From anti-trans rallies, global attacks on trans health care, exclusion of trans athletes, doxing and campaigns of online hate and disinformation, the rights of trans and gender diverse people in Australia in 2024 feels increasingly precarious.
In this talk, we’ll discuss some of the current challenges facing the trans and gender diverse community in Australia, including discrimination, unaffordable healthcare, higher rates of homelessness and lack of employment opportunities. We’ll consider current opportunities to mobilise against hate such as the Rainbow Community Angels safety initiative, peer support projects like the Key Change Choir and the Trans Justice Project’s inaugural organising retreat.
Sam Elkin is a writer, lawyer and radio maker. Born in England and raised on unceded Noongar land, Sam currently lives on unceded Wurundjeri land. He is a co-host of 3RRR radio show Queer View Mirror and the ABC History Listen’s Crossing Time: A History of Transgender Australia. Sam’s essays have been published in Kill Your Darlings, Griffith Review, Meanjin and Overland. In 2020, Sam was a Wheeler Centre Next Chapter fellow, and in 2022 he co-edited Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia. His debut book Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga is published by Upswell Publishing (Aus/NZ) and Wilfrid Laurier University Press (US/Canada).
