Takatāpui, transgender, other rainbow young people are more likely to be involved with Oranga Tamariki, and spend time in the state care system, than the general population.
Over the past 2 years, we’ve worked with a number of rainbow organisations and advocates as part of a Community Design Team, facilitated by Point and Associates on behalf of Oranga Tamariki. We carried out research to discover what takatāpui and rainbow young people want Oranga Tamariki to know about their experiences of living in state care, and how they want the system to change.
The report, Making Ourselves Visible, launches 14 June 2023, and will be available on our website once it is launched.
Join the launch webinar
The launch webinar will be held 14 June 2023, from 12 noon to 1pm. You can register here.
The webinar will be led by care-experienced rainbow rangatahi and will include a panel discussion with members of the Community Design Team.
This workbook discusses different kinds of communication, and provides tools for listening and responding in different types of situations.
This resource for transgender adults is from our online course The transgender guide to sex and relationships. You can download an interactive version from inside the course, which you can fill out on your device.
Today Sport NZ released “Guiding Principles – for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport.”
We’re really happy to see that they did a great job of hearing what sports players, governing bodies, and transgender people want, and affirming that everyone should be able to play community sports.
It’s great to see clarity that trans people can play as their affirmed gender, and that there doesn’t need to be any extra barriers to this.
“Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa (Sport NZ) has developed these guiding principles to support the inclusion of transgender people in community sports. The principles are designed to help all community sporting codes and sports organisations (such as clubs, schools and other sporting bodies) to foster an environment where transgender people are welcome, accepted and comfortable to enjoy community sport.” – Sport NZ
It’s so critically important that we have good data on what transgender people’s experiences are, so we can push for change and be heard. As an individual, it can be really hard to be listened to. But when we have research which shows 100, or 1,000 trans people share an experience, that’s hard to ignore. Take the Counting Ourselves survey.
What is the Counting Ourselves survey?
Counting Ourselves is an anonymous health survey designed by and for trans people, including binary and non-binary trans people from all across the country. It asks a wide range of questions about your well being – from healthcare experiences, to housing, discrimination, violence, safety, parenting, relationships, family. And a lot more.
It is quite long, but you can leave and then log back in later. The survey closes at the end of this month, so there’s no better time to start than now.
Who can take the Counting Ourselves survey?
You can take the survey if you are:
1. trans (binary or non-binary), and 2. aged 14 years or older, and 3. currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand.
It does not matter whether you use the specific terms ‘trans’ or ‘non-binary’ to describe yourself, whether you have transitioned or even plan to transition. This survey is for anyone whose gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth.
The more people who answer the survey, the stronger the evidence we will have to advocate for change.
Nau mai, haraemai ki te Well being and te moana: a snorkel event for trans youth in Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui – Taputeranga Marine Reserve Wellington, Feb 2022.
Join Gender Minorities Aotearoa and Mountains to Sea Wellington for an opportunity to connect, find calm, feel good, and have a heap of fun! We’ll be exploring the beautiful Taputeranga Marine Reserve on Wellington’s South coast, snorkeling with Mountains to Sea Wellington’s qualified snorkel instructors.
All instructions, support, health and safety management and equipment are supplied by Mountains to Sea Wellington. This includes a 5mm thick full length wetsuit and hood, mask, snorkel, fins and private change rooms. No prior experience necessary, we got you! This event is free to attend. If you want to bring a supportive friend or family member that’s totally welcome.
Our absolutely stellar snorkel guides will be on hand to guide you in your underwater adventures, getting you kitted out, answering any fishy questions you might have and generally looking after you whilst you take the plunge into the blue. This is an awesome opportunity to learn more about the fascinating array of sea creatures that seek shelter within the reserve’s protected boundaries right on our doorstep.
New snorkelers are of course encouraged, we love being able to facilitate peoples first snorkeling experiences. Don’t worry about equipment, we provide wetsuits, snorkels, flippers and masks. If you do have your own gear though, you are more than welcome to bring it along.
Once you register, you’re set to go! We will send you a reminder in January and make sure you’re all set. If we get more than 20 sign ups, we’ll create a waiting list for any future events and we’ll let you know in advance if you couldn’t get a place on the list this time.
Details
Who: a group of up to 20 transgender people, aged 24 and younger. Please note the minimum age for participation is 8 years old, and people aged under 16 must be accompanied by a snorkeling adult. Adults accompanying a young person will also need to register.
When: 11 February 2022, 3.30-6.30pm (if the weather is bad we’ll move to Feb 18)
Where: Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington.
Cost: free.
What to bring: togs for under your wetsuit, a towel, sunhat, warm clothes and hopefully a sense of adventure!
