Tag: gender

By Samora

As diverse people of Aotearoa New Zealand, we have come a long way in terms of establishing human rights and justice for all. However, a lot more can be done for the rainbow diverse community, where understanding can be further drilled within policies and processes, and through communication where there can be room for acknowledgement and respect. This would enable empowerment for all members who identify as either gender or sexually diverse, especially for the rangatahi (youth) journeying through these particular experiences. I use ‘gender/sexually diverse’ as an umbrella term, covering all the identities within LGBTQIA+, as well as cultural terms that have been introduced into this context by all indigenous communities in New Zealand.

What does it mean to be Rainbow competent? Ara Taiohi and RainbowYOUTH have both agreed that this means to value our rainbow individuals of Aotearoa and to share hope and light about their futures (ComVoices, 2018). We may think as a modern society that we are already achieving this, well actually, we are not. For example, enrolment forms for education institutes, referral forms for community services, and census forms for national counts, continue to produce the bias male and female option which disregards those who prefer to be known as transgender, intersex and most recently non-binary (Desmarais, 2018). With the increase of gender expression in our society, cisgendered (those whose gender matches their sex assigned at birth) folks should not assume that the heteronormative gender ideals are being made fun of. No. Instead the expression of sex and gender across a wide spectrum is indeed taken seriously because it represents authenticity and courage for some to exist, and that there is no room for any gender foolery in 2019.

Another aspect of this competency is about our approach directly towards gender and queer diverse youth who may show confidence in being themselves or not. A perfect tool found in the InsideOUT Resource ‘Starting and Strengthening Rainbow Diversity Groups’ and implemented across most safe spaces recently, is the use of introducing your preferred pronoun while introducing yourself to a new person. This idea around pronouns allows gender diverse members to be free to express who they are and what they wish to be referred as, without allowing anyone else to misgender them. To assume someone’s gender based on their appearance, is highly problematic. That is the same thing if we notice a young male who appears feminine and we assume he is gay, or if we notice a petite male with a high pitch voice and we assume he was born female. Some of us have strong gay or trans radars going off on what we think is correct, but the way we approach the queer and gender diverse community in professional settings, can put a large dent on one’s experience for them trying to be their authentic self in what is supposed to be a safe space for them.

I can go on and on about what it takes to become a rainbow competent star, but I will spiral this theme down into the world of kiwi social workers today, and how this diverse competency can make a difference in social work practice. In the last half a century, counselling has been the main field that young queer/gender diverse people have been led to, not only by parents but by social workers and other support networks. There is nothing wrong with Counselling models and frameworks as this level of support is focused on the individual closely. However it is the wrap-around support of the family and wider community that strengthens individuals which has a bigger affect (RainbowYOUTH, n.d.). Social Work is the vehicle for this wrap-around support that drives the focus around gender and sexuality issues for everyone, where sometimes counselling for the individual may not be needed. In other words, all competent social workers can show a deeper appreciation for diversity, by educating and role-modelling to parents, teachers, coaches of a young individual, to help strengthen the bigger picture. The resources have been provided, all social workers can lead the support in this sense or become strong advocates.

Rainbow competency can apply to all practices engaging with rainbow individuals, but I speak passionately about this because of my own journey of becoming a transwoman in the last decade, that the experiences of my past has helped with crafting my social work practice today. As proud as I am, I also believe in inclusivity, therefore to work with the rainbow community does not mean you have to identify as such, this mirrors the same idea of the following: working in addictions does not mean that you had to be a recovered addict. Working with different people of different paths is my thing!

References:

ComVoices. (2018, 13 December). Rainbow competency for mainstream organisations (Blog post). Retrieved from http://community.scoop.co.nz/2018/12/rainbow-competency-for-mainstream-organisations/

Desmarais, F. (2018, 15 November). Non-binary finery: The Kiwis whose gender doesn’t fit in a ‘neat little box’. Stuff. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/108178948/nonbinary-finery-the-kiwis-whose-gender-doesnt-fit-in-a-neat-little-box

InsideOUT (n.d.). Starting and Strengthening Rainbow Diversity Groups. Retrieved from http://insideout.org.nz/starting-and-strengthening-rainbow-diversity-groups/

RainbowYOUTH (n.d.). SUPPORT AND REFERRAL. Retrieved from https://www.ry.org.nz/what-we-do/support-and-referral