How to cure your Abbott blues
Unless you have been living under a rock, you would be aware of Tony Abbott and his razor gang making life harder for ordinary people. From cutting healthcare, welfare and education, to showing a complete disregard for human life by continuing an inhumane policy on refugees.
I wanted to go through the effects that the grizzly Abbott government and its policies will have on people who are same-sex attracted or gender diverse, as most of the policies will disproportionally affect this section of the population. However, this article will not just be all doom and gloom, as the title suggests, it will also show you how to cure those pesky Abbott blues and stop the Liberal government’s ravenous attacks.
Let’s look at an example:
Say you are a trans woman living with your parents and have just completed secondary school. As a trans person, you are very likely to have experienced bullying as 80 per cent of gender diverse people experience public insult or physical abuse. You are also forced out of your house because your parents are transphobic. This would most likely result in some form of mental health problem.
36 percent of gender diverse people have some degree of depression and suicide rates are fourteen times higher in the queer community compared to the rest of the population.
Most likely you would need to see a health professional for this. However, because the Liberal government wants to cut 610 million dollars from healthcare over the next three years, it seems less likely you would be able to access the care you need. On top of this, you would most likely avoid seeing a health professional as the Liberal government has the intention of introducing a Medicare co-payment, where you would have to pay a fee of seven dollars when visiting your GP.
As a trans person you are less likely to visit the doctor anyway as only 13 percent of gender diverse people will regularly see a health professional due to financial reasons and fear of being discriminated against. The Medicare co-payment will only exacerbate this problem.
You would like to go to university. The Abbott government intends to push through the deregulation of university fees, which will allow universities to decide how much they charge you for your degree. This means that your degree could cost over $100,000.
With all this information it seems pretty hopeless and overwhelming right? I have the solution for you: activism. In the last year, the National Union of Students, along with thousands of students, have been fighting against the attacks to higher education and as a result, the Liberal Party have had a very difficult time pushing through their agenda. It has also placed pressure on the rest of the MPs not to vote in favour of fee-deregulation.
Another example of recent activism is the fight for equal marriage rights in Australia. It has seen thousands of same-sex attracted and gender diverse people across the country over the last ten years come out to see an end to state sanctioned queerphobia. Because people have come out onto the streets, it has resulted in a massive shift in how the wider community views LGBTIQ people and now over 70 percent of Australians support marriage equality.
Not only is it effective in fighting against attacks, but is also good for your wellbeing. The Safe Schools Coalition conducted a study of gender diverse youth and found that one of the main ways gender diverse people felt more confident and more accepted was by getting involved in activism. Over 62 percent of participants in the study had become an activist and over half of those had participated in a rally or march. As well as this, over half of the participants also said they felt better about their gender identity and sexuality.
Fighting as a collective rather than individuals means that people feel less isolated, and more confident to stand up for your rights. It also means that you can be heard when most people (unless you’re Gina Rinehart) are ignored by the government. When everyday life is disrupted, ordinary people are listened to. From the decriminalisation of homosexuality, to equal pay, these were won when people organised collectively and fought back and it is still possible today.
References
Smith, E., Jones, T., Ward, R., Dixon, J., Mitchell, A., & Hillier, L. (2014). From Blues to Rainbows: Mental health and wellbeing of gender diverse and transgender young people in Australia. Melbourne: The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society
"Tony Abbott - Caricature" by DonkeyHotey is licensed