Section 5 - Stories of discrimination, vilification and harassment - Addressing sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity discrimination: Consultation Report (2011)
Addressing sexual orientation
and sex and/or
gender identity
discrimination
Consultation Report
2011
Section 5 - Stories
of discrimination, vilification and harassment
- 5.1 Discrimination in employment
- (a) Discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation
- (b) Discrimination in employment on the basis of sex and/or gender identity
- 6 The potential benefit of federal laws protecting from discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity
Understanding the experiences of discrimination, vilification and harassment
suffered by people of all sexual orientations and sex and/or gender identities
is an important first step in considering how legal protection from
discrimination on these grounds might be framed. The consultation heard personal
experiences of discrimination and harassment from some participants, while
others relayed the challenges faced by partners, relatives, friends, associates,
members and clients.
Experiences of discrimination differed greatly depending on whether the
discrimination was based on a person’s sexual orientation or on a
person’s sex and/or gender identity.
The consultation heard about:
- discrimination in employment
- discrimination in the provision of goods and services
- vilification and harassment
- bullying and harassment experienced by young people
- the impact of discrimination, vilification or harassment on mental health
and wellbeing.
5.1 Discrimination in employment
Many participants reported experiences of discrimination in employment. These
reports are supported by research indicating that such discrimination is
commonplace. For example, a national survey of LGBT people in 2006 found that
10.3% of participants had been refused employment or denied a promotion based on
their sexuality.[31] Another
workplace study found that:
- 52% of gay and lesbian employees surveyed were the subject of discrimination
in their current employment because of their sexual orientation
- more than 17% of participants felt their careers had probably been
restricted because of their sexual
orientation.[32]
(a) Discrimination in employment on the basis of
sexual orientation
Many participants in this consultation described being denied employment or
promotion opportunities or being dismissed or disciplined because of their
sexual orientation. For example:
Robert and Matthew alleged they were dismissed from their cleaning job ...
because they were a gay couple. The couple alleged that their employer regularly
brought up the topic of their sexuality in work conversations, reduced their
hours, and told them they wouldn't be given older people's houses to clean
because they would not be acceptable to older
people.[33]
I worked for seven years in the 1970s for the Australian Public Service. I
felt very vulnerable to discrimination during that time and believe that my
sexual orientation was the uncited reason in at least one instance of not
obtaining a promotion. I understand that great improvements have been made in
the culture of the APS since that time, but I believe that all federal public
servants should enjoy at least the same explicit protections under the law as
their state counterparts.[34]
The Inner City Legal Centre described how a client felt vilified and harassed
by the actions of her employer:
Tania was employed by a church run disability service. After working for 18
months Tania attended work and found that the homepage on her work computer
displayed a bible quote that said negative things about gay people. Tania
assumed that this was a mistake and drew her team leader’s attention to
the quote. The next day the quote remained. Tania wrote a letter to the
management explaining that she felt upset and unsafe having to look at that
quote everyday and asked that it be replaced with a bible quote that did not
vilify gay people. Three of Tania’s colleagues also signed the letter.
Tania was singled out and told that her gay agenda had no place in a Christian
work place. Tania’s professional reputation was then attacked, she was
accused of poor work performance. Tania was also assigned shifts that she had
previously indicated she would be unable to take or were inappropriate. Tania
contacted the [Anti-Discrimination Board] to see if she could lodge a complaint
and was told that her employer may be able to rely on the religious exception in
the Act. Tania left her job due to ongoing
harassment.[35]
(b) Discrimination in employment on the basis of sex
and/or gender identity
A number of trans and intersex participants explained the unique challenges
they faced in the workplace, including not being recognised as their preferred
gender, being forced to disclose private information and being denied employment
opportunities. For example:
Many companies are not willing to employ trans people, especially those of us
who do not "pass" as the gender we are transitioning to, because we're
considered too "difficult" for the workplace. Others will employ us, but force
certain requirements on us - the use of a badge with a gender-specific name,
gender-specific uniforms, forcing us to use the wrong toilet,
etc.[36]
While a public servant I was referred to as “the freak” by
several co-workers and received ongoing harassment by one particular employee
after I had mentioned that I was Intersex. As I understood it then, there was no
protection for harassment on the basis of being intersex as the sexual
harassment laws only protected males and females, and not
Intersex.[37]
The WA Gender Project described a trans man who:
[H]as his trans status repeatedly disclosed to other employees in the
workplace. He reports that every time a new employee starts work, they are told
that he is transsexual and that he “used to be a girl”. He says
that new employees will often then begin to use female pronouns to refer to him
after hearing this private
information.[38]
Other participants described being told they are no longer suitable for the
role after their sex and/or gender identity has been revealed. For example:
I was working in a local retailer when I first began my social transition
from female to male. I cut my hair very short, and started using my current
name. The general manager of the company sent a photograph of me, and my new
name in an email to all the managers in the group. I wasn’t comfortable
with this, but he said that the rest of the group needed to know who they were
talking to over the phone and email. I had been hired for an assistant manager
position, so that made sense. I was horrified a few weeks later when I was told
that I was not only being demoted from the position I was hired for, but being
made a casual staff member (with no rostered shifts) because I wasn’t
‘fit for full time work’. I protested, and he said: “face it,
you aren’t the girl we
hired”.[39]
Organisations representing people who are intersex also reported
discrimination in employment for which there is no remedy:
[A] person may be discriminated against in the workplace with impunity if
their sex is Intersex. Although current legislation provides for the protection
of males and females against sex discrimination it makes no provision for those
who have physical anatomies that are
neither.[40]
5.2 Discrimination
in the provision of services
Many participants provided examples of discrimination in relation to the
provision of services, including in:
- aged care
- health care
- emergency housing
- appropriate toilets and change rooms
- sport.
(a) Aged care
Participants drew attention to research that shows that many older LGBTI
people have significant fear of harassment, poor treatment and alienation in
aged care facilities.[41] For
example, GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Incorporated) referred to the
following research:[42]
- In comparison to older heterosexuals, older LGBTI people are two and a half
times more likely to live alone, twice as likely to be single and over four
times as likely to not have children. As a consequence, older LGBTI individuals
may experience greater isolation, loneliness, lack of traditional family support
and lack of recognition of
partners.[43]
- 20% of LGBTI respondents experienced discrimination from health care
providers as a result of their same-sex
relationship.[44]
The
consultation heard examples of discrimination in aged care facilities,
including:
An older transgender woman with dementia, who had lived most of her life as a
woman but had never had sex reassignment surgery, was forced by staff of the
religious aged care facility where she was being cared for, to live as a
man.[45]
Several participants stressed the importance of education about sexual
orientation and sex and/or gender identity for aged care service
providers.[46]
(b) Health care
During the consultation, trans and intersex people raised a range of concerns
about experiences of discrimination based on sex and/or gender identity in the
provision of health care. Issues raised by participants included:
- difficulties in accessing and funding sex affirmation treatment in
Australia, including a lack of specialists in some areas and the fact that sex
affirmation procedures are not funded through the Medicare
system:
When I first started testosterone treatment and my body
began to change I was really excited. But after a while I began to get more and
more uncomfortable with my breasts. I had always been uncomfortable with them
but this was different. I started to think that if I didn't have chest surgery
soon I would kill myself. I was so lucky that someone helped me to pay for it
because I couldn't afford it on my own. And now I just wonder how all of the
other trans guys out there who can't afford it cope. It is the worst feeling in
the world. I wouldn't wish it on my worst
enemy.[47]
- not being able to claim Medicare rebates for procedures which were not
aligned with a person’s legal sex:
In Western Australia, a
person with an ovarian cyst went to hospital and was thought to be male and
treated for appendicitis. He could not get a Medicare rebate for treatment of an
ovarian cyst.[48]
Intersex people are often rejected for medical procedures when their official
sex is seen to conflict with their anatomical structures; e.g. ovaries in an
apparent male and testes in an apparent
female.[49]
- inappropriate treatment by the medical profession, including disclosure of
irrelevant information,[50] failure
to recognise preferred sex and/or gender on medical
records,[51] and refusal of medical
services:
Toni is a transgender woman living in the inner city. Toni
needed to attend a residential drug rehabilitation centre as she had been
struggling with alcohol and opiate dependency. Her support worker called
the local clinic, this clinic happened to be run by a religious based charity.
The clinic informed Toni’s support person that there was an opening for
Toni and that they would hold a place for her. When Toni presented at the clinic
she was refused service. When asking why she was told there was no spot for her.
Toni was sure that this refusal was based on the fact that she is a transgender
woman.[52]
- degrading treatment by medical service providers:
When I found a
lump in my breast I was referred to a breast specialist who refused to see me
straight away because “I might scare the women in the waiting room”.
I was instead required to wait 7 days before the specialist would see
me.[53]
A person was placed in a male ward in a local hospital. When the receptionist
was asked why she was on a male ward, the receptionist replied “because
that is how we see
him”.[54]
(c) Emergency
housing
The consultation heard of discrimination occurring in access to emergency
accommodation sought by trans people. For example, the Freedom! Gender Identity
Association described how a trans woman who had not had gender reassignment
surgery was refused access to federally funded emergency
housing.[55] They also described the
situation of a trans man who expressed concerns for his safety if his sex and/or
gender identity was revealed whilst staying at a male boarding
house.[56]
The National LGBTI Health Alliance described the difficulties of a trans
person attempting to find housing:
A trans man in Queensland who has had ongoing health problems, including four
surgeries in the past year, has been homeless for 9 months. He has been on the
Qld Housing most urgent list for that time, but has seen other people that he
knows of housed before him. Requirements for documentation have been onerous in
the extreme, with the same documents having to be submitted repeatedly. When
discreetly living in a tent in bushland in a public park, he has been
‘moved on’ by police. Accommodation in male boarding houses is risky
for him because of his trans
status.[57]
(d) Appropriate toilets and change rooms
Several trans and intersex participants spoke of the difficulties they face
in accessing appropriate toilets and change rooms both at work and in public
places. For example:
Many transgender people are forced to limit their public social interactions
to places they know will enable them to toilet/change without incurring
discriminatory behaviour, harassment or violence. This has serious consequences
for all travel and, in particular, limits one’s ability to respond to
unexpected events in a ‘regular’ way. One of our members had to use
toilets on a different floor while transitioning as peers on his floor were
uncomfortable about him using either
one.[58]
I brought a dress from a shop in the Canberra Centre last week. The shop only
had a women’s fitting room and they refused me permission to try the dress
on even though I explained that I was Intersexed. I brought the dress anyway and
went home to try it on. It did not fit. So I went back to the shop to ask for a
refund. They flatly refused, saying their store policy was no refunds. So I
checked with ACT Fair Trading only to discover their policy was that you can't
get a refund if you choose the wrong
size.[59]
(e) Sport
The consultation heard that trans and intersex people are often restricted
from participating in sporting activities. For example:
In several jurisdictions, an individual can be legally denied the right to
participate in their chosen sport on the basis of the sex shown on their birth
certificate. Where the sex on an individual’s birth certificate is not the
person’s self-identified gender, it becomes extremely difficult for them
to participate in even social or amateur sporting
activities.[60]
5.3 Vilification
and harassment
Vilification and harassment includes derogatory or intimidating behaviour
such as physical or verbal abuse. Participants described their frustration at
the lack of legal protection from vilification and harassment in Australia. For
example:
I always hear homophobic language being used as put downs etc and never see
anyone being reported for vilification, however if they were [using] racist or
sexist language etc they would be reported for being
racist/sexist.[61]
It is my understanding that there are no laws against harassment based on
gender identity. In the last month I have been harassed numerous times because I
am visibly sex and/or gender diverse. I have been harassed by people on the
street and by people working in establishments I have entered. It is really
scary if there are no laws against people harassing you for being gender
diverse. There is essentially nothing you can do about it. This makes the public
sphere a very unsafe place for a lot of intersex, sex and gender diverse
people.[62]
Research shows that people are frequently vilified or harassed on the basis
of their sexual orientation or sex and/or gender identity. For example, in 2006,
the Private Lives survey found that out of all participants, 59.3%
experienced personal insults or verbal abuse and 13.7% experienced physical
attacks or other kind of
violence.[63]
Speaking Out (2010) found that of their survey participants:
- 92% of trans women and 55% of trans men reported verbal abuse
- 46% of trans women and 36% of trans men reported physical attacks without a
weapon (punched, kicked, beaten)
- 38% of trans women and 9% of trans men reported physical attacks with a
weapon (knife, bottle, stones).[64]
Vilification and harassment are particularly prevalent
amongst young people and has serious consequences for their mental health. Writing Themselves In: 3 found:
Almost double the number of young people who had been verbally abused (40%),
in comparison with those who had experienced no abuse, had thought of self harm
(22%). Three times those who had been physically abused (62%), in comparison
with those who reported no abuse, had thought of self harm. This pattern was
repeated through self harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. For example,
in comparison with those who reported no abuse, twice the number of young people
who suffered verbal abuse, had attempted suicide and four and half times the
number of young people who had been physically assaulted, had attempted
suicide.[65]
The consultation heard many personal stories of vilification and harassment
experienced or witnessed by participants. Some of the more serious examples are
described below.
(a) Vilification and harassment on the basis of
sexual orientation
The Commission heard of a number of stories of vilification or harassment on
the basis of sexual orientation. For example:
When walking home, a man and his boyfriend were ‘jumped’ by three
teenage boys who called them ‘faggots’ and punched them in the
stomachs, chests and heads.[66]
I was abused and screamed at by a group of men... who called me a f**king
dyke [and said] that I should be stabbed or
raped.[67]
ACON described an incident reported to them as part of their Lesbian and Gay
Anti-Violence Project:
The victim has endured 20 years of homophobic abuse from his neighbour. He
has received taunts such as, “All poofters should be killed at
birth”; “Why don’t you poofters drop dead of AIDS?”,
“AIDS poofters” etc. The victim has taken several AVOs against his
neighbour and has had him charged with malicious damage. For the past two years
the victim has been on a disability support pension and is currently on
anti-depressants. He dreads venturing as far as his front yard because of the
fear of abuse from his
neighbour.[68]
The consultation also heard that vilification of gay men is closely linked
with vilification on the basis of HIV/AIDS status:
As gay men account for around 80% of all people that have been diagnosed with
HIV,[69] vilification on the ground
of HIV/AIDS status disproportionately affects gay men. ACON recommends that
HIV/AIDS status be included as grounds where vilification is
prohibited.[70]
A few comments expressed concerns about the increased risk of violence for
lesbian women who may be discriminated against on the basis of being female
(their sex) and their sexual orientation. Participants stressed their concern
that women only spaces should still be permitted under federal
laws.[71]
(b) Vilification and
harassment on the basis of sex and/or gender identity
The Commission heard some particularly disturbing examples of vilification
and harassment on the basis of sex and/or gender diversity. For example:
Other stories of vilification? I don’t know where to start. Do I tell
of the story I’ve heard of a person who had rocks thrown through her
window in a country town? The person who had a rubbish bin thrown through the
window of their car? Do I tell them my own story? I was sitting in my car
minding my own business at a set of lights. Two pedestrians came across the
pedestrian lights and thumped on the car. I went over the intersection and
realised I was in some degree of shock at the noise before I realised what had
happened – one of the pedestrians raced over to the other side of the
intersection, put their fist through the driver’s side window that was
closed, smashing it, punched me in the side of the head six times and just
walked off. I spent the night on an emergency trolley in the Alfred
hospital.[72]
At one place I started in, when I started transitioning 13 years ago, I was
attacked every day for two weeks. Every day and every night 24/7 ... My sons
used to come over who were then 12 and 14 and I would be getting rocks and bolts
and bits of iron, brick, wood, landing on the tin roof every five minutes. I
eventually moved because the police attitude to that was unless they are
actually in the house [they could not] do
anything.[73]
5.4 Bullying and harassment experienced by young
people
The consultation also heard a significant number of accounts of bullying and
harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or sex and/or gender identity
experienced by young people, largely in school environments. A recent study on
young LGBTI people, Writing Themselves In: 3, found that school was the
most likely place of abuse for young people with 80% experiencing abuse at
school. [74]
Young people provided the following examples of bullying or harassment:
I was bullied in highschool for looking, talking, walking and acting like a
gay male. Obviously this didn't encourage me to come out...until I was "outed"
by a friend....; being a teen is so so soooo hard. Add discrimination, fear,
anxiety, stress, depression because of your sexuality and you become a headcase
and end up in hospital. That's not how it should be. (Cisgendered male,
17)[75]
Yes. I have been called ‘poofter’ from the early days in high
school, because I was small, weak and studious. I drew into a shell and did
nothing but study. The thought of talking to anyone about my feelings, let alone
complaining, would have been laughable. I was often physically attacked at
school as well. I am surprised I got through those
years.[76]
Several participants asserted that school teachers did not respond to abuse,
were unsupportive of LGBTI students or engaged in harassment themselves. For
example:
During my high school years I was severely bullied (physically and
emotionally) to cope I want[ed to] confide in my schools Chaplin, I'm not
religious I just got good vibes from him. I told him I was gender queer and that
I wasn't straight, after that he stopped all communication and left me to deal
with things on my own which lead to my first suicide attempt (Gender
“undefined” female,
18).[77]
Throughout my time in high school I experienced constant harassment because
of my gender identity. I was frequently made fun of in class, often by teachers.
Students refused to use my chosen name, instead referring to me by my birth name
and using female pronouns; teachers did not punish them even though it was quite
clear that the harassment was deliberate ... Food was thrown at me on a number
of occasions. I was pushed, spat on and hit. A group of boys in the year above
me repeatedly threatened to rape me as "proof" I was a girl. There were several
threats to my life. .. None of the people who bullied me were ever
punished.[78]
The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria also found that more than 50% of young
people surveyed said they had been treated unfairly more than 3 times because of
their sexual orientation or gender
identity.[79]
5.5 The
impact of discrimination, vilification or harassment on mental
health
Australian and international research demonstrates that discrimination,
harassment or vilification has a significant impact on the mental health of
LGBTI people. For example, Suicide Prevention Australia estimates that suicide
attempts by lesbian, gay and bisexual people are between 3.5 and 14 times higher
than their heterosexual peers.[80] In the TranZnation Report on the health and wellbeing of trans
people in Australia and New Zealand, one in four respondents reported having
suicidal thoughts in the two weeks before completing the
survey.[81]
Participants demonstrated the connection between discrimination, abuse and
social exclusion with mental health issues including suicidal thoughts and
attempts. For example:
We would also like to highlight the very real links between community
attitudes towards "normality" in sex and gender, and the very real health
impacts on sex and/or gender diverse people that result from violence, social
exclusion and social
isolation.[82]
The effect of this pervasive abuse can be the development of significant
mental health issues experienced by GLBT people. The impacts of discrimination,
homophobia and violence were reflected in an analysis of 2007 Australian Bureau
of Statistics data which shows that GLB people were more than twice as likely to
experience ‘any mental disorder’. Alarmingly, homosexual and
bisexual people were more than three times more likely to have had an affective
disorder such as depression compared to
heterosexuals.[83]
[31] Marian Pitts, Anthony Smith, Anne Mitchell and Sunil Patel, Gay & Lesbian
Health Victoria and Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society, Private lives: A report on the health and wellbeing of GLBT Australians (2006), p 51. At: www.glhv.org.au/files/private_lives_report_1_0.pdf (viewed
25 March 2011).
[32] Working It
Out, Homophobia in the Workplace (2010). At: http://www.workingitout.org.au/homophobia_workplace.html (viewed 25 March 2011).
[33] South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission, Comment 110, p
3.
[34] Name withheld, Comment 9,
p 1.
[35] Inner City Legal
Centre, Comment 142, p 8.
[36] Name withheld, Comment 70, p
1.
[37] Romanadvouratrelundar
Starfield, Comment 27.
[38] WA
Gender Project, Comment 125, p
3.
[39] A Gender Agenda, Comment
107, p 14. See generally Women’s Legal Centre (ACT & Region), Comment
106, p 2-3.
[40] Organisation
Intersex International, Comment 82, p
7.
[41] GRAI (GLBTI Retirement
Association Inc), Comment 140; Hawkesbury Nepean Community Legal Centre, Comment
97.
[42] See also MetLife Mature
Market Institute, Out and Aging: The Metlife Study of Lesbian and Gay Baby
Boomers (2006), as cited in GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc) and
Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, We Don’t Have Any of Those
People Here: Retirement accommodation and aged care issues for non-heterosexual
populations (2010).
[43] Peter Keogh, David Reid and Peter Weatherburn, Lambeth LGBT matters: The
needs and experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans men and women in
Lambeth (2006), as cited in GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc) and
Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, We Don’t Have Any of Those
People Here: Retirement accommodation and aged care issues for non-heterosexual
populations (2010).
[44] Ruth
McNair and Nikos Tomacos, Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, Not yet
equal: Report of the VGLRL Same Sex Relationships Survey 2005 (2005), as cited in GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc) and Curtin Health
Innovation Research Institute, We Don’t Have Any of Those People Here:
Retirement accommodation and aged care issues for non-heterosexual populations (2010).
[45] Freedom! Gender
Identity Association, Comment 90, pp
3-4.
[46] See, for example, Dr Jo
Harrison, Comment 78; GRAI (GLBTI Retirement Association Inc), Comment 140;
Freedom! Gender Identity Association, Comment 90; National LGBTI Health
Alliance, Comment 112.
[47] WA
Gender Project, Comment 125, pp
4-5.
[48] Melbourne Roundtable on
sex and/or gender identity, 9 November 2010. See also The Gender Centre, Comment
48, p 3.
[49] National LGBTI
Health Alliance, Comment 112, p
6.
[50] Name withheld, Comment
120.
[51] Above.
[52] Inner City Legal
Centre, Comment 142, p 9.
[53] Romanadvouratrelundar Starfield, Comment
27.
[54] Melbourne Roundtable on
sex and/or gender identity, 9November
2010.
[55] Freedom! Gender
Identity Association, Comment
90.
[56] Above.
[57] National LGBTI Health
Alliance, Comment 112, p 6.
[58] A Gender Agenda, Comment 107, p
16.
[59] Above.
[60] Above.
[61] OUTthere, Comment 72,
p 4.
[62] Sydney roundtable on
sex and/or gender identity, 28October
2010.
[63] Marian Pitts, Anthony
Smith, Anne Mitchell and Sunil Patel, Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria and
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society, Private lives: A
report on the health and wellbeing of GLBT Australians (2006), p 51. At:
www.glhv.org.au/files/private_lives_report_1_0.pdf (viewed 25 March
2011).
[64] Alan Berman and
Shirleene Robinson, Speaking Out: Stopping Homophobic and Transphobic Abuse
in Queensland (2010), p 43. See also Murray Couch, Marian Pitts,
Hunter Mulcare, Samantha Croy, Anne Mitchell and Sunil Patel, Australian
Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, TranZnation: A report on the
health and wellbeing of transgender people in Australia and New Zealand (2007). At: www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/downloads/arcshs-research-publications/Tranznation_Report.pdf (viewed 25 March 2011). This study found that 87.4% of transgendered survey
participants experienced at least one form of stigma and
discrimination.
[65] Lynne
Hillier, Tiffany Jones, Marisa Monagle, Naomi Overton, Luke Gahan, Jennifer
Blackman and Anne Mitchell, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and
Society, Writing themselves in 3: The third national study on the sexual
health and wellbeing of same sex attracted and gender questioning young
people (2010), p 51.
[66] Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Comment 121, p
9.
[67] Above.
[68] ACON, Comment 109A, p
2.
[69] National Centre in HIV
Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, HIV, viral
hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia Annual Surveillance
Report 2010 (2010), p
46.
[70] ACON, Comment 109, p
8.
[71] ROAR Feminist Collective,
Comment 141; Erinyes Autonomous Activist Lesbians, Comment
143.
[72] Melbourne roundtable on
sex and/or gender identity, 9 November
2010.
[73] Above.
[74] Lynne Hillier,
Tiffany Jones, Marisa Monagle, Naomi Overton, Luke Gahan, Jennifer Blackman and
Anne Mitchell, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, Writing
themselves in 3: The third national study on the sexual health and wellbeing of
same sex attracted and gender questioning young people (2010), p
39.
[75] Name withheld, Comment
105.
[76] Dr Paul Howat, Comment
7.
[77] Name withheld, Comment
105, p 3.
[78] Name withheld,
Comment 70, p 3.
[79] Youth
Affairs Council of Victoria, Comment
152.
[80] Suicide Prevention
Australia, Position Statement: Suicide and self-harm among Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgender communities (2009), p 3. At: suicidepreventionaust.org/_notitia/FileHandler.ashx?id=EF740238ACF5729B7B20F25703BFD96611BF6D12 (viewed 25 March 2011).
[81] Murray Couch, Marian Pitts, Hunter Mulcare, Samantha Croy, Anne Mitchell and
Sunil Patel, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, TranZnation: A report on the health and wellbeing of transgender people in
Australia and New Zealand (2007), p 28. At: www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/downloads/arcshs-research-publications/Tranznation_Report.pdf (viewed 25 March 2011).
[82] Fiona David and Peter Bailey, Comment 147, p
3.
[83] See Australian
Bureau of Statistics, National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2007), p 32. At: www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4326.02007?OpenDocument (viewed 25 March 2011).