Boys will be girls and life will be tough

Wanganui Chronicle

(From left) Brooklynne Michelle, Nicky Gerard and Jack Byrne.

21.11.2008

by Lin Ferguson

When boys become girls and vice versa, life is tough and uncompromising.

Human Rights Commission senior policy analyst Jack Byrne said transgender people were affected in all areas of their lives.

Jack, who was born with a female body and has "transitioned" to a male, spoke to the Wanganui Chronicle yesterday during a break from Inform 2008, a sexual diversity conference and series of workshops in Wanganui.

Mr Byrne was the project manager of the Human Rights Commission inquiry into the discrimination experienced by transgender people in New Zealand, titled To Be Who I Am and released earlier this year.

Trans people strived every day to live lives of dignity in communities throughout New Zealand, he said.

The report says the youngest person to meet the inquiry was an 11-year-old intermediate school student and the oldest was in her late 70s.

More than 400 trans people made submissions to the inquiry, including business people, farmers, academics, health professionals, sex workers, parents and grandparents.

Jack said it was all about the basic human rights of dignity, equality and security.

The inquiry's findings showed clearly that being transgender was not a lifestyle choice; it was simply one dimension of the rich diversity that is humanity, he said.

With Jack yesterday were Nicky Gerard and Brooklynne Michelle, who were both born with male bodies and had transitioned to females.

One of the toughest tasks was getting a job, and even though they both had university degrees it hadn't helped, they said.

"The discrimination is always there. I mean, you're upfront with who you are, but generally being that truthful doesn't help. It's hard trying to be accepted in a work situation," Nicky said.

Brooklynne remembers before her transition walking down the street to a favourite cafe for a coffee with a mate being no problem at all.

"Not now. The minute I'm out walking in the street, the sniggers, the ridicule, the abuse follow me all the way. It's tough."

The three said that "being trans" was never a lifestyle and it wasnt a choice.

"It's the way we were born."