Female-to-Male (FtM) Transgender People’s Experiences in Australia: A National Study

168 Pages·2015·4.613 MB·English

by  Tiffany Jones, Andrea del Pozo de Bolger, Tinashe Dune, Amy Lykins, Gail Hawkes (auth.)

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN SOCIOLOGY
Tiffany Jones
Andrea del Pozo de Bolger
Tinashe Dune
Amy Lykins
Gail Hawkes
Female-to-Male
(FtM) Transgender
People’s
Experiences in
Australia
A National Study
SpringerBriefs in Sociology
Series editor
Robert J. Johnson, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10410
Tiffany Jones Andrea del Pozo de Bolger
(cid:129)
Tinashe Dune Amy Lykins
(cid:129)
Gail Hawkes
Female-to-Male (FtM)
’
Transgender People s
Experiences in Australia
A National Study
123
Tiffany Jones AmyLykins
School ofEducation CBSS
Universityof New England Universityof New England
Armidale, NSW Armidale, NSW
Australia Australia
Andrea delPozodeBolger GailHawkes
CBSS School ofArts
Universityof New England Universityof New England
Armidale, NSW Armidale, NSW
Australia Australia
Tinashe Dune
Department of Health
Universityof New England
Armidale, NSW
Australia
ISSN 2212-6368 ISSN 2212-6376 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inSociology
ISBN 978-3-319-13828-2 ISBN 978-3-319-13829-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-13829-9
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014958991
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
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I would have been about four? I used to get really upset when in the
mornings I’d check to see if I was a boy and wasn’t. I’d then start my
day upset and not understand why I wasn’t a boy.
(Lance, male/transsexual male, 40 years)
… I feel male, but I feel like I can’t call myself a man yet. After
living as a female, I find it hard to deny the existence of a part of me
that lived that. I don’t really identify with the person I was, just the
struggles I had. I believe my gender is evolving day by day and one
day I will feel comfortable calling myself fully male… possibly after
surgery.IhadmomentsthroughoutmychildhoodwhereIknew.Ihad
moments as a teen where I knew. But I suppressed it all. It all came
crashing down around me when I was about 20. It happened when I
saw the results of one guy’s transition. I guess I didn’t know that
transitioning was possible until then. I think that’s why I suppressed
it, because I didn’t know there was an answer.
(Harry, FtM transgender, 24 years)
I identify as“Genderqueer”I like beingvisually ambiguous, butto
friends who don’t understand that concept I let them know I prefer
masculine pronouns. “She” definitely makes me feel dysphoric.
(Hansel, genderqueer, age 22 years)
I went to four GPs (doctors) until I found one that would listen to
me to my discussion. One GP said to me, “Why would you want to
changeyourgender,you’resuchaprettygirl”!Disclosingsomething
so personal to a stranger is a HUGE deal, and to be brushed of like
that is just fucking bullshit.
(Fang, FtM transgender, 29 years)
Acknowledgments
The authors thank and acknowledge the University of New England’s Faculty of
Professionswhichcontributedagranttowardsthisresearch,forthefundingofthis
research. We also thank and acknowledge UNE Partnerships and the UNE School
ofEducationwhohavecontributedgrantstowardssupportingDr.TiffanyJonesand
her work on this project.
Brian Landrigan has been an invaluable source of help with the development
ofthelogographicfortheproject,thedesignofthewebsiteandothergraphicsand
IT-related contributions. He also supported the team in an ongoing fashion
throughout the project and was incredibly generous with his time and ideas.
Dr. Anthony Marks kindly assisted with the development of the survey and ques-
tions.Dr.MitraRashidianalsocontributedsomeassistanceintheearlydiscussions
aboutthisprojectandforwardedonarticlesofinteresttotheE-malesteam.
The E-males project reference group guided the development of the question-
naireandtherecruitmentprocess.Wethankallthemembersofthisgroupfortheir
commitment to this research, and also the members of UNE’s GSMA, FtM
Australia, the National LGBTIQ Health Alliance and the Freedom Centre, and a
range of individuals who offered feedback and contributed ideas.
Theresearchwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthesupportoforganisations,
groupsandindividualactivistsalloverAustraliapromotingtheprojectbyputtingit
into both professional and personal e-list mail-outs, placing advertisements on
Facebookpagesandwebsites,puttinguppostersingendercentres,includingitems
in newsletters, and letting people know by word-of-mouth. These networks were
the basis of the high number of participants and we owe them a real debt of
gratitude. Here we particularly thank FtM Australia, FtM Shed, Transmen
Australia, DUDE magazine, the National LGBTIQ Health Alliance, Ygender, the
Zoe Belle Gender Centre, the “I’m Transgender Facebook” Page, Trans Health
Australia, Transgender Victoria (TGV), Transgender Perth, Sydney Transgender
International Film Festival, Male Trans Experiences Online, Trannyshack, GSMA,
AustralianTransgenderProud,TransPantherSA,FreedomCentreWA,Australian
Transsexuals, Transgender Support, Genderqueer Australia, the Transgender
StudiesNetwork,AGenderAgenda,ThePay-It-ForwardBinderProgram,PFLAG
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Australia, Sally Goldner, Dani Wright, Sim Kennedy, GSAs and University-based
support groups around Australia and many others.
We thank the GLBTIQ press who supported our work through reduced adver-
tising rates, and generous interviews and stories on the research. We thank DUDE
Magazine, LOTL Magazine, Sydney Star Observer, JOY 94.9 Melbourne (who
gave us extensive interview time to promote the project and was a particular sup-
port) and all the other fantastic media serving our community. We also thank the
mainstream press—including rural publications such as the Armidale Express—
who not only promoted the recruitment drive for this project, but in doing so
included interviews with Dr. Tiffany Jones that educated a broader Australian
population about the many contributions transgender people make within the
community.
Most importantly, we owe an extra special thanks to the Australians who took
thetimeoutoftheirday—sometimesbriefly,sometimesoveraperiodofweeks—to
do the E-males survey and/or participate in the forum discussions. Your openness
about yourselves, your experiences and your ideas for improving conditions were
invaluable.Yourcontributionstoresearcharegreatlyappreciated,andwehopethis
reportwillbeasteptowardssupportingthemanychangesyouwouldliketoseein
the future.
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Issues of (In)Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Increased Policy Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Lack of Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Research Frame and Aims. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Design of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Reference Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Overall Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Data Collection Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The E-Males Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The E-Males Blog Forum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Terminology Use in the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Ethical Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Sampling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
E-Males Concept and Logo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Recruitment and Promotion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Press Release/Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Internet, E-Lists, Networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Social Networking Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Gender Centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3 Our Diverse FtM Transgender Participants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Key Findings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Number of Participants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
How Participants Came to the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
State/Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Birth Sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Gender Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
ix