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PFC Newsletter Number 6 (November 1996)

by Alex Whinnom and Stephen Whittle

This newsletter is prepared and produced for Press For Change by Alex Whinnom and Stephen Whittle. Every effort is undertaken to ensure its accuracy but no guarantees are given, except we do our best: Dyb, Dyb, Dyb - Dob, Dob, Dob - i.e. don’t hold us liable!!

Also, if you’d like to receive future editions of the newsletter in printed form, ahead of their publication online, then write to us at the above address, preferably with a donation to help cover our publication and distribution costs.

In this edition

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride 1996

Over 50 people turned out on the day to march behind a banner reading Press for Change: Civil rights for transgendered people. We were given a place near the front of the march and made very welcome by the organisers and the crowds. Special thanks to Romana and her friend who carried the banner; Simon and Mona who organised the tent; Del who laid on the BBQ; and Tom and Kate of the Pride Trust who secured a £100 grant towards the cost of the banner. And thanks to everyone who came, some of whom were out for the first time. It takes a lot of courage to make such a public statement of solidarity with ALL people who are devalued by society because we dont fit the standard mould. Next year lets hope for ten times as many people!

Alex Carlile To Stand Down

Alex Carlile QC MP, who brought forward the Private Members Bill earlier this year and is a patron and dedicated supporter of PFC, has announced that he will be standing down at the next election. This is sad news for us, although many other MPs have now taken up the campaign. If anyone wishes to thank him in person, you should write to him at: House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA.

See also the Hansard account of the Carlile Bill’s second reading.

Who’s Who In Press For Change - September 1996

VICE PRESIDENTS

Richard Bavin, David McDermott, Mark Rees, Mjka Scott, Alex Whinnom, Stephen Whittle, Letitia Winter

KEY ACTIVISTS (People who have agreed to take responsibility for co-ordinating one or more aspects of the campaign)

Lyn Bavin, Richard Bavin, Christine Biggs, Andrea Bloomfield, Christine Burns, Jil Dickens, Stephanie Foster, Paula George, Helen Gilroy, Diane Jones, Ros Kaveney, Liz Kolkin, Stephanie Longden, Kate More, Janeen Newham, Dr. Jane Playdon, Bernard Reed, Cller. Mark Rees, Sarah Rutherford (Hon. Treasurer), Mjka Scott, Rachel Trickett, David Willis, Alex Whinnom, Dr. Stephen Whittle, Yvonne Wingfield, Michael Woodward

PATRONS

Lord Beaumont, Nicholas Blake QC, Alex Carlile QC MP, Edwina Currie MP, The Ven. Dr. Mark Dalby, Prof. Louis Gooren, The Rev. Dr. Leslie Griffiths, Dr. Lynne Jones MP, Lord Lester QC, Ken Livingstone MP, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Claire Rayner OBE, Mel Read MEP

Press for Change has no paid staff: The annual PFC planning meeting, held in London in June 1996, was attended by 18 Key Activists.

Members of Parliament

282 MPs of all political parties are now known to have been approached by at least one constituent on the issue of a change in the law to grant full civil rights and liberties to transsexual people. Of these, 188 have made a clear statement in favour of such a change. Only 4 have spoken against it. 68 MPs so far have signed Dr. Lynne Jones Early Day Motion no. 302. They are:

Anderson/Janet, Austin-Walker/John, Banks/Tony, Barnes/Harry, Battle/John, Berry/Roger, Bradley/Keith, Burden/Richard, Campbell-Savours/Dale, Campbell/Anne, Carlile/Alex, Chidgey/David, Chisholm/Malcolm Church/Judith, Clapham/Michael, , Clwyd/Ann, Cohen/Harry, Connarty/Michael, Corbett/Robin, , Corston/Jean , Cox/Tom, Eagle/Angela, Etherington/Bill, Evans/John, Faulds/Andrew, Flynn/Paul, , Gerrard/Nei, l, Golding/Llin, Gordon/Mildred, Grant/Bernie, Griffiths/Win, Hanson/David, Harvey/Nick, Hayes/Jerry, Henderson/Doug, Hill/Keith, Hood/Jimmy , Howarth/Alan, Howells/Kim, Jackson/Glenda, Jackson/Helen, Johnston/Russell, Jones/Barry, Jones/Lynne, Jones/Nigel, Livingstone/Ken, Madden/Max, Mahon/Alice, Martlew/Eric, McCartney/Ian, McMaster/Gordon, Michie/Bill, Michie/Ray, Miller/Andrew, Parry/Robert, Pickthall/Colin, Pope/Greg, Quin/Joyce, Simpson/Alan, Sims/Roger, Skinner/Dennis, Steinberg/Gerry, Tipping/Paddy, , Wallace/James, Watson/Mike, Wigley/Dafydd, Williams/Alan , Wise/Audrey

If you have not yet lobbied your MP please do so, and please write to tell PFC of the result. Ask them to at least sign the Early Day Motion No.302 (See also our list of MPs online)

Labour Party Conference Fringe Meeting: 3rd October, Blackpool

This year we concentrated our efforts on the Labour fringe meeting.

The audience was three times larger than just a year ago and included city and county councillors, trades union members, and members of LEAs, as well as reporters. They were extremely supportive. Thanks to all the people who turned out to leaflet and talk to the audience, to Dr. Russell Reid and Dr. Lynne Jones M.P., and especially to Andrea (and Christine) for organising and chairing the event. We believe it has made an impact amongst constituency representatives as well as parliamentarians.

Parliamentary Forum

The 4th meeting of the Parliamentary Forum chaired by Lynne Jones MP took place on 2nd July. A number of topics were discussed including the availability of gender reassignment treatment, the publication and distribution of TRANSSEXUALISM: THE CURRENT MEDICAL VIEWPOINT, the cases currently at the British and European Courts, the leaked Cabinet document, the G&SA report on Prisons and an approach to be made to the Press Council. Three Parliamentary questions were drafted. Please note the Forums are not public meetings.

Discrimination in the Institution

In May of this year the Home Office and Her Majesty’s Prison Service solicited a report (at 3 weeks notice) from G&SA on the treatment of transsexual prisoners in British prisons. The contents of the report make shocking reading.

The findings are based on interviews and correspondence with long term (transsexual) prisoners. They appear to show that a group of prisoners are being singled out on the basis of their medical condition and subjected to systematic abuse.

It is well known that transsexual people who are sentenced to a term in prison and have not had surgery are generally sent to a prison for their original gender, where they will, almost certainly, serve their sentence in solitary confinement on Rule 43 (intended for sex offenders) for their own protection - or face a series of violent as well as humiliating assaults. But there are wide discrepancies from prison to prison and no formal guidelines on how transsexual people in prison should be treated.

The G & SA report shows that prisoners are being denied hormone therapy and surgery, refused access to their case conferences and not allowed to see their medical records. There have been definite breaches of confidentiality, including selling one prisoners records to a newspaper, and even when names have been changed by deed poll, the Home Office and the Prison Service refers to the prisoner by their former name.

Verbal harassment, sexual harassment and rape are reported. Strip searches are conducted by prison officers of the same legal gender (leading to transsexual women being searched by male officers). Punitive sentencing has been uncovered, with transsexual people spending abnormally long stays in prison compared to other prisoners committed for similar crimes, and no transsexual lifer has ever been released! In fact some lifers have been told they will never be released.

The report makes a number of positive practical recommendations, and we will have to wait and see whether they are incorporated in a code of practice as a result of the current review.

Editor’s note: There are currently several transsexual prisoners in Her Majesty’s Prisons, and G&SA and Press For Change are constantly being asked for advice and information on matters such as how to ask a ‘sentencing judge’ to ensure the trans person is sent to an appropriate or safe prison. I am able to report that in almost every case PFC has been involved in we have managed to get attention to personal safety WITHOUT being placed on Rule 43 made apriority. This is resulting in transsexual women being sent to more suitable women’s units but it does mean that transsexual men are still being sent to women’s units. We feel that at the very least they provide physical safety. However we are concerned about the use of Special Hospital or Psychiatric wings to house trans men, not only because of the degrading conditions they are placed in, but also the associated secondary punishments. We are currently working with WISH (Women in Special Hospitals) to tackle this issue.

Gendys 1996 : 7th - 8th September, Manchester

Many thanks to Alice of the Gender Trust for inviting Press for Change to put up a stall and run a workshop at the Gendys Conference. When we were last at Gendys two years ago, PFC was fairly new and we didnt know how much support there would be for it from the community.

This year we were overwhelmed by the response. So many people came to the stall to make donations, talk about the campaign, take away more campaigning materials…and to thank us for what PFC has done! Of course none of us do PFC because we expect to be thanked, but it was wonderful to see how much support and appreciation there is for our work.

A lively group of about 20 people attended the workshop session, where they contributed lots of ideas for more areas of campaigning, and offered to help with putting them into action.

So thanks to YOU for your support of PFC. It is clearly a movement whose time has come. We wont stopnow.

Media coverage

We have had so much media coverage this year that it is impossible to mention it all. Highlights certainly were the Channel 4 programmes: The Decision (about female-to-male transsexuals) and Thanks a Bunch Lord Ormrod (about the legal discrimination following Corbett v Corbett).

We received wide coverage, mostly fair and objective, around the Bill, the Judicial Review and the European cases, P v S and Cornwall County Council and X, Y, and Z v the UK. The BBC covered these events both nationally and locally, as did national newspapers.

Besides this, there have been numerous positive articles and appearances by PFC activists, nationally and locally. Although bad articles do still get into print, we believe the tone of the debate has greatly improved as a result of our efforts.

PFC is collecting relevant press cuttings - from ANY newspapers or magazines and would be most grateful if people would send in any they come across.

If you would like the original back again please say so. If you would be interested in joining the media network please see the article about it. A selection of recent press cuttings is available (see resource list)

The PFC Local and Media Networks

There has been much interest in the idea of a creating a national network of local media contacts. We have also received numerous offers of help from people round the country who are keen to do some campaigning.

The proposed Media Network for tackling local media can now be complemented by a Local Network of people who will undertake local campaigning and fundraising. Many people will of course do both.

We are recruiting volunteers who are willing to act as local contacts for campaigners, co-ordinating activity and keeping brief records of what has been done in a particular town or area.

If you think you would be interested in taking part (even a small part) please write in for the Introduction to the PFC Local and Media Networks. A full information pack is available which will be sent to those who decide to join in.

We do not “vet” supporters in any way, but if you are to speak, write or generally lobby on behalf of the PFC campaign we ask you formally to support its Aims and Objectives and to report back from time to time on your progress. In return we will ensure you are properly briefed about relevant events and informed about the progress of the campaign.

We believe PFCs role in these networks is as facilitator and co-ordinator. There is a great deal of work to be done at a local level, and different people will prefer to take different approaches and to tackle different areas of the campaign. Wed like people to get involved at the level you feel comfortable and take on as much or as little as you wish. The strength of PFC is in its diversity and flexibility, and a large number of campaigners each doing a little has already added up to a lot!

The Petition

We now have over 5000 signatures on the petition. WELL DONE to everyone who has collected them. A few individuals sent in hundreds (to mention just a few: Chris of TS London News; Chris, Andrea & Diane who covered the freshers fairs). Dont stop though. We will continue collecting until after the General Election in 1997, and the more the better.

The presentation of a petition to Parliament is done by an MP, but usually accompanied by a demonstration by the lobbying group from which it originates. It is also possibel to for a small delegation to present it in Downing Street. We will go to Downing Street and the House of Commons and we will certainly seek media coverage for the event. We want a big group of people to attend on the day. We have been given to understand by friendly MPs that we will gain the most respect and attention on this particular occasion through a polite approach, so no chaining to the railngs is planned! We have no date fixed as yet but are aiming for soon after the election in 1997.

Cabinet document

In June 1996 a cabinet document was leaked to the Daily Mail, who in turn leaked it to PFC (sometimes we have friends in strange places). The document, dated 30th April 1996, is a discussion document about civil rights for transsexual people. It acknowledges the transsexual lobby, and the promise made at the second reading of Alex Carliles Bill - to carefully consider the issues raised by it. It seeks to nominate a lead department (the Home Office is suggested) to look at the issues and draw up a coherent policy, marriage being seen as the key (Eds note: That shows how little they really listen to us!).

Three possible courses of action for the government are suggested:

  • STATUS QUO: Justify and defend the current position, confining further work to the development of coping strategies against the risk of adverse judgements in the domestic courts or the European Court of Human Rights.
  • AMELIORATION: Identify and remove the most pressing disadvantages which stand in the way of transsexuals playing a full part in society in their chosen gender.
  • POSITIVE ENDORSEMENT: Give transsexuals full civic and legal rights in their acquired gender.

However within 3 days of the Report being given space in the Daily Mail, Michael Howard (the Home Secretary) said the Home Office would not be the lead department, and there was currently no intention to follow the Report reccomendations, and that furthermore there was cabinet consensus that there was currently no intention to address these issues (and this wasn’t said in a nice tone of voice apparently!). So despite the response to the Alex Carlile Bill, and the supposed understanding of our problems, this government has reneged on its promises once again - lets hope the next lot do better.

A message from the Hon. Treasurer

Many thanks to all who responded to my desperate plea in February, and made donations small or large. The size of the response was a real vote of confidence in the campaign. We are now solvent again, but of course as the amount of work and activity increases, so do our costs, so please keep the money coming in.

Please consider making a regular donation by Standing Order - even small monthly sums soon add up and it helps us with our planning to have an idea of how much funding to expect.

We hope to start a National Poster campaign which will initially target Student Unions, and GP’s and other Medical Services, we also hope to produce a ‘Voting for Civil Rights’ Pack to help YOU to tackle your prospective candidates at the General Election.

The Poster Campaign will cost £2500, the Voting Pack campaign will cost £800 - at least.

Please help us to help you help yourself - send a donation, take out a standing order (£1 per month would help - its £12 a year) - now!

Important Notice: Mission Statement

We have amended the PFC Mission Statement and Statement of Aims & Objectives to make it clear that the campaign wishes to be as inclusive as possible.

From the beginning, the founders have seen PFC as a broad based campaign, and we would not want anyone to feel excluded by the use of inappropriate language. It is difficult to find a formula that pleases everyone, but the word transsexual is to be replaced by transgendered. This reflects the fact that transsexual has come to refer to those transgendered people who have undergone gender reassignment treatment (a sex change), rather than to all those who are differently gendered.

The Mission Statement therefore reads:

Press for Change is a political lobbying and educational organisation, which campaigns to achieve equal civil rights and liberties for all transgendered people in the U.K. through legislation and social change.

Birth Certificate Application

We are aware of about 40 people who have written to ask for their birth certificates to be amended (see PFC News Feb.96 and the instructions in our online library). It is likely there were many more - apparently at one stage there was one officer working full time just on requests from transsexual people! The OPCS devised a standard letter of reply, but it does contain an invitation to submit further evidence. We would encourage people to write again, asking for specific reasons as to why their request was refused, and drawing attention to their medical record and any other personal circumstances that seem relevant.

The recent publicity around the case of a little girl who was registered as a boy at birth highlights the absurdity of the current law. Because her reassignment did not take place immediately but when she was 15 months old, her birth certificate cannot be amended, with the result that at 8 years old she is Britains youngest transsexual according to the Registrar General! (Press For Change is working with Julie Farmer, Joella’s mum to help them in their fight for Joella’s Birth certificate to be changed to read ‘Girl’).

Police guidelines

The Metropolitan Police have adopted a set of guidelines for dealing with transsexuals and transvestites, thanks to Dee, who lobbied them for 18 months!

The guidelines are very sound within the limitations of the law as it stands, and are based round the principle of treating people as of the gender they wish or appear to be, and respecting their dignity at all times. If followed, they could make a remarkable improvement in how transgendered people are typically treated by the police.

People living in the Metropolitan area should be aware that these guidelines exist, and may be referred to if you have contact with the police. PFC would like to see other forces adopt something similar.

We would encourage people to contact their local police force and ascertain whether they provide any guidelines for their officers. If so, check them, or send a copy to PFC to check. If there are no guidelines or if they appear inadequate, lobby the force to adopt the Metropolitans. [see the resource list if you require a copy of the guidelines]

REPORT BACK FROM THE 1996 International Conference On Transgender Law And Employment Policy

Dr Stephen Whittle writes …

I attended this conference in Houston, in June 1998, and gave the following report back after the workshop on international issues.

Firstly I must thank the other members of the workshop panel who contributed to the information contained in this report - they were; Deborah Brady LPN President of the High Risk Project society in British Columbia, Canada, Clare Cahill from Australia and Micheline Montreuil from Quebec in Canada.

It must be recognised that in many parts of the world the law is in a state of flux. This is partly as a result of 2 specific things:

  • Increased Campaigning
  • The adjustments of Political Constitutions in a politically changing world.

and, also, I suspect :

  • An increased understanding of the issues by the general public
  • An increased public stance by trans people.

I am going to summarise the changes that have taken place this year and the new knowledge we have gained (if anyone wishes to have information concerning other nations, or past history, then they need to look at previous ICTLEP reports, or the book ‘Transvestism, Transsexualism and the Law available from Press For Change).[1].

Much of the information below, covering countries outside of the UK was gained after a recent survey by myself which asked Ministries of Justice what was the current situation in their country.

Europe: DISCRIMINATION PROTECTION: One of the biggest changes seen this year has been the achievement of Employment Protection for all transsexual people throughout the countries of the European Economic Community. The case of Press For Change activist P, who had been dismissed from her senior education post after disclosing her intention to undergo gender reassignment, was referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) by a local UK Industrial Tribunal on the question as to whether ‘discrimination on the grounds of sex as outlawed in the EECs Equal Treatment Directive 76/207 (ETD) covered discrimination because a person was transsexual.[2].

The ECJ held that in fact that such discrimination was contrary to the directive. As such the directive provided employment protection to all transsexual people who were employed by ‘emanations of the state. This would include all state employees, but also employees of any organisation that has come into existence through state legislation or process e.g.. educational establishments who were chartered, or had charitable status, charities, the established church of any state, the health services that were created by statute etc.

The ETD was enacted in 1977, and though as is plainly obvious it was misunderstood until it was expounded in the case of P v S and Cornwall County Council, because of the failure to fully transpose the law as required under the Treaty of Rome, there is reason to believe that any transsexual person discriminated against in employment because they were transsexual (whether transitioned or not) in recruitment, conditions or dismissal, since 1977, could possibly make an ‘out of time claim.

Since the decision in P v S, and English tribunal has held that claims under the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) would also now include discrimination because someone was transsexual. This is on the basis that the SDA is the enabling legislation of the ETD. This means that issues such as sexual harassment in work are covered, and now ALL employees, not just employees of ‘emanations of the state are covered. All members of the EEC must have similar enabling legislation so we can now presume that all transsexual people have full employment protection throughout the EEC.

It is worth noting that this is the first court decision IN THE WORLD to afford employment protection to transsexual people, and there is good reason to believe that it will be extended to cover most transgendered people.

Furthermore as the SDA covers not just employment, but also the provision of goods and services such as housing, retail, access to social events etc. it would now be considered fair legal argument to argue that trans people are covered totally against discrimination on the grounds of the trans status.

Following on from the result in P v S, we have seen some interesting cases develop:

  1. A TS voluntary (unpaid: non-employee) worker was re-instated and awarded 30,000 for hurt feelings by a tribunal in October 1996 after her dismissal as a prison visitor. The size of the award was high because the case was brought under the ETD rather than the SDA (where claims are limited to 11,500) as the ‘ultimate employer was held to be the Home Office, a government department, as the voluntary activity took place in prisons.
  2. Currently a transsexual woman is suing the West Midlands Police Service for refusing to employ her because ‘they could not sort out the issues regarding whom she would be allowed to body search. A decision is awaited.
  3. A transsexual man is suing the Church Of England after being dismissed 14 years ago - this asks the courts to clarify how far back claims can be made.
  4. A transsexual woman is suing the RAF after she was dismissed after being diagnosed as being Gender Dysphoric. For some time she was diagnosed as having an ‘untreated psychopathic sexual disorder - for this she was down graded from live arms use. However on clarification that she was eminently ‘treatable she was instantly dismissed. The case will be heard hopefully before Christmas.

Other issues: A European Update:

Italy: Transsexuals are currently campaigning to persuade the Italian government that rules regarding gender reassignment surgery should be relaxed, so that people can have their documentation amended at a much earlier stage in the process.

Turkey: there are still many reports of trans-people being seriously injured and even being killed by the police. This is a scandal that must be addressed by the International trans-community. Ironically Turkey has legislation allowing birth certificate amendment but what use are these if you get killed after applying for it.

Romania: Gender reassignment surgery is being allowed for the first time, but the law is sadly out of date as regards other issues.

Greece: The Ministry of Justice has for the first time said that a judicial approach is taken which enables trans people to change their documentation and have full recognition of their new civil status. As such they would insist on transsexual men of the right age to fulfil their military duties under the conscription regulations.

The Balkan States: Trans people in many parts of the former Yugoslavia are having immense difficulties in accessing hormones, clean needles etc. There is a clear need for some humanitarian help.

United Kingdom: The Criminal High Court has held that a Transsexual woman can now be a rape victim if her ‘wholly artificial vagina is penetrated.

The Netherlands: there has been confirmation that a person would not be refused military service on the grounds of their transsexualism.

The European Court of Human Rights (The ECHR): The case of X,Y and Z v the UK has been heard in the European Court of Human Rights. Concerning the ‘right to family life contained in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the application was made after the UK Governments refusal to allow a transsexual man to register as the father of his partners children, who were conceived using donor sperm through a licensed fertility treatment clinic. A judgement is expected towards Autumn 1997.[3].

Two more cases have been heard by the European Commission On Human Rights and referred to the ECHR: Sheffield v UK, and Horsham V UK; Sheffield challenges the UK government on further privacy issues contrary to Article 8 of the Convention, and Horsham addresses the issues of inter-state recognition of partnerships and marriage (Article 12); Horsham being a Dutch and UK citizen. Hearings at the Court are expected in Spring 1997.

REST OF THE WORLD

Australia is making great leaps into the future. For some time there has legislation in South Australia to provide for birth certificate amendment, but the surgical requirements have been proving problematic. However 1996 has seen the introduction in New South Wales of an Anti-discrimination amendment which uses the word “transgender”. In Queensland, the Human Rights Commission has been addressing the issues and their initial report recommends full protection for trans people.

New Zealand : The new Births, Deaths and Marriages legislation which follows the high court decision of December 1994, has been introduced, and this allows documentation to be amended and marriages to be legalised, however we have yet to see what the full affects of the legislation will be.

Namibia: The first Black African state outside of South Africa to acknowledge TS people - the ministry of justice say that their will be full acceptance and change of documents on social acceptance.

Canada: The High Risk Project of British Columbia have made several gains using Charter Challenge monies to address:

  • Medical provision issues
  • Legal/ Civil Rights issues

They are currently suggesting challenges at the Supreme Court level which could institute Canadian wide changes. The High Risk Project has produced the excellent Transgendered Law Reform Project findings entitled “Finding Our Place”.[4].

South Africa: has re-amended the Births and Deaths legislation which allowed amended birth certificates and new status recognition since 1971. This had disappeared with the constitutional changes of 1991, but thankfully they now appear to be back on the statute book.

Brazil: The Brazilian ‘travestie have been having many problems with the police but very recent legislation (October 1996) has meant that the police no longer have the right to pick up travestie just for being on the streets.

India: Hijari can now ask for their ID cards to be changed to recognise their female status.

Singapore: there are proposals currently being considered by the parliament to provide legal recognition of transsexual people’s new status.

China: Gender Reassignment surgery is becoming increasingly available through the hospital in Beijing, but there is no provision for any changes to legal documents etc.

Japan: There has been, for the first time, recent publicity about gender reassignment surgery in Japan, and there is now a Japanese FTM group: FTM Nippon, but there are no proposals for legal recognition.

Egypt: the Ministry of Justice has now stated that judicial procedures exist whereby a transsexual persons new status will be recognised after application to the court with appropriate medical evidence.

To Sum Up: Despite the recent successes seen in many parts of the world much work is still needed to be done before ICTLEP can truly be said to be an INTERNATIONAL organisation. In many other parts of the world trans people are literally fighting for their lives - we can only start in small ways, and yes we do need to put our own houses in order first. But then we must find ways of doing outreach work without imposing our own cultural values on others, we must enable people to become empowered at their own local level.

We must: use the information we have, make it available to others in easily accessible ways (the Internet is one way) and make it ‘user friendly so that all community members can find something that they can do.

Lawyers need to recognise the potential influence of decisions from other jurisdictions in our own courts - its worth remembering that few judges want to be seen as being reactionary and out of date.

Legal Aid and Pro-Bono work have been instrumental in achieving many of the gains made recently. The USA and the UK both now have Contingency Fee systems [5] and so must other parts of the world. We need to find the time to address how to use the variety of schemes that exist to enable the poor to access the law. Many of our community members are poor, so lets pick and choose our cases and our people so that we not only look for the loopholes and exploit them, but we exploit our own positions at the bottom of the social scale - in other words lets play their game our way.

The success of this approach in the UK has been amazing, it relies on committed activists but being an activist doesn’t necessarily mean being on world wide television. One of our first moves in any court case must be to ask that reporting restrictions are put in place as regards the applicant’s identity, “P” in the employment rights case successfully managed to obtain the court’s protection and her own privacy as a result. The future is looking increasingly promising, and I look forward to the year to come.

NOTES:

  1. 11.50 sterling, from Press For Change, BM Network, London WC1N 3XX
  2. P v S and Cornwall County Council, 1996, IRLR
  3. X, Y and Z v the United Kingdom, ECHR 21830/93
  4. Available from: HRPS, 449 East Hastings St, Vancouver BC, V6A IP5, Canada 5. Commonly known as ‘No Win, No fee systems

Area Health Authorities

PFC is aware of 16 authorities so far which have created difficulties over funding gender reassignment treatment. It is impossible to provide an indication of what an individual patient can expect, as most authorities treat cases on their merits: Because the last person had a problem (or didn’t) doesn’t mean the next will (or won’t). Please contact us for help and advice if you are refused funding - we have an advice sheet. (See article re Suffolk Health Auhtority)

A selection of messages received from supporters

  • …I’m just writing to say that I am glad such organisations as yours exist. I am even more pleased at the care, the welcome and the love you extend to the people who are frightened of their communities and their families attitudes…
  • … I was just browsing through the Internet at a local cafe when I cam across your Press for Change homepage. Its brilliant that you have so much interesting information on G.I.D….
  • … I just wanted to say thank you for the enormous amount of work you are doing and for your courage…
  • … I am a 39 years old transgendered woman. I am gradually getting my life together. Some things are hard (family issues with children) and others have proved relatively easy … contrary to my expectations. So I think the work done by yourself and others who have made a stand has made a difference…

Its really good to hear good things about what has been achieved - but remember who these people are really saying thankyou to - YOU!

Members of the European Parliament

Only 8 MEPs are known to have been approached by constituents, but all have been supportive. (See the list of MEPs for details of how to contact yours)

The European Parliament has no direct power in UK law, but it does have influence. In 1989 the Committee on Petitions voted to adopt a Motion for a Resolution on discrimination against transsexuals.

This motion includes 14 points, all aimed at ending discrimination against transsexual people in Member States:

1., Believes that human dignity and personal rights must include the right to live according to ones sexual identity.

2., Calls on the Member States to enact provisions on transsexuals right to change sex by endocrinological, plastic surgery, and cosmetic treatment, on the procedure, and on banning discrimination against them.

3., Calls on the Council of Europe to enact a convention for the protection of transsexuals.

11., Calls on the Commission to make funds available under its aid programmes for further study of transsexuality.

13., Calls for the setting up of an office at the Commission to which cases of discrimination may be reported.

14., Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Council of Europe.

It also calls on the Member States to ensure that the cost of treatment is available on NHSs; that transsexuals who lose employment are supported; that advice centres are set up and self-help organisations are funded; that information about the problems of transsexuals is disseminated, especially to staff of state institutions; that Community directives governing equal treatment of men and women at the workplace also outlaw discrimination against transsexuals; that passports and identity cards should recognise transsexual status; that persecution on the grounds of transsexuality should be recognised as grounds for asylum….

It goes on to provide a lengthly explanatory statement and an analysis of current (1989) provision in Member States. In short, an excellent document and one which we wish our Member State would take some notice of! It is not always easy to visit MEPs - a letter is best. Please take the trouble to locate your MEP and ask for their support. You should enquire in particular what the European Parliament is doing to progress the 1989 Resolution, pointing out that UK transsexuals are no better off than we were in 1989 (apart from employment after P v S, which is no thanks to our government), and indeed many are worse off as funding for treatment is restricted and employment opportunities further reduced.

Don’t forget to write and tell PFC of the result. [see the resource list if you require a copy of the motion]

Radical deviance

A journal of Transgendered Politics : available from ‘Gender & Sexuality Alliance’ (G&SA), Box 8, St Mary’s Centre, Corporation Rd, Middlesborough, TS1 2RW - Membership Fees Price: £3 to £7.50 (income dependant) per annum.

* What the civil servants think

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