Well Said!

By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia This is the text of a letter I sent to my local Labor Member of Parliament:  The Tickle VS Giggle court ruling has prompted the Coalition to support legislation that would introduce a British/MAGA style definition of women. Pauline Hanson is also threatening to re-introduce the Sex Discrimination (Acknowledging Biological Reality) Bill. Any such legislation would be disastrous for equality and acceptance of all kinds of women, including women with hormonal differences, other medical conditions and many gender non-conforming women. Women in Britain and the US are now being abused for using the "wrong" toilets if they don't look "feminine". Ironically, while some lesbian separatists support the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, lesbians are more likely to experience discrimination if these conservative laws are passed. I urge Labor to continue standing firm on trans rights and not to give in to ...

  by Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia The Australian Federal Court has recently upheld a decision that the female-only App, Giggle for Girls, discriminated against trans woman Roxanne Tickle by excluding her from the App. Many older feminists of my era are horrified by this ruling, as they believe that trans women are men pretending to be women, who make cis women feel unsafe in women's-only spaces, including social spaces, support groups, sports, womens bathroom facilities and women's prisons. But is the science and the hard data on their side? I proudly belong to these organisations which uphold trans rights * Australian Labor Party , whose Victorian Values Statement specifically opposes transphobia * Women With Disabilities Australia , which is run by and for women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disabilities * Australia & New Zealand Autistic Self Advocacy Network , which recognises the prevalence and rights of LGBTIQ people wit...

  By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme services are about to be cut.  Labor leaders say that the NDIS has lost its "social license", but what is this "social license" and how did it get lost?  After our longtime Disability Minister, Bill Shorten, retired from parliament, his portfolios were taken over by Mark Butler MP. Health and Disability were placed under the same government minister, supposedly to give Disability more attention. In fact the reverse is the case - combining Health and Disability  reinforces the outdated and disempowering Medical Model of Disability**, which contributes to disabled people's invisibility in society and government decision making processes. As long as disability is viewed through the same lens as sickness, disabled people will be seen as unfortunates in need of a cure, rather than a people in need of access and rights. Thus disabled people's social, emotio...

  by Helen Said I am so lucky to be living in a multicultural suburb. Last week, I tutored some wonderful students who love maths as much as I do. Their South Asian-Australian parents treat me like one of the family. It is delightful to see their zest for learning and extra-curricular activities.  This evening I went to a Turkish kebab restaurant with a Muslim-Australian friend who had decided not to fast for Ramadan. The waiters informed us that the tables were booked after 8pm for guests having Iftar dinner, so after we finished our meal, we came back to my place for a cuppa. My friend had her scarf all ready for evening prayers while I put the kettle on. We had a chat about the ups and downs of being divorcees from different migrant backgrounds. Then I gave her some lemons and figs from our (Greek) family gardens before she left. Later, I had a chat with one of my younger Australian-born relatives and told him how we are all named after saints and older relatives and how we...

  by Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia ING Bank appears, to me, to be knowingly disinterested and contemptuous towards elderly and vision impaired customers.  ING Bank no longer uses raised numbers or black fonts, and no longer uses both sides of their visa cards, to display relevant banking numbers. They have recently re-issued a visa card to an elderly person. The new card has extremely small white print on an orange background, which does not prvide enough contrast. The numbers are crammed, one under the other, on the back of the card while the front of the card is left blank. The elderly person concerned now has difficulty reading the numbers out when ordering home delivered medication from their local pharmacist and cannot easily copy the numbers while ordering products online. They never have been able to easily read their client number, when making inquiries at the bank, because it has always been printed on the back of the card in extremely small white...

 By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia Anti-discrimination provisions often fail us in staffrooms, lunchrooms and social venues attached to our workplaces and places of study. It is time for employers, employees and students with integrity to say "No more hate in the place" and to ban casual racism, sexism, trans-phobia and ableism from all property or social gatherings associated with their organsiation. Discrimination and hatreds are contributing to a divided society where many people feel unwelcome and unsafe. By keeping Human Rights provisions in a rarely used volume in the manager's office top shelf, and in a show bag of new employee induction material (destined for the recycle bin), we are not freeing our schools, unis, clubs or workplaces of hatreds. All human rights material needs to be included in new employee training and old employee re-training. "No hate in this place" needs to be part of enforceable workplace, study place and club po...