgender, transsexual trans men or that Trans Word reminded me of the first time ever for me to find out what Trans is and that happened in the out games or the Olympic gay Olympics in Sydney when we registered from Tonga as a sister girl, thinking that we [00:32:00] are acceptable to accept it to join the mixed team netball team. Unfortunately, when we got there, they said, Your ID has to say female or your passport has to say female, um, whether you're transgender or uh or whatever, Uh, you you should have an ID that says Trans. Uh uh uh, a female [00:32:30] and I The only answer I gave them is, uh, where I come from. I was born in a male body. I'm a female, trapped in a man's body. I live as a woman. I sleep as a woman. I eat as a woman. I do everything as a woman, but my ID will never be a female. So I. I guess the discrimination [00:33:00] starts within us. Trans people as and and if we have to advocate or or be an activist for this? Uh, no, I'm not putting down Australia, of course, Lynn. But, uh but I'm, uh I'm just sharing the first experience of of knowing the word transgender. And, um, we need to to to, um, to make sure that our issues are, um, [00:33:30] culturally related. Because there in some of our cultures from our Pacific Islands, there's a whole lot of things that goes through and and all the other organisations from all over the world that is totally different from our issues back at home. Anyways, this presentation on the current status of the LGBT community [00:34:00] will focus more specifically on the gay or lat populations in Tonga consisting of males who are considered as gay, transgender or bisexual. This report is primarily to bring light on the social, economic, healthy health and spiritual status on this population. Along with some of the challenges, obstacles and future aspiration of this group [00:34:30] collectively and individually. With the installation of programmes, activities and partnerships with private groups, government agencies and community organisation, we have fortunately been able to share some of our basic and crucial needs as LAT population. And yet we are often neglected when crucial [00:35:00] planning and input should involve us happens. And even though these partnerships have afforded us with opportunities to educate the public about our specific needs and challenges, we are often confronted by the lack of access, opportunity and equality to information and activities that should involve us in the forefront of planning. We are usually an afterthought. [00:35:30] The LGBT in Tonga strive to be very involved in their community by participating in social activities when they are needed to assist in execution of certain tasks which may involve cooking, decorating, entertaining, cleaning, dressing up, their daughters, their favourite sons to get married. You know, they they know they've been crossing with their in laws. [00:36:00] Their social acceptance among their community is still disenfranchising because they are allowed to participate in some activities and yet they are not allowed to take on roles that might be seen as male dominant roles. With the annual Miss Galaxy pageant, we have provided a national nationwide Miss galaxy, ladies and gentlemen, is [00:36:30] the, uh, one of the, uh um OK, um Fes Festival that we that the, uh LGBT um community in Tonga um hold every year and it's one of the biggest events in Tonga um it showcases all the talents of our girls designing, singing, and and we do our most of our, uh, our advo advocate work. Uh, advocacy work, Um, during [00:37:00] that week, even having condom float parades, which is very strange for a religious country, it provides a nation nationwide and international venue for LA to present their talents and views of the public. It's the one time during the year we come together to present the best of what we can offer our community as far as talents, [00:37:30] entertainment and public awareness about who we are, thanks to the never ending support of our Princess Royal, Her Royal Highness, Princess Pilo Levu and our patron, who is the eldest daughter who is her eldest daughter, her Highness Lupe Twi. Unfortunately, even though we have strides with the Miss Galaxy, we are often challenged by the public misconceptions and the lack of financial support to help [00:38:00] those who would like to participate in this pageant. We are hoping that in the future we can provide educational opportunities to create programmes to provide the public with a broader look into our specific realities and give them a better sense of which we are. And how we can be a more positive contributor to the society in which they live over the years. The Miss Air New Zealand [00:38:30] Galaxy pageant. Mind you, ladies and gentlemen, this is this. This is the only pageant that Air New Zealand, uh, or the only um, transgender pageant that Air New Zealand has ever supported around the world. Don't know why. Maybe because I look very good or my mouth is good at explaining things [00:39:00] from being a means of entertainment to an instrument of the that the TL a Ministry of Health, Tonga, family, health and other organisations use to promote critical issues such as HIV and AIDS awareness, the prevention of STIs human rights and sexual health. With the growing presence of a I DS and HIV in the Pacific, the Tonga LAT Association has become a major part of HIV response in Tonga. During [00:39:30] last year's TL a week, ladies held their annual retreat in live in one of the villages in in uh in Tonga, which all members of the association as well as the members of the society, including Princess, participated in the two retreat two days retreat. The members of the L A and also participated in the HIV test, which is our second HIV [00:40:00] test. I am tremendously happy to report that all of our individuals that took the HIV test, not one was tested positive. Everyone was HIV free. There is an increase of ladies striving to become more self sufficient and create unique niche in the economy. There is an increase of ladies involved in opening up their own little boutique salons, offering beauty services to the public. Fortunately, [00:40:30] they have been trained by other lay mentors in this industry and lately, aided by AusAID in supplying scholarships for chefs and beautician courses in Fiji and Samoa. There are also others involved in the public health arenas as such as nurses, doctors, medical practitioners, practitioners and also teachers within schools, but who have no associates at all. [00:41:00] With the majority of late, I think these few educated ones don't realise the impact that they can have on these LGBT, who are not fortunate to access opportunities as they have. There is a huge population of late that are basically homeless and have no family or economic support. This is a major challenge for us to try and find opportunities to provide economic assistance [00:41:30] to them in trying to find employment, education and especially for those that have exceeded early from school like myself, The status of health among ladies in Tonga is very dismal, with the lack of consistent monitoring and reporting of health status for this population. We are lucky that we are not at a stage of emergency [00:42:00] in any specific health crisis in our country. But the lack of information and consistent monitor monitoring of the health status of LGBT and Las in Tonga can become a major obstacle if not realised. Now, we have participated in several HIV educational workshops and activities and human rights activities, thanks for the help of the town family, health, [00:42:30] human rights Associates. But there have not been any attempts by any one particular government agency or community group to organise a consistent monitoring and assessment of the general health issues and status of GL BT individuals in Tonga. It is not uncommon to see some ladies participating in church services in Tonga among the different religious groups. [00:43:00] They provide a very unique role in that they are a great support system when there are tasks in social activities, planning implementation. There are some that are not that are that are involved in choirs and youth groups assisting in whatever programmes and activities that they can be involved in and often can make a positive impact of the image of ladies in Tonga. However, [00:43:30] there is still a huge population of ladies not involved in any religious groups due to fear of rejection and bringing shame to their families. There is also a lack of outreach by religious groups to ladies, which could really make a difference in their acceptance within their religious organisations. The challenges and obstacles faced by ladies in Tonga can all be summed up in one phrase. Lack of [00:44:00] public education and support of who, what and how they can contribute to the social, spiritual, health and economic vitality of the community. This is probably one of the major obstacles facing them, which also contributes to their lack of access to employment, educational, educational opportunities and acceptance In Tonga, the [00:44:30] Pacific Sexual Diversity Network of PDN was formed in 2007. A Pacific Regional Network organisation in its main venture, is working with men who have sex with men, or MSM and transgender people in the Pacific in relations to HIV and AIDS and human rights that was one of the founding members of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network. Last year's Miss Air New Zealand was significant as it was the year the to LA [00:45:00] Association launches this strategic plan for 2010 2015. The Tlass Strategic Plan is based on recommendations from the PSD NS advocacy report. This plan testifies a vision which is together we will achieve a kingdom without SDIS and discrimination. This is an interesting vision as STIs and discrimination are very much part of Tonga's society today. [00:45:30] Discrimination is not only against the LGBT community, but against the education and promotion of awareness regarding SDIS in people living with HIV and SD. I disc discrimination may be partly ignorance. That is, that some members of the society are ignorant enough to assume that ST I and HIV will not make its way and homosexuality will not make its way to their lives. This is far [00:46:00] from reality. The kingdom should come to terms to this fact that it doesn't matter who you are or what dress do you wear. The strategic plan that was launched has set goals that the TL a want to achieve. And in order to achieve these goals, they have weighed out the strength and weaknesses and the opportunities and threads. All these factors have been brought about to make TL's vision a reality. However, behind the colour and extravagant [00:46:30] of their events of the year, it is a serious purpose. The final night, of course, celebrated last year the launch of the Strategic plan. This strategic plan has been the result of the partnership with the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and the TL. A now has a clearly defined mission to reduce discrimination and preventing HIV and AIDS for late in Tonga [00:47:00] Go. The partnership between the NZ is part of a broader three year programme to reduce the discrimination faced by ladies in the Pacific and is funded by the Pacific Islands HIV and SC I Regional response as it has been mentioned by John Fisher from a RC International in his March 2010 presentation. In many countries, our work as [00:47:30] human rights defenders is opposed, obstructed or banned. Our rights to peacefully gather are often denied while attempts are made to silence our voices. Too often, the violence and abuse we endure to countries around the world goes unreported and investigated and unpunished. And for those of you who doesn't know where Tonga is, as I have been asked 100 times since I got here to Wellington [00:48:00] with the famous question Where the hell is Tonga? Well, this is to what you see is what you get. Thank you very much. And I'd like to acknowledge, of course, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who made this trip possible? And, of course, the art games organising committee. Marlo Alto May God bless you and Happy Easter. [00:48:30] So really, let's give all the presenters a big hand because one they kept on time, we have half an hour for questions and we can get this conference back on time. At least this session will get it back on time. So we'll open it up for questions, comments? Um, we'll see how many. And then maybe a bunch of you together or one at a time. Yes. Can you just say who you are? And, [00:49:00] uh, just so that people know the Yeah, better. 03. I see. I see, uh, in in in in Tonga, we only have one which combines of trans men, which we, uh, we we don't call them trans men. We call them by the the normal bisexual, uh [00:49:30] or, uh, or men Who who, Um who who considers going with another gay man. Um, but, like, I, uh, like I mentioned before, um, the word trans men and trans woman and that doesn't exist in our vocabulary, you know, because we don't really know what it means. You know, it it takes conferences like this to come in and and and know the terms, [00:50:00] these term new terminology words. Uh, because we only use one word in Tonga, and that's and, uh, if you are a man who have sex with men, you're considered as a so I if if I, um if we don't have, um, anything like that in in our country, I'm sorry, but that's that's it. That's what we use. There is no trans men organisation [00:50:30] in the Philippines, although about two years ago we were contacted by two trans men Filipino men, um, who were looking for a support organisation, and the Society of transsexual Women of the Philippines are strapped by organisation, decided to take them in thinking that probably they would organise themselves later on. But nothing has happened so far. They are part of our group, but they rarely speak. They [00:51:00] lurk and we hardly hear from them. Although there have been anecdotal accounts of the existence of a lot of trans men in the Philippines, um, my country is considered a very patriarchal society. So that probably helps explain why trans men do not need. I do not feel a need to organise compared to trans women, because when MM and I, when men become [00:51:30] become women, they have it worse. But when women become men, they have it better. Ok, uh, for India, uh or rather in South Asia, I'd say that, uh, I'm not saying that Trans the transgender movement is started like 56 years before it was all Yes, the the the term transgender is [00:52:00] not being used Rather, uh uh. And the struggle of introducing the spectrum of gender variant or rather, the transgender is quite scent. Um, I'd like to say that yes, we do have trans men who, identifying themselves as a transmit. As Nomi pointed out that Barcelona Congress on gender identity when Indian representative [00:52:30] Satya who is also here when he represents. He's only one trans man from Asia, so and so it's so it's not that they are not there. But also I would like to remind you that, uh, as as Joey mentioned, we do have organisation in in Gujarat, the western part of India. There's a organisation of trans men, but I mean, you know, in [00:53:00] the concept of being a trans man. But they all the community, consider themselves as a high or as a brother or as a male, so they don't They don't think themselves as a trans men, but rather a man. So and it's quite, I mean, this particular organisation is working last six years so again for the movement. As I mentioned, my paper was more on section 277 related issues we have not seen much [00:53:30] like Trans men came out and then join in the street, but rather like that particular movement, start a lot of avenues to discuss, and in terms of the LBT, the word under LBT women. A lot of trans men are participating in the process, so hope future OK, just wanted to add on to that [00:54:00] and and and Tonga, they're very invisible. Um, yeah. I. I think the only visible ones are the Are the transgender. Um, but in Samoa, they have, uh, uh uh uh uh an organisation. Um and they're pretty strong, very vocal. And and, um, they're very up there in the government. Some of them are are are, quite, uh, quite known for their work, um, in the government and that they're very visible. But [00:54:30] in Tonga, we don't, um I mean, we've got two members, but we don't use the word trans men for them. And unfortunately, so can I see a show of hands just to see whether we should take a few and then give the floor back. Otherwise, I'm I'm afraid that we'll end up spending a lot of time on one question and then others. So we'll take one to 3456 and then give everybody a chance to respond. [00:55:00] So let's begin from this end, and they they're mics now, So OK. And can you keep your questions or comments also? Sure. Joey, this is a question from for you, Sharon from the Human Rights Commission. I'm just interested in the position of lesbian women in Tonga. If you could tell us a little about that, OK, we'll take a few and then go next. Uh, my name has from, uh, Indonesian, uh, National Commission of Human Rights. Uh, thank you for comprehensive presentation. [00:55:30] Uh, I would like to know, uh, what your opinion. Uh, how to, uh, make a community have a better understanding, uh, against transgender. Thank you. Do you mean the terms, or do you mean about all the issues? Uh, you mean the definitions and meanings? Yeah. How to make, uh, people or community have a better understanding about [00:56:00] the existence of existence of a transgender. Thank you. Great. So that's pretty much for all of you in New Zealand following up the first question in this batch. Um, I it's fascinating having three different countries experience from well away, but, uh, following up on, um particularly we find often that lesbians have become almost invisible in LGBTI community and looking at, um, [00:56:30] just this conference, all the papers in this conference in the parallel sessions, practically all the lesbian papers are Australia or New Zealand, and I don't think that's a coincidence. And as you said yourself earlier if you females tend to be in many of your countries under privilege anyway. And with the they either become invisible or even worse. And there's huge. There's violence, corrective rape and so on. Which Susan Hawthorne tomorrow is doing a paper on that. And [00:57:00] so I'm interested in all your countries as to you know, what you can say about the, uh because two of the three papers did have LGBT T I not just trans in the so, but I didn't hear anything about lesbian, so it would be good to hear something more about all that and OK, and just to quickly address that, uh, the plenary tomorrow is also about LGBTI, and I'm speaking on it. But I decided to focus on the L because I knew there'd be many people from India with the LGBTI who would focus on the G and the T [00:57:30] at least, So it was interesting that you know, I, I thought the reverse. Oh my God. I'm only going to talk about L. And what about the G BT I but OK. Hello. Um, my name is Jim Whitman. Um one of the things that crossed my mind was the question of criminal codes that that there was a the equivalent of a criminal code in the UK towards the end of the 19th century, Um, that outlawed [00:58:00] gay homosexual acts between men have. I mean, without, without wishing to, without wishing to lacerate the British did we manage to export that feature of criminal justice across the world. And you're still struggling not just with the criminal codes, but also the the categories that that brings and inflicts upon [00:58:30] you. That's a bit of a statement, but some sort of feedback to Whitney or something. So that's a statement. It's not so much a question. Hi, I'm and I'm from Auckland. Um, and I work with outline and community Council, um, which is a feminist organisation. And, um, I was just as this is a question for Naomi, Um, you said that in your, [00:59:00] um, UN O magazine, um, publication that a lot of your members actually felt really misrepresented, Um, by by you being the, you know, the the face of of trans women for for that, um, publication. So how did you address those issues? Um, and how will you address those issues? Um, in the future, OK, maybe tiny. Do you want to go now or in the next round? [00:59:30] Diego? OK, my name is I don't need to mind. Uh, I think you very much All my friends, I and I think Tiny has brought up a very important point here that it is not easy. But I think the thing to remember is that activism is alive in those countries and that groups like tiny and sisters in Islam in Malaysia and [01:00:00] a home in Pakistan are fighting against moral codes. And and I think what tiny is questioning is the appropriateness of law and the emphasis on law becoming the default activism tool for LGBTI rights. And I think that it's even in even in our own countries, we face a lot of LGBTI. Groups immediately want to use the law knowing that their country governments will not support them and knowing [01:00:30] that intervening in the law might give you worse, you might be in a worse off place than in a better place. So thanks for reminding us that it's not easy, but I know that there are many, many groups in Islamic countries who are doing incredible work on trans on lesbian issues. And I think we should just as a group acknowledge that. And don't assume that because then Iran or in Iraq there's no work going on. OK, so let's go to the individual [01:01:00] questions first and then some of the common questions. So, Joey, first for you, Um, with the the lesbian question. Um, as I mentioned before, um, we do have, uh, a lesbian members of our, um um of our community of our LGBT, um, community. But, um, there's only about 32 to 3 members that [01:01:30] are out there. I mean, we know who they are. The others that are still in the closet doesn't come out. We know who they are when it comes to the actual, uh, festival week that we have. That's when they really come out and and join. Uh, but there's only three that that have registered in our in our association, and they're the only ones that are out totally out. And, um, but there's no organisation of [01:02:00] their own. Um, I've I've tried so many times for them to to try and form up something, but they just don't have the you know, the guts and and will to to do it because of all our uh, because I think because we're so visible that they feel a bit awkward. And, um, because coming from from a country that is so rich in culture and religion, we cannot, um uh they cannot. They don't have the the the, [01:02:30] um the the willpower to come out as a as a lesbian person. Um, but II I grew up in a in a family that had lesbians and gays. Um, God knows I've got about five uncles that are gay and two aunties that are living in the States now who are living openly as a lesbian. And, um, but it's not an issue in our family, you know, they're all the same because Tonga and [01:03:00] the Pacific and the Polynesian Islands really are are very much family orientated. And it's really, really strong that the the the tie within the families, they are very strong. And I guess that's why we all take care of our patients whenever they have an HIV patient in their families, they all take care of each other. Um, they don't put them away in an isolated place like they claim in the other countries, Um, and for the for the question of the the better to better the community our [01:03:30] relationship with the community. As I have mentioned before, we do strive to to be very involved in our community work, church in our church programmes and everything to be recognised and to be accepted and, um, in in, in, in all the Polynesian islands. Uh, we go as I mean, this is how we dress every day. We don't just come to come to meetings like this in conferences like this and [01:04:00] dress up. No, What you see today is what you see every day in Tonga and in Samoa or wherever, any poli. If there's any other Polynesian islands, this is what you see because we're like I said, it's it's we're really, um, out there. And we try and and and communicate and work with our community every every single time, every single minute of our lives. It has been We have been very much involved in our family, [01:04:30] um dos and everything in our community and, uh, for the missionary, for our criminal code. I think the missionary started with everything like like said, you know, the missionaries came into our, uh I cannot comment on the on the on the criminal code because I'm not a lawyer, but I will comment on what the missionaries brought. They came and dressed us, and then at the end, they came in [01:05:00] and started wearing bikinis, which we are not allowed to. So I don't I'm confused. Who makes up the law and who who starts and doing them. You know what I mean about the magazine? Um, lesbian and gay organising in the Philippines began in the late eighties. Um, gay activist. The early gay groups, um, were doing HIV and AIDS activism while the early lesbian groups, um [01:05:30] were primarily, um, coming out of the feminist movement. Um, at that time, Um, So, um, lesbians are visible in the Philippines, and they're everywhere. But like any movement, they've also experienced, um, peaks and and slumps. So for the longest time from the early nineties and, uh, probably, um, the late nineties there was a TV show that was, um, [01:06:00] written, produced and directed by lesbian women. It was it was called XYZ, but it did it, didn't it? Didn't, um, stay on air for that much. Um, for for very long. Um right. The the first early lesbian groups that, um that were organised in the Philippines included, can't live in the closet. And then some of the members of that organisation broke away. And then they formed their own organisation, which was called, um, lesbian, um, activists, um, lesbian advocates, Philippines, [01:06:30] or and then some members of also broke away and formed their own organisation, like the Rainbow Rights Project, which is composed of mainly lesbian lawyers. And we have a lot of lesbian lawyers who become politicians in my country. Yeah. So, um, right now, there is, um, a revival of lesbian activism in In Manila in particular. Um um is being revived because, um, it sort of died out. Um, but now it's being renamed instead [01:07:00] of lesbian, um, active advocates, Philippines. It's now being called the Lesbian Activism project. So to revive, um, activism among the within the lesbian community. I'm very close to a lot of, um, lesbian women. And they always tell me that if you organise an all female party, thousands go. But when you ask them to come and talk about reproductive health activist stuff, nobody shows up. So I think it's probably [01:07:30] the same in other parts of the world. The magazine question. Oh, yes. Um, the magazine question, um, the trans community in the Philippines, um, faces a diverse range of issues, as you can imagine, because it's a very diverse community. So apart from discrimination, we also face, um um issues. Uh, we also have trans youth. We also have health issues and issues that pertain to ageing. As an organisation, we cannot answer all of these issues and we have to prioritise [01:08:00] and focus on the things that can be done and can and focus that on the on the things that we can can actually do something about. Um, in terms of representation, we have tried our best to be as diverse as as possible. But unfortunately, my organisation attracts mainly trans women in their early twenties to their, um, early thirties. So we have a minority in my organisation of trans, um, ageing trans [01:08:30] women. We actually have two members who are in their sixties, and so, um, we have not been able to develop a programme for their needs and concerns, but, um, we we we keep telling them that you step up and tell, Tell us what you need and tell us what What issues you you you want us to to address. But so far, um, they're also busy with their own with their own lives. And so but in terms of, um, rep, um, representation, we try as much as possible to because [01:09:00] we have a lot of members. So when um, we when we do our campaigns, for example, um, we were involved in A in A an education at um campaign, which required us to visit various colleges and universities in Manila talking about LGBT human rights. We made sure that as many members from strap got the chance to speak in those schools so that the different schools could see that it's [01:09:30] not only one person speaking, it's different people. Quickly. I just answer two questions. One is like, The question is for Indonesian Human Rights Commission. I'm fortunate enough to live in Indonesia, particularly in Surabaya, for a one month at Santa. And then it's interesting, although we have been taught the doubling culture in Indonesia, adapting the American phrases and [01:10:00] others. But still, when we went to the University of Surabaya and we are about presenting the Asian, uh, gender identity and sexual orientation like Asian entities. Uh, a lot of university student uh, may be first time hearing who is warrior. So I personally think like using the local lingo, local language, local identity. [01:10:30] I mean, I use the word and then and then just try to communicate with the student, and it's it went extremely well, and I think, and then not only me bringing down my warrior friend over there to talk about their issue and bringing them, I think that's very well and in particular, like while I work in India. I tend to use the local identity rather using the word transgender, because [01:11:00] people might not understand that. So I think I always focus on the local identity or look, even if you don't have a name. But you have something in your country, but don't go to too, you know, like primitive like biu and all this. So that will be a mixture, although I appreciate his comment, but very quickly, I just also wanted to say that this is not a trans panel. So my presentation was not only on [01:11:30] trans issue, it was on section 277 issues, and I do agree completely agree that possibly section 277 not only for the Trans Woman but in our daily life. It doesn't have a very strong role to put prohibit or to criminalise us rather public nuisance act and indecency act, which violates our rights every day. But I do also acknowledge that section in particular to Indian Scenario section 377. And [01:12:00] this particular thing is given us open us a space to work across the community, be lesbian, be gay, be transgender to come in one particular platform, maybe once once in a year when lawyers collect call for a meeting. But even though it's somehow given India as a nation and building a community which is the Indian sexual minority community, and Gita has excellent paper on it, reproductive [01:12:30] health matter she published, I think that's a kind of opening. And we, the community in India, welcome that initiative. Can I just one last point, Um, because the one thing that I wanted people to take away, um, from my presentation was the fact because this is a Jakarta Principles panel is that the Yogyakarta principles has have not made any impact in my country. It has not, um, because it's probably because as a document, it tends to invisible differences differences [01:13:00] of the understanding of the human rights discourse in different parts of the world, for example, and the differences in the needs of the community that the Jakarta principles, um, prepared to to to serve. But all at the same time, we would like we we we must acknowledge that the Jakarta principles is an achievement of LGBT activism, and you have to make those principles work for you. So, for example, in our case, although there's there has been no impact that YPYP has not made any impact [01:13:30] in the Philippines. Still, it is important that such a document exists because it's the only international document that has a clear definition of sexual orientation and gender identity. And this is very important in making, um, sexual orientation and gender identity. Human rights, Um distinct. Yeah, I. I mean, I think that's a good point in terms of closing, because one is who was there when these principles were being drafted, who was not there whose voice is there, and I think these are questions. [01:14:00] The movements need to ask. The minute we invisible L in the LGBTI, we need to say question and observe and notice that the you know there's a whole group of people that's being excluded. And I think the other one is around meanings and language because even though the you know lesbian may not be an organising category in India, same sex desire exists. Same sex behaviour exists. Same sex love exists. So we should always keep in mind that [01:14:30] there isn't an equal sign between identity and behaviour. And, you know, you could identify as lesbian or gay and you know, so I think there are many people that are that that engage in same sex desire or same sex love. But don't call themselves lesbian, and that's OK. And I think that's the point Marilyn Waring made in the morning that you don't have to be gay or trans or homosexual in that one particular way. And that comes from your own [01:15:00] context. Probably. So, uh, thanks a lot to the panellists. It is exactly 3 30 it's been a it's been great. Let's give them a big hand because we got enough voices in the room, so thank you very much.
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