J R McKenzie Trust at Sydney WorldPride 2023
Matthew McCracken (Grants, Partnerships and Relationships Manager at the J R McKenzie Trust) reflects on his recent trip to attend two Sydney WorldPride Conferences.
It seems appropriate to be writing about the topic of discrimination against individuals of the rainbow community after recent demonstrations against anti-transgender rhetoric. The rainbow community is one that J R McKenzie Trust has an interest in supporting as it works to address inequitable and discriminatory practices. To expand on the Trust’s understanding, I had the opportunity to attend two conferences in Sydney as part of WorldPride celebrations. This was the first time WorldPride took place in the Southern Hemisphere and the LGBTQIA+ Human Rights Conference was the largest ever held.
Sydney was a city full of rainbows; it seemed all businesses and corporates had joined into the celebrations of supporting the rainbow community. No doubt much of this was an attempt to market to those who had travelled from around the world for WorldPride celebrations. This scene created the backdrop for discussions on advancing the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, which was at times very confronting.
Photo / Tran Sformr / Flickr
I attended a side conference dedicated to resourcing LGBTQIA+ movements in Asia and the Pacific. This is important as only 5% of total funding for LGBTQIA+ groups is distributed to the region.
Overall, themes from this conference focused on increasing unrestrictive funding to organisations that are working on the frontlines of discrimination against the rainbow community and a call for the philanthropic community to do it’s best to hold governments to account for the human rights violations happening in Asia and the Pacific.
Photo / Matthew McCracken
During the following three days, over 1,800 people attended the WorldPride Human Rights Conference. Campaigners, activists, First Nations leaders and elders, policy and law makers, elected officials, researchers, and academics shared their experiences and hopes for advancing the rights of the rainbow community.
Trans rights are increasingly under attack
Photo / Ehimetalor Unuabona
An area of concern for many activities at the conference was the increased attack against trans rights and how feminist groups are being hijacked on discussions of gender. The increase in rights for trans people has seen a backlash globally which has resulted in a vulnerable group within the rainbow community coming increasingly under attack (sometimes physically). The overwhelming message from the conference is to embrace women in all their diversity and that division is a tactic being deployed to break down human rights advancements.
The need for LGBTQIA+ focused health services
A study conducted by University of Victoria in Australia highlighted suicide attempts by adults across the rainbow community, and while this study focused on Victoria, researchers said this is similar in all parts of the world. It was part of a larger discussion on how current health systems (Aotearoa New Zealand included) is failing LGBTQIA+ people. Trans men and women, and nonbinary people are overrepresented in poorer health outcome statistics. Intersex children are still operated on to alter their gender without their permission, which is a violation of their human rights and causes health issues later in life.
Decolonising Gender and sexuality
Photo / Tran Sformr / Flickr
Decolonisation was a major theme throughout both conferences, and the organisers had a focus on the representation of indigenous people from around the world. This resulted in conversations and presentations on the intersectionality of racism, decolonisation, and sexual identity. Pacific and Māori speakers shared that fixed gender and hetero relationships are a concept of the colonisers with Takatāpui, Leiti, Fa’afafine (plus others), being a part of everyday life of Pacific and Māori cultures. These speakers shared the importance of whānau being paramount above religion and other imported concepts.
Intersectionality – Climate Change
Another major theme was the focus of the intersections within which members of the rainbow community can find themselves, resulting in facing multiple inequities. There was a clear call to acknowledge that the impacts of climate change will be compounded for those in the rainbow community. Those in small island states are already lacking access to resources, rights, and community connections which results in disparity for LGBTQIA+ people. As one speaker put it: “There are no rights on a dead planet”.