Welcome to the Dollhouse Episode 17: Gender and Big Law Part 1: The Dentons' Document with Kit Kowalski and Edie Wyatt. We delve into that document and what it it means for us in Australia.
Local Updates From the Aussie Genderverse
Media Watch Does it Again!
Paul Barry and Media Watch come down even more on the right side with an episode entitled “Transgender TERF War” about the sacking of Julie Szego of
. We covered this in episode 15.ACON & the ABC
Eight months ago, ABC Media Watch dipped a toe into the “wrong side of history” (just kidding, it’s the right side) with an episode critical of the ABC’s relationship with the lobby group, ACON.
Tassie billboard defaced
In episode 15, we covered a billboard in Tassie that raised the ire of local trans activists. Equality Tasmania called for the billboard reading “LET KIDS BE KIDS” to be taken down.
Someone, not saying whom, has taken matters into their own hands and defaces the electronic sign. This act of criminal damage was done to silence lesbians and other women from speaking out.
Sign of Riposte in Sydney
A Sydney woman has raised funds for a billboard to be displayed on Rookwood Rd in the South-West.
Well done @mollycoddleXX!
Gender & Big Law
Read ‘The Dentons Document’ for yourself
Only Adults? Good Practices in Legal Gender Recognition for Youth. Note - it was taken down from the IGLYO website between 12 April and 18 May 2023 but is still available on the archive.
Who wrote the document?
Dentons is the “world’s largest law firm”. TrustLaw is Thompson Reuter’s global pro-bono legal service, who connects NGOs with law firms. TrustLaw set up a connection to enable Dentons to prepare this report for IGLYO.
IGLYO?
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO) is a network of 96 national and local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex youth and student organisations across the Council of Europe region. IGLYO’s objectives are: to build young activists; to increase the visibility and highlight the diversity of LGBTQI youth identities; make education safe and inclusive for all; and to develop and sustain an engaged and connected network of member organisations.
IGYLO is made up of organisations within the Council of Europe countries. They have worked with ILGA-Europe to draft a joint policy brief on LGBTQI young people in the EU.
The Only Adults document forward is written by IGLYO activist Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir aka Owl Fisher. Ulga’s TEDx Talk gaslights the audience into the ‘sex is a spectrum’ and ‘trans people are so marginalised’ narratives. He begins “what' sort of genitals do you have?”, going on to claim that this question is asked of him “every week”.
Cool story, bro.
Deep Dive into The Dentons Document
The document was written as a result of interviewing activists who brought about legal changes in “good practice countries” - Norway, Malta and Belgium.
They compare this with stories from activists in other countries who have been successful in bringing in gender recognition laws - Denmark, France, Ireland, Portugal, UK.
Insights from these activists are used to give advice on what works and what is less successful.
Dentons advises how to situate gender medicine for children as a human rights issue. Denying gender medicine is denying the right of the child to natural development:
States must protect the physical, mental, moral, social, cultural, spiritual development of children. For example, states should take action against parents who are obstructing the free development of a young trans person’s identity in refusing to give parental authorization when required.
You’ll be pleased to know that Queensland is at the cutting edge of gender-law because the “leading countries do not require children to be assigned a legal gender at birth”.
TERFs and the Alt-Right
The Dentons narrative about resistance entwines women, lesbian women, and “the right”.
The NGOs observed that many mainstream and right-wing media outlets have given platforms to the voices of trans exclusionary radical feminists (“TERFs”)
and
…coincided with a rise in right-wing movements, as well as opposition from … a lesbian movement which believes that women’s rights would be negatively affected by the introduction of a third gender.
It’s OUR Playbook Too
Dentons conveniently tells us what they want to avoid:
The UK has been unable to avoid excessive coverage in the media. The NGOs observed that this has meant much of the debate has been confused and does not actually discuss the point at issue, being legal gender recognition, but rather intertwines it with discussions regarding medical surgeries. [my emphasis]
Come back next week for part 2
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Episode 17: Gender and Big Law Part 1: The Dentons' Document