A 10-point guide to not offending transgender people

Published in the Research School of Physics Event Horizon
Vol42 Issue21 30 May–3 June 2016

From the RSPE Equity and Diversity Committee

"Society is moving very quickly." said musician Joseph Tawadros on the ABC's Q&A program. "There's still a lot of people who don't understand transgender — I don't understand all the aspects of transgender people," he said. "But I just have to respect that."

Tawadros's comments were directed at pioneering feminist, academic and author Germaine Greer, who had been asked to defend her long-held views that trans women "are not real women".In doing so, Greer managed to yet again offend the trans community by saying that trans people "couldn't know" that they were born the wrong sex.But Greer is not the only person to have offended the trans community, who say slights and casual transphobia appear all too frequently in the media.

So, we decided to compile a guide for those wishing to understand and discuss issues of gender with respect and without inadvertently offending the trans community. It's not comprehensive, but it's a start.

For more information, see:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/a-ten-point-guide-to-not-offending-transgender-people/7326584