Lobby and law project TransAdvocates has been given space to work in the new OUTLine offices in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby. The group's creators Kelly Ellis and Allyson Hamblett say they are very pleased that OUTLine is letting them share the space. They say OUTLine has a reputation for trans support and already shares offices with GenderBridge. "Trans organisations often struggle for a voice in the GLBT community, but OUTLine continues to make it very clear that it doesn't just pay lip service to the T in the acronym," said Ellis. Ellis says TransAdvocates has come a long way in six months and it's great to have a new door opening. "We've had great support from the HRC, GenderBridge and Agenda and it's nice to be established on the trans-political landscape. We see having premises as a big move in terms of demonstrating that we have strong backing and are here to stay." "I think that by just getting on with the project without asking for funding or support has been the key to getting this far. By doing this, we've been noticed and now we're getting support. I think this is a better model than coming up with an idea and then seeking the human and financial capital to run it. By doing it this way, we've ended up not having too many chiefs and not enough Indians." Ellis concedes TransAdvocates has had its "knockers" from within the community, particularly on what has turned out to be a sometimes controversial blog, but says it's 'water off a duck's back'. Six months in, Ellis is intent on consolidating and showing the group's backers even better results. "Building consensus for our lobbying to have gender identity included in the Human Rights Act has been surprisingly labour-intensive. Although there's near universal support for the lobbying, there are several approaches that could be used," Ellis says. "At this stage we've been extending our trans tentacles, finding out the lie of the land and trying to identify the pitfalls. We've got three senior law students working on the project as well as the entire TA team, so we should be able to make some progress."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 22nd July 2010 - 3:52pm