Hi everyone from Sally on Kulin (Boln Boln) lands

Like many, hopefully most, people in Victoria, Australia and around the world, I felt taken aback and disbelieving, when on Saturday evening, I saw on my social media the posts about what had happened in the Melbourne city area on the afternoon of Saturday 18th March.

I would say that first of all, it is totally okay to have those feelings. I was told many years ago, that when I stopped feeling them it was time to stop being an advocate. We need to acknowledge those emotions both within ourselves and also feel affirmed in that others acknowledge the hurt that trans and gender diverse people, loved ones and true allies experienced - and have experienced so often for a long time.

It's okay to have those feelings, take whatever time and in whatever safe way for yourself and others, you need to work through those feelings – this may include calling the good people at Q Life on 1800184527. In the end, however much time we all individually need to take, we can get through them. I have therefore taken a few days to work through my initial responses and am now able to share my thoughts.

I am a person of Jewish background. 3 of my 4 grandparents thankfully had the foresight to leave continental Europe in the late 1920s/early 1930s and head to safer places. Jewish culture is equally an important part of this whole person along with gender identity (and all the other aspects of life and being). All parts of my identity and the total person I am help frame my response.

Within Australia, debates regarding trans and gender diverse people have, in particular for the last seven years prior to the horrendous period that was the postal survey for marriage equality, been recurring and destructive.

What happened in Melbourne on Saturday, the 18th of March was the “extreme tide-mark” and is a turning point in these debates.

To borrow from the old saying, like attracts like - hate attracts hate - and what we saw on Saturday was hate. I think it is utterly irrelevant whether the neo-Nazis were invited or not, whether they were wanted or not. They were there and what we saw on 18th March always will be hate.

I see that association as exposing gender critical beliefs for what they really are, despite any rhetoric, bluff and bluster to the contrary.

However, difficult as that hate is to process for many decent people, whether in Victoria Australia or on planet Earth, it is also my opinion that we can take this opportunity to say this is that turning point moment.

It is time that we not only condemned hate, but we positively and proactively started supporting respect for trans people. What can everyone do in that regard?

I thank Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Victorian Opposition leader John Pescutto for their various swift responses and actions.

Remarks made on Tuesday. 21st of March by Prime Minister Albanese are welcome; at a national level, however, this is only a first small step on the start of the whole journey.

We need to go completely down the road to achieving total and true equality of trans and gender diverse people (and families) across Australia with concrete action at a national level. That there has been no national (as distinct from state and territory) reforms for nearly 10 years on trans issues is not acceptable.

To achieve this, we need strong, swift concrete action. Statements, flags and marching in Mardi Gras are good symbolic starting points but will not embed the ongoing change needed.

We do not need research, reports, investigations nor committees. We need positive policy action that shows that our federal government supports and values trans and gender diverse people.

Some possibilities, by no means all, to show trans people are valued, could include:

• urgent reform of Medicare to make sure that all trans health procedures are equitable and inclusive regarding cost and accessibility for all trans people of all intersecting backgrounds;
• a national trans and gender diverse advisory group that has direct access to federal Cabinet;
• a group to advise on best practice to achieve uniform documentation laws, regulations and processes, across all jurisdictions of government for recording gender, with particular emphasis on uniform birth certificate laws; and
• fully funded, trans-led projects that communicate accurate information about trans people.
   (Similar projects re information need to happen for bi+ people and while neither of the following are my experience nor my identity respectively, for intersex and asexual/aromantic people as well).

Enough is enough. We need to do more than stop hate. We need to promote genuine far-reaching respect - starting now

We also need more people in the broader community of cisgender people to not just be allies to trans, but to make sure they talk to other cisgender people and strengthen allyship overall while being guided by trans people. Trans people are resilient; all the same, we cannot carry the load ourselves and nor should we be asked to do so. We need more Australians to write to Prime Minister Albanese and urge him to take the actions mentioned above.

To quote Edmund Burke, “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good [people] do nothing.”

Good people, we need more support for trans people. We need you to act…and now.

Audio transcript https://soundcloud.com/sally-goldner/moving-forward