WEBVTT - The people importing Trump's anti-trans tactics to Australia 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:03.760 Sam the Knight, Donald Trump was elected. What were you 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:10.879 seeing and hearing from the transgender diverse community. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:17.040 America's future will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer and 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:21.160 stronger than it has ever been before. God bless you 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:23.479 and God bless them. Eric, Thank you very much. 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:28.760 There was just absolute, widespread panic. People were really worried 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:33.080 about things like upcoming surgery appointments that they had been canceled. 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.440 People were worried that they weren't going to be able 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.879 to get access to their hormones like testosterone or estrogen. 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.200 People were talking about moving to Canada, like quite seriously. 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:46.680 People were swapping information about where a safe country is 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.920 for trans people to live. Yeah, it was really scary 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:51.720 and I've never seen anything like it. 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:56.120 As trans people in the United States had to escape plans. 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.240 Sam Malcolm is preparing for what the Trump era will 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.880 mean the trans people here in Australia. Just this week, 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.960 Queensland has announced children will be denied puberty blockers while 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.920 the state government launches an investigation and agenda affirming hormones, 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.040 and some federal politicians have begun voicing their support for 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:21.320 Trump's tactics. From Schwartz Media, I'm Daniel James. This is 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:26.000 seven am today. He contributed to the Saturday paper Sam 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:30.000 Alkin on what's behind Trump's obsession with trans people and 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:38.880 whether his anti trans tactics will work. Here. It's Friday, 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:48.040 January thirty one. Sam, thanks for speaking with me. We 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.080 know Trump's been signing a hell of a lot of 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.840 executive orders. Can you tell me about the ones that 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:53.840 affect trans people? 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:58.040 Yeah, well, within hours of taking offers, he started signing 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.600 these executive orders to a tail transigenderverse people's rights. So 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:06.960 there was the first executive order that was called Defending 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:11.079 Women from gender ideology extremism and Restoring Biological Truths to 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:15.359 the Federal Government, which is a very cumbersome title, mouthful 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:16.760 it sure is. 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:22.320 As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.040 of the United States government that there are only two genders, 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:27.960 male and female. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.920 Basically, that says that all US federal agencies have to 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:39.360 focus on a very narrow, biologically contestable version of sex 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:44.520 as an immutable biological classification as either male or female, 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:49.480 which is determined at conception. Also, anybody who works for 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:53.560 a federal department, they can only have their birth sex 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:59.640 recognized in their identity documents and things like passports, visas 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:04.320 and government records like that can only use a person's 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:09.600 birth sex of male or female. So this executive order 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.080 will of course require new legislation, but it's already having 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:18.640 an impact on housing, health, education, every aspect of a 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:20.320 person's life. This is going to impact. 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:22.880 Can you tell me how that will work in practice? 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.000 One thing that has happened is the Attorney General has 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.600 been directed to ensure that trans women can no longer 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:34.320 be housed in women's prisons and to reverse policies that 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.200 allow trans people to access the bathroom of their choice. 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:43.600 There are policies designed to protect LGBTIQA plus workers in 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.720 the US at the moment from discrimination, they're going to 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:51.720 be rescinded entirely, and teachers who make efforts to support 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:55.400 their trans or non binary students by discussing things like 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:58.800 gender identity could be terminated from their employment just for 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:04.160 talking to their students about these issues. Gender affirming medical 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:09.160 care to people under the age of nineteen has been restricted. 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.560 In order states that the US will not fund, sponsor promote, 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:15.760 assist or support the so called transition of a child 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.200 from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.240 all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:23.280 altering procedures. 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:28.239 And really concerningly, people detained in prisons and immigration detention 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.960 centers will no longer have access to gender affirming treatment. 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.880 And so for somebody who's in prison, there's nowhere else 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.039 to go, right, you can't sort of rely on the 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:41.360 community or use other services. And in a really concerning 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:46.080 sign for trans people's ability to travel in the US 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:50.680 or around the world, last week, the newly minted Secretary 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:54.480 of State Marco Rubio has directed his agency to freeze 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.800 passport applications that contain a request for an ex gender 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:02.560 marker or for a change gender. White House Press Secretary 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.719 Caroline Leavitt said US citizens will have to use their 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.919 god given sex, which was decided at Perth. And there's 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:15.159 been an executive order barring trans people from military service. 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.080 President trump'sign an executive order calling transgender people unfit to serve. 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.919 One part says being transgender is quote not consistent with 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.279 the humility and selflessness required of a service member. 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:29.800 So many people are members of the US military, and 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.800 you know, for many people, it provides a kind of 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.880 lifeline to accessing education and healthcare and things like that. 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.120 So this issue actually impacts a lot more people than 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:44.559 you might expect, but none of these has occurred in 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:49.440 a vacuum. We're seeing anti trans legislation and anti LGBTIQA 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:54.240 plus legislation going on all across the world. Ghana, Bulgaria, 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.440 Georgia all introduced legislation in twenty twenty four, and of 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:02.039 course in the UK the use of puberty blockers for 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:05.960 those under eighteen has been banned until at least twenty 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:10.159 twenty seven. So social conservatives here in Australia will have 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.720 no doubt been paying close attention to what's going on 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:13.640 in the US. 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.880 Coming up after the break, Will Trump's anti trans tactics 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:34.559 work here? Sam Or We've seen some Trump style moves 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:38.120 in Australian politics. How luckily are we to see a 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.359 tax on trans people's rights here in Australia. 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.799 Yeah, we've already seen that. This week, the Queensland government 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.359 has announced that it's pausing gender affirming treatment for people 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.240 in the public system under eighteen years of age, so 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.600 young people, which is really really concerning. 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:59.039 As parents, as communities, as a state, we owe it 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.880 to children to ensure that care is grounded on solid 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:07.280 evidence and that we act in this contested area and 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.480 this developing area with caution. 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:12.560 I read the other day that there's four hundred and 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.960 ninety one people who were already on that wait list, 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.760 and so instead of them getting to the front of 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.760 the line, they're just no longer going to be able 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.160 to have access to that. And gender affirming treatment for 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.960 young people is so important because people not having access 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.840 to that is going to cause immediate harm. And data 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.280 from the Transjustice Project and the Victorian Pride Lobby has 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.320 shown that antitrans hate has increased over the last few years, 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.880 and this I think is a direct result of the 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.400 fact that the media spotlight is so often upon us. 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.320 I think it's really likely that we're going to see 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.240 a lot of victriolic coverage about transigender verse people in 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.960 the lead up to the upcoming election. 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.880 And if there is an uptick in victriolic coverage, as 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.960 you say, what do we know about the positions of 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.000 the major parties and whether they'll buy into this. 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:05.480 Yeah. 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:10.720 Well, last week prominent Nationals MP's Barnaby Joyce and Matt 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.920 Canavan voiced their support for Donald Trump's moves to recognize 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:19.520 only two sexes, and in a sky News interview, Nationals 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.440 leader David little Proud said he wants to stop trans 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:26.520 women from participating in women's sports. So I think the 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.440 Nationals have made their position clear on this for the moment. 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.760 It seems that Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton doesn't appear 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.880 to see explicit attacks on the trans community as being 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:43.320 an election winner. In response to Little Proud's comments, Dutton 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.000 said that the Coalition had no plans to change our 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:50.679 position in relation to that issue. Prime Minister Anthony Albanzi, 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.040 I'm sure is also keen to avoid discussing transgender issues. 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.040 The Prime Minister has confirmed a back down on the 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.000 controversy surrounding the census. 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:04.480 The Albanezy government quietly pulled the lgbt QI census questions 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.240 an attempt to avoid what it said could be a 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:08.320 divisive debate. 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.520 He was then forced to reverse his decision to remove 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:15.440 gender and sexuality questions from the census. So he's made 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.079 it pretty clear that he doesn't really want to touch 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.080 lgbt IQA plus issues at all, and I'm sure he 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.680 doesn't want to talk about them or be embroiled in 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:25.720 a debate in the lead up to this election. 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:30.000 In Australia, what are the rights that transigender diverse community 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:31.240 is still trying to achieve. 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.680 Yeah, well, we're obviously in a much better situation here 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.080 in Australia than we are in the US at the moment. 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.079 We've got, you know, some really important protections under the 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.439 Sex Discrimination Act, and it's various state based equivalents, and 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:50.080 you know, for that, I'm really really grateful. You know, 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:52.960 in most states and territories now you can change your 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:59.000 birth certificate without first undergoing sterilizing surgery, and you can 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.240 update your gender mand on your passport without having had 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.360 a surgical intervention, which is really important. There's also stuff 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:10.040 like conversion therapy to change or suppress a person's sexuality 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:14.080 or gender identity that's been prohibited in some states and territories. 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.679 But yeah, there's still so much that we need changed. 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.520 Access to healthcare can be incredibly difficult for transgender diverse 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:26.920 people of any age, but particularly young people to access 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.560 gender affirming healthcare in rural areas, regional areas, and very 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:34.680 much remote areas. So that's still something that we really 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:40.400 really need to change. And street harassment continues. Trans women 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.319 and trans women of color in particular much more likely 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:48.960 to be harassed, victims of assaults, and so on. And 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.360 this continues and is probably only going to continue when 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:56.280 there's a vitriolic media debate about us. You know, being 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.400 somebody who is in the trans community, obviously I know 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.080 a lot of trans people, but I am aware that 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:05.400 we form a very very small minority, less than a 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.320 percent of the Australian population, and the fact that there's 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:13.640 just so many articles constantly about trans issues is disturbing. 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.760 So Sam, like he said, trans people are a very 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.760 small proportion of the overall population. What do you think 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.600 there is such a focus and obsession even on your 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.520 community from people like Donald Trump. 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.160 Yeah, well, we're very much in the middle of a 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:31.920 moral panic around this issue. And I don't think that 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:36.240 Donald Trump necessarily cares about transigender diverse people either way. 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:41.640 He's using us to divide and distract the broader US population. 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:46.160 This is part of Trump's broader attack on what he 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:50.400 calls the quote unquote woke agenda. But all of this 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.000 is just a smoke screen to help Donald Trump to 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:58.680 prosecute his agenda, which is to further cut living standards 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:03.360 to ordinary people engage in mass deportations, cut back the 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:07.040 public service and give massive tax breaks to the rich. 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:12.880 At the moment, we're up as the people being focused 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.000 upon to curtail our rights. But I'm sure we won't 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.080 be the last. You know, whenever a tiny subsection of 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:23.920 the population is being targeted, everybody's rights are up for grabs. 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:28.920 Sam, thank you so much for your time. 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.640 Thank you. 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.280 You can read Sam Malcolm's reporting and tomorrow's edition of 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.440 the Saturday Paper. Sam was a co editor of Nothing 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:54.120 to Hide, Voices of trans and gender Diverse Australia. Also 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.240 in the news. There's been widespread shock in our cry 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.160 as Donald Trump signed an executive order to reopen on 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.120 Tonamo Bay as a migrant detention center. The Navy base, 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.960 which became infamous during the so called War on Terror 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.960 for torturing inmates held in indefinite attention, will be repurposed 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.400 to hold up to thirty thousand immigrants. The President of 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.080 Cuba is among the critics of the order, calling the 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:20.599 move quote an act of brutality on a legal occupied 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:24.760 Cuban territory. ANASA Caesar will not lift the terror threat 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.440 following the discovery of a caravan filled with explosives on 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:33.080 Sydney's outskirts, alongside a list of Jewish targets. It follows 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.640 as both Prime Minister to Anthony Alberisi and New South 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.160 Wales Premier Chris Mins have condemned the discovery as an 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:44.000 anti Semitic terror plot. ASIO Director General Mike Burgess says 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.800 the threat level last raised in August last year, has 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:52.120 unfortunately involved almost exactly as expected. Seven Am as the 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.600 daily show from Schwartz Media and The Saturday Paper. It's 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.960 made by Adigus Bastow, Shane Anderson, Chris Dangate, Eric Jensen, 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:06.760 Ruby Jones, Sarah mcveee, Travis Evans, Zoltefecio and me Daniel James. 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:09.640 Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.600 of Envelope Boudier. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.