Intersex, transsexuals and bullying
Gender reassignment, gender dysphoria, transsexuality, transgender,
Transsexuals
The number of people in the UK who have undergone or are undergoing gender reassignment is unknown but thought by the Department for Education and Employment to be in the region of 5000. Given the stigma and taboos that surround transsexuality the true number of people wishing to undergo gender reassignment could be considerably greater.
Whilst medical treatment has improved considerably, employment law has lagged behind. in P v. S and Cornwall County Council (1996 IRLR 347; ECJ) the employment tribunal felt that P's dismissal after announcing he was to undergo gender reassignment did not fall within the scope of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 but asked the European Court of Justice to decide if this was a breach of the equal treatment directive. Following the positive ECJ ruling, the Sex Discrimination Act 1974 was amended by the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999. An employer can no longer treat less favourably any person who has undergone, is undergoing, or plans to undergo gender reassignment.
Subsequently after the case of Cornwall V the UK government in the European courts, We have had the Gender Recognition Act 2004, Which came into effect in April 2005. with amendments in 2008 and again the 2010 Equality Act.
Society's attitudes to transsexuality have changed considerable over the last thirty years. Whereas once a transsexual or transvestite would be labelled as a pervert, or worse, today such people are treated more sympathetically. Discrimination still exists, as it does for most minorities, but times are changing. The recent BBC TV series Paddington Green followed the story of Jackie McAuliffe, a transsexual who worked as a prostitute to earn the money to pay for her operation. Many transsexuals find employment denied to them and as a consequence the only way to fund their transition is through prostitution. Such was the viewer interest that follow-up programmes were made and Jackie appeared in a two-page spread in Radio Times. In another recent case which received widespread coverage, a vicar who underwent a sex change operation returned to her church duties with the support of the majority of her congregation.
Intersex
Whilst most people believe that human being are either "male" or "female", the range of human sexuality - both physical and psychological - is much more varied. An intersex person is anyone who does not fit exactly into the current definition of "male" or "female". Such people are regarded as misfits and make easy targets for bullying.
In fact, it could be said that intersex people are bullied the moment they are born when medical professionals insist that the baby conform to their belief in the "normality" of male or female genitalia and apply pressure to the parents to allow them to perform corrective surgery. Parents, often in shock, give their permission having been persuaded that surgery is in the best interests of their child.
Psychiatric injury
A largely-unrecognized effect of harassment, discrimination and bullying is psychiatric injury. Concealment is thought to be a contributor to depression..
Bully OnLine is a gold mine of insight and information on bullying which identifies the different types of harassment and bullying, and exposes the main perpetrator, the serial bully. Everyone, whether transsexual or not, knows at least one person in their life who is either a knuckle dragging troglodyte with one brain cell or just a religous bigot.
The Beaumont Society provides support and information for transvestites and their families.
The Gender Trust helps adults who are Transsexual, Gender Dysphoric or Trangenderist, ie those who seek to adjust their lives to live as women or men, or to come to terms with their situation despite their genetic background.
November 10, 2010 10:56 PM GMT
If you're ever in any doubt about reporting a TG hate crime to the police, then you dont have to have any doubts about being taken seriously......i dont & i know from experience because of an incident that happened to me on Monday.
I was going into town & minding my own business, when some idiot started mouthing off at me so i ignored it. It Then escalated into threats of violence towards me & the guy kept saying he was gonna fkng lay me out. He said somethin which i heard, & i turned round to look at him.....next thing i knew he'd punched me in the face 3 times and i ended up on my hands & knees on the floor.Fortunately, there were a lot of people about who witnessed the assault and came to my aid. Three of these girls worked at the local Hoseasons holiday place & they took me there and made me some tea while waiting for the police to arrive. The Officer who came out, said that they had 4 cars (including the Armed Response Car) searching the area for the guy.I had to go to the station to give a statement of what happened, & throughout this i was treated with compassion & Respect. The PC explained everything to me in a clear & concise mannner about what would happen, if when this guy is arrested and charged the case goes to court which might well happen. I've heard people saying all sorts of things about the police & they've not been nice but i have nothing but the utmost respect for them, especially the Suffolk Constabulary who really couldn't have treated me any better than they did.
There ARE some good coppers out there ya know.
Lol xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Anna-Marie