Words can and do kill

From my coming weekly news post: 

verbal violence against a woman suffering from the autoimmune disease (alopecia areata is NOT androgenetic alopecia which is ordinary baldness) alopecia was followed by a physical violence response - with the latter receiving most disapproval (there was a fair bit of sexism as well)

The commentary has almost exclusively - certainly overwhelmingly - been focused on the act of physical violence, with almost no-one showing any consideration for the victim of the verbal violence. 

Make a teaching experience out of it? Oh puh-leeze.

FFS, things like gaslighting cause massive devastation, some racist words are banned because of the harm they cause - directly and indirectly, and there are major sections of law around defamation! 

Words do not do serious harm?

Some such words signified events such as the beginning of a lynching or a pogrom. 

Words can and do kill.

Words can and do drive people to commit suicide. 

Words can and do kill. 

Now, physical violence is NOT an appropriate response unless the aggressor is behaving in a threatening way (e.g., chasing the victim with a raised axe, clenched fist, or a gun). Will Smith's response was wrong; so was Chris Rock's pseudo-"joke".

Would anyone go something to be abused by, for instance, fat-phobic people, or to be subjected to racist abuse, or to misandry or misogyny? 

No - and it is not reasonable to expect them to. 

It IS reasonable for people to expect that they can go out and enjoy themselves without being subjected to threats of or actual violence - including verbal. If there is no protection against such abuse, people will stop going out - that does happen, and when it does, the BLAME and need for counselling lies with the abusers, not their targets. 

The PROBLEM is that the laws on these matters date back to an era with patriarchy was endemic, and thus a lot of decisions were made by clueless, privileged males. 

If there had been genuine gender equity back then, would we have had decades of sexist abuse in the streets, police siding with domestic violence abusers, and gaslighting? NO! The harm that words do would more likely have been recognised, and the stupid laws that minimise and decry anything not macho (such as emotions) would not exist. 

This whole incident and response REEKS of sexism - especially the males leading the "words don't matter charge".

 

An interesting book by a military historian on the white supremacism of the confederacy in the US Civil War

I'm currently reading an interesting book by a reformed "southern gentleman" on the white supremacism of the confederate rebellion in the US Civil War. An indication of the quality of the book is the following quotation: 

"We find it hard to confront our past because it’s so ugly, but the alternative to ignoring our racist history is creating a racist future." 

The book is "Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause" by Ty Seidule. 

I recommend it.

Interference in "the free performance by a member of the member’s duties as a member" by intimidation

In view of this (key content copied below), why has action not been taken against the reported intimidation of a Member of the Australian Parliament by the Prime Minister?

 By virtue of section 49 of the Constitution, the House has the ability to treat as a contempt:

    … any act or omission which obstructs or impedes … [it] … in the performance of its functions, or which obstructs or impedes any Member or officer … in the discharge of his duty, or which has a tendency, directly or indirectly, to produce such results … even though there is no precedent of the offence.

Whilst the House thus has a degree of flexibility in this area, section 4 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act imposes a significant qualification:

    Conduct (including the use of words) does not constitute an offence against a House unless it amounts, or is intended or likely to amount, to an improper interference with the free exercise by a House or committee of its authority or functions, or with the free performance by a member of the member’s duties as a member.

Aged pensions in Australia: a background

Something I have thought throughout my life is that it is possible for governments to invest money for future purposes - this is, in fact, being demonstrated now by the future disasters  funds (which has wrongly not been accessed), and internationally by similar sovereign  wealth  funds. My view has always been that aged pensions should be paid by the return on the investment of a portion of the taxes I have paid - and that economists who claim that this results in money not being used are either incompetent or liars, as they are saying money invested from private or public sources into the same activities has a different outcome - despite being put to the same use!

The notion that aged pensions should be paid for by other taxpayers is utterly absurd.

I have now found that there was a historical basis for this - that our Second World War government actually used this as a fund raising measure (links below), and later governments stole the money (just as governments have irresponsibly - stupidly so - stolen money that was being accumulated for replacement of infrastructure in my home state, in the 70s/80s [there are smaller  programmes now] - I cannot find an online link, but it was discussed when I was studying for my Engineer of Water Supply). 

There are a few things we, as a society, need to come to terms with: 

• taxes are necessary for a reasonable life; 
• as we move to a no-growth economy, we are going to HAVE to live off balanced budgets (one of the reasons economists argue deficits don't matter is that they are a much smaller percentage of future economies - which will no longer happen once we have finished decarbonising our economy and stopped population growth);
• when you build or obtain something, it (a) needs maintenance, and (b) has a finite life, after which it needs replacement.
  One of my regrets is not keeping a personal allocation of funds for that purpose going after I bought a boat to live on and subsequently wound up ashore but with step-kids. I'd urge you, Dear Reader,  to, if you can without failing on other obligations to dependents, do what I failed to do.
  This concept for forward planning and prudence applies also to groups - up to and including nations. One of the reasons my home state wound up with railway signalling that was dangerous was decades of people finding excuses to put off spending money (at least that is now being fixed - particularly with the road and rail separation projects, which is a lifesaving project - and the signalling was improved in the 2000s, and is being further improved). A more extreme example of that problem can be found in the USA (see here, here, here, and here), which has had decades of people in political positions (whether elected or appointed) currying voter favour by cutting back spending - and that has killed quite a few people over decades, and hopefully whatever was left of Biden's infrastructure bill will address that.
  Planning ahead also includes planning for aged care pensions, and increased health needs as people age.
  The claims that such measures are "unaffordable" (i) ignore decades of failure to plan ahead (or even THINK ahead), and the reality that taxes CAN  BE  INCREASED - or at least recovered more equitably from large corporations and the ultra-wealthy. Such claims are, in my opinion, signs of ideological bias, incompetence, or mistruths made for political purposes.
  

The notion that people "need" private superannuation - especially given the appalling  performance of so many - is nonsense.

The alternative that was implemented during WW2 is outlined at: 

• https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-27/berg-chifleys-political-time-bomb-70-years-in-the-making/5480154; 
• https://cairnsnews.org/2017/01/18/malcolm-fraser-stole-your-lifetime-pension-contributions/; and 
• https://morningmail.org/who-stole-the-pension-fund/.
  

What we need - especially in response to the climate crisis - are governments that: 

1. are not afraid to spend when and where it is needed (which includes on social needs - unless you want food, anti-tech or other riots, as have happened throughout history [see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here] );
   
2. will tax equitably (i.e., ensure corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay a reasonable rate/amount); and 
3. are unafraid of persuading their electorates of the importance of raising taxes when it is necessary. 

Some (mostly) human rights links and thoughts

Black Lives Matter! Be Anti-Racist, Anti-Sexist, and Actively Inclusive in ALL Areas.
The Climate Crisis is real, urgent and existential!

The Pandemic is Real, and Vaccinations save lives. Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a face mask in public, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in situations of vulnerability (including economic) while the COVID-19 pandemic is a problem.

Some human rights (including significant, relevant links in other fields - such as geopolitics, democracy, or authoritarianism) links: 

• on the climate crisis and environment: 
• a toxic chemical released by tyres wearing on roads has been found in Australia for the first time;   the national neolib nitwits are speeding extinction;   the importance of forests;   another warning of the risk of the climate crisis - this time by former military leaders so beloved of the national neolib nitwits;   oil pollution by shipping;   the deadly risk of extreme heat;   criticism of our emissions reduction scheme as a "rort";   microplastics have been found in human blood;   the world's richest 1% are driving global warming;   the "Fridays for Future" campaign;   plans to boost India's use of manure-generation of power;  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic: 
• decades after advocates started calling for it, moves to improve ventilation of buildings;   another warning against lifting pandemic restrictions too soon;  
   
  
• on Putin and his cronies' illegal invasion of Ukraine: 
• an opinion that Russia is heading for strategic defeat in Ukraine (and this may be the undoing of the rabid bigots in power in Chechnya, also);   Russia has moved its attacks further towards Ukraine's western border, started using more advanced weaponry (which may interfere with its ability to respond to to or initiate other military violence) ... and now claims it goals actually lie in eastern Ukraine ... ;   Russia may have reached the point where it has to defend the land it has stolen (Ukraine has retaken some of that) - and boost manufacture;   wounded Russian soldiers are "filling Belorussian hospitals";   an apparently accidental post has shown the probable death toll amongst Russian soldiers being comparable already to that over ten years in Afghanistan;   NATO will provide nuclear-biological-chemical protection kits;   the risk of Putin moving to biological, chemical or nuclear warfare (“Advocates for nuclear weapons have long argued that they keep the peace, acting as a stabilizing force,” said Stephen Young, the senior Washington representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Putin is turning that belief on its head, using the threat of nuclear war to deter others from intervening against his forces in Ukraine”), or using attacks on the hardware or software of the internet, are being considered and prepared for;
  
• Europe considers democracy is standing up against autocracy in Ukraine;   an examination of the possibility of this war triggering another Arab Spring (depends of quality of governance);   a call for oil companies to act on sanctions - which may open opportunities for African nations;   a French car maker has resumed operations in Russia . . . and stopped in response to protests;   Poland has expelled Russian diplomats;   sanctions have recreated the USSR;   the concept of a European defence force is being reconsidered;   the food shortages and price increases Putin's invasion of Ukraine is causing could lead to food riots;  
  
• Putin has been long cultivating and using neo-nazis, and using disinformation;   critics of Putin's war against Ukraine are fleeing  Russia - or risking arrest under a suppression campaign (which Kyrgyzstan is also echoing);   some idiots who don't realise (a) the means affects the end, and (b) tyrants never exist on their own, but with a clique around them (thus killing them only does not "remove" a problem) are calling for Putin to be murdered;   forced  deportations of civilians from Ukraine to who-knows-what abuses in Russia;   transphobic abuses by Ukrainians;  
  
• after slowing the internet, Russia has now banned some social media;  
   
• on international affairs: 
• a nuanced critique of the "security agreement" between China and the Solomon Islands;
   
  
•  on corruption and misgovernance: 
• continuing concerns about aged care; 
  
• concerns that a war memorial is continuing to accept money from inappropriate donors; 
• as a femicide unit starts to have successes (including reclassifying crimes that were covered up as alleged "suicides"), "the most persuasive explanation for the containment of violence in Yucatán has to do with coordination between federal and state elected officials, as well as among state security agencies"; 
• a resignation letter shows that a US enquiry was not going to bring POTUS45 to justice;
   
• on democracy: 
• in a staggering attack on Parliamentary principles, Scott Morrison threatened to JAIL an MP if she spoke about a refugee deal; 
  
• Putin's key opponent has been jailed on what appear to be politically motivated charges; 
  
• an opinion that "ABC should expose News Corp’s agendas, not Labor’s “Mean Girls”";   the campaign to get a social media platform to pay fairly for news;
  
• a comparison of how nations declare war; 
• recommendations for an improved judicial system, in my home state;
   
  
• on human rights: 
• "four million Somalis [are] in danger of starvation";   the crisis is continuing in Afghanistan;   another legal action against Australia by refugees - which will finally allow some refugees to leave ongoing abuse;   Iran's use of abusive - and sometimes fatal - "hostage diplomacy";   Tigrayan fighters have agreed to a cessation of hostilities;   as hunger grows and violence resumes, a call to extend the Human Rights Council-mandated Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan;   violence in Somalia;   the abuses in Uganda, DRC, Sudan, Mali, and Sudan;   France will investigate allegations that the Emirati general who heads Interpol has used torture;  
  
• the USA has finally caught up with the rest of the world and determined that Burma committed genocide against the Rohingya years ago;  
  
• a reminder that child abuse victims include males (and I'll also remind that abusers can be female);    more indirect abuse of children by threatening teachers who are openly gay or lesbian;   a US state has proposed a law to protect TGD children from other US states;   a homophobic US clerk can be sued;   homophobia in Sri Lanka has been condemned;  
  
• Malaysia's government has shown how stupid and backward it is by promoting a conversion abuses app;   as concerns are expressed by an expert about Victoria Police investigating themselves, a police officer who indulged in transphobic abuse has been acquitted;   fatally violent LGBT-phobia in Iraq;  
  
• as a new register is  used, the air-brushing of racism in Australia;   Indigenous people have a right to know the truth about colonisation;   gag clauses are preventing Indigenous people opposing industrial developments on their land;  
  
• more on the misogyny in sport;   feminism in China;   the misogynists in control of Afghanistan have shown they lied to the world;  
  
• religious repression in Yemen (it's not all the rebels); 
  
• a suggestion for "shadow boards" for human rights organisations; 
• a short term rental is using secret (social media etc) surveillance of potential customers; 
• a call for a sports organisation to stop allowing sportswashing; 
• Mali is attempting to stop the truth about the death in custody of a former Prime Minister being revealed; 
• China will put an Australian journalist on trial (or show trial?) for allegedly spying; 
  
• a call to address poor sleep resulting from the gig economy and other practices as a human rights issue;
   
• extreme stress - including workplace bullying - causes heart problems.

Surveillance and bigotry

So a short term rental service has been using a surveillance service to judge people on the basis of, in part, what is said about them on social media. This plays right into the hands of despots like Putin, who lie about people and use such blatantly false accusations as a way of attacking and harming people they don't like. 

It also plays into the hands of gossipers, who are a particularly vile expression of hate, in my experience, and bigots.

When such apps are used by companies, it is also a potential limitation of freedom of political expression - too many corporations are pressuring their employees to toe the company line, or even to become conduits for advertising in their personal life. Decades ago I worked for a psychopath who even tried to tell us what party to vote for!

Not attacking one's company publicly is, in most cases, a reasonable requirement (I'd rather take problems up directly with the organisation and work at changing the problems) . . . but what if, if we go back a few decades, your company was helping build gas chambers for the nazis?

What if your company was evading lawful sanctions against wrongdoers - whether in relation to Putin and his cronies' illegal invasion of Ukraine, the genocide against the Rohingya in Burma, or some other human rights abuse? 

What if your company was exacerbating the existential climate crisis? 

Petty, vindictive and unjustifiable criticism of companies is wrong, and companies are entitled to expect their employees refrain from that (and I'll add that no company I work or have worked for has been part of such egregious actions, except for a company in Queensland decades ago, which no longer exists, that helped facilitate coal mining), as well as to give appropriate levels of effort (matching the levels of pay) from their employees, but employees are employees, not slaves or some other form of property of that organisation, and the organisation is best served by enabling people to be their authentic selves at work, to have a decent and rewarding life outside of work, and encouraging independent, innovative & flexible thinking - including the company being resilient and robust enough to accept valid criticism (as is the case for my current employer, but hasn't always been the case for past companies).

Learning the lessons of history

A comment I am noticing a fair bit in relation to the invasion of Ukraine is along the lines of "learning the lessons of history" (which brings to mind the joke about those who study history are doomed to watch the mistakes of those who don't). Notably, one I read said we should be looking back to the West's inaction (under Clinton, who - IMO - was notoriously inept at international human rights and thus this sort of action) on the wars against Chechnya.

This point is also emphasised in Catherine  Belton's "Putin's  People",which I posted briefly about here.

Fair enough - I agree with that, but the lessons have to go back far enough, so let's also remember the lessons of the USA's disastrous regime change in Iran in the 50s, when they kicked out a democratically elected government, the devastation of France's attempts to keep hold of Algeria (recently marked by events commemorating an anniversary), and the utter devastation of Nigeria preventing Biafra separate in the 1970s - which is a little akin to what happened in Chechnya, perhaps.

Then, perhaps let's reflect on things like the ongoing and under-acknowledged war  and  famine in Yemen, the insurgency in the southern Philippines, the atrocities being committed in Burma, Tibet, and Xinjiang, the dictators in Uganda, the military junta in Sudan and the destruction of democracy in Nicaragua (currently being feted by the USA as a make-up source of oil), and REALISE that these lessons still apply elsewhere, and there are ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES NOW to prevent future disasters like that being seen in Ukraine - where racism has been part of the abuses. 

And after that, let's have a chat about the sanctity of national sovereignty vs. the sanctity of self-determination - too much of what is going wrong in the world today hangs off that. 

Putin’s People

I am currently reading Catherine  Belton's "Putin's  People", which gives a detailed account of corrupt, violent, and criminal actions before, during, and after the collapse of the USSR, with a focus on Putin's rise to power. 

I am still getting into it, and the content is concerning, but consistent with what I have come across from others. Furthermore, at the time of collapse, quite apart form the allegations of this book (there has been one successful challenge by one person to the comments about them, but other challenges will be "robustly" defended), I objected to the unseemly haste of the transition to capitalism - it was just always obviously stupid, and going to cause massive suffering (including deaths), and those advocating for it it were, in my opinion, blockheads (which I have found is bolvan in Russian - болван in Cyrillic characters). 

I haven't finished it, but on the strength of what I have read so far, it is worth considering buying, IMO.

Some (mostly) human rights links and thoughts

Black Lives Matter! Be Anti-Racist, Anti-Sexist, and Actively Inclusive in ALL Areas.
The Climate Crisis is real, urgent and existential!

The Pandemic is Real, and Vaccinations save lives. Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a face mask in public, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in situations of vulnerability (including economic) while the COVID-19 pandemic is a problem.

Some human rights (including significant, relevant links in other fields - such as geopolitics, democracy, or authoritarianism) links: 

• on the climate crisis and environmental issues: 
• a major funding boost to the export-solar-power-from-Australia project;   conservationists have bought a fishing licence to create a net-free zone;   "trees: why they’re our greatest allies against floods – but also tragic victims";   the Supreme Court has undone decades of climate crisis activism and moved contrary to other courts around the world (but the arguments made should be read and taken into account - they show political, policy, and judicial inadequacies that may);   "final talks on U.N. biodiversity pact open in shadow of Ukraine";   a call for corporations to stop lobbying against the planet having a future;   a warning not to be distracted by series of disasters now from the causative climate crisis;   the national neolib nitwits have politicised the climate crisis;   a sustainable way of manufacturing steel (and other products) is being developed - and Australia could benefit from that, given good leadership . . . ;   the Great Barrier Reef is having a massive bleaching event;  
  
  
• on the COVID pandemic: 
• China is facing its worst ever outbreak as France appears to have reopened too early,  Victoria is asked to keep mask rules for key workers, and the WHO warns against complacency;  
   
  
• on Putin and his cronies' illegal invasion of Ukraine: 
  
• protests by Russians against backward  lashing-out  Putin's invasion using Russia's demoralised military - which the ICJ has ordered to stop - continue - as does the violent repression;   the Russian Orthodox Church in the Netherlands has split with its Russian heads;   
• Ukraine has acknowledged it will not become a member of NATO;   a warning against the simplistic "the enemy of my enemy is friend";  
  
• an assessment of the risks of the war widening (interesting and important comment that Russia has only mobilised tactical, not strategic, nuclear weapons);   Lithuania, which has borders with Russia to the east and west - has declared a state of emergency;   China - which is conflicted but inclined to blame the West anyway - has been warned by the USA not to enable Russia to get around sanctions;  thoughts on limiting the spread of violence by neighbouring authoritarian nations;  
  
• another warning on the developing global food crisis - which is being exacerbated by Russia's blockade of hundreds of grain-laden ships trying to leave the Black Sea;  
  
• a perspective on human rights and the invasion;   why some people are staying in Ukraine (reasons include, for instance, caring for elderly or others unable to move);   the mixtures ("silence and violence") for those living in Ukraine;   a misogynist extremist group is backing Putin;   more disturbing accounts of racism by Ukraine (one African woman reports being beaten severely enough to cause an early onset of her period);   the attacks on civilians - and  hospitals - are continuing, although they are considered war crimes but not genocide;   an interesting reflection on courage;   Russia has ended its pretence of caring about any human rights by leaving the Council of Europe's human rights body;  
  
• how to archive social media content for future use, and the importance of verification - see also here, on the opportunities and risks of social media, and here, on the benefits of "a little" media freedom;   China and a conspiracy fantasy group are embracing Putin's lies;   Russia's collapsing internet;   Putin's use of Orwellian  doublespeak;   a history-based series putting the current war into context is continuing;   social media is blocking hate speech against Ukrainians, but not Russians;  
  
  
• on international affairs: 
• a dozen ballistic missiles, suspected to have been launched by Iran, have hit a Kurdish city in Iraq - for fortunately with no fatalities, but one civilian injury; 
• a call to "trump-proof" the USA's nuclear codes; 
• "rising US isolationism means Australia must become more resilient and autonomous";
   
  
• on democracy: 
• protests in favour of democracy in Tunisia and Sudan, where security forces gang raped a woman;
  
• the opposition in Zimbabwe are being suppressed by police; 
• "men frequently follow their parents’ political outlooks while their sisters more often reject conservative thinking"; 
• Ministerial staff are being taught how to subvert Senate estimates reviews; 
   
• on human rights: 
• Saudi Arabia has killed 81 people, including children, for alleged terrorism and "deviant beliefs";   as the humanitarian crisis continues in Tigray, Ethiopian soldiers burned civilians alive and executed three aid workers;   violence in Mali;   more disturbing details of the USA's training of people to use torture on detainees;   Russian mercenaries have been torturing civilians in Mali;  
  
• another ethnic group is being victimised by China;  
  
• a powerful  backlash against a US state's vicious transphobic attack on children;   the solid medical foundation for supporting TGD children;   NSW police have provided a lip service  apology for their terrifying pro-Putin, homo- and bi-phobic, ableist actions against a 78er at the recent Mardi Gras (how about apologising to Ukraine also?);   in the UK police are homophobic, misogynistic, and racist (I know someone who left the UK police in disgust at exactly that sort of behaviour);    an apology by a newspaper for more than a century of destroying TGD lives;  
  
• more evidence of the extensive and developed economy of Indigenous Australians before the white invasion;   "almost half the massacres of Aboriginal people were by police or other government forces" (which cannot be a surprise given recent pro-Putin and long standing anti-LGBTIQ, racist and misogynistic behaviour by police - where is their apology to Indigenous people?);   activism will continue despite woeful reporting on Indigenous issues in Australia;  a cultural fisheries programme will be launched for Tasmania's Indigenous people;   grave and disturbing revelations about the police officer acquitted of murder - and his father;   continuing Indigenous housing problems;  
  
• a call for Egypt to stop prosecuting women who speak out against sexual violence;   "men think they’re brighter than they are and women underestimate their IQ. Why?";   Ecuadorian police abused women peacefully marching on IWD;   the UN Secretary-General has said that "gender equality [is a] ‘fundamental prerequisite’ for peaceful, sustainable world";   domestic violence survivors will be given assistance to scan phones and homes for spyware/surveillance cameras;  
  
• "Muslims in Australia experienced [a] surge of hate after Christchurch massacre" (mostly expressed by the cowards against women) - which is continuing violently;   
• a possible step towards justice in the DR Congo;   attacks in Burkina Faso;   the violent misogynists in power in Afghanistan - which has a massive food  crisis - have killed hundreds of civilians;   more info on the "NGO Group" and Pegasus no-click spyware that is being exported to despots;
  
• murder and suppression of journalists;   ore
  
• asylum seekers have been released from jail in Australia without any support; 
• people in India are fighting for the right to be forgotten online;
  
  
• on corruption and misgovernance: 
• powerful criticism of the national neolib nitwits by former emergency service leaders of the inept / lacking response to the still continuing flood crisis;  the national neolib nitwits have successfully crippled the human rights commission;  
  
• revelations of misuse of money by public trustees - see also this;   
• a restructure two years ago led to warnings then that it would harm the NSW SES's ability to respond to disasters such as the recent floods; 
• the need to protect whistleblowers in Africa;  
   
• on natural disasters: 
• major damage from a cyclone in Mozambique;   
• lack of funds to address drought in Somalia;
   
  
• the slowly developing and isolating problem of insomnia; 
• inadequate quality of rental properties for heat waves;   
• an apparently one sided ban on a political symbol (the Eureka flag, but not right wing / extremist symbols) - including on projects not connected to the Commonwealth;
• some decent businesses are rallying behind to move to give gig workers paid sick leave;
  

The stupidity of some attempts to collect data on TGD people

Update No. 1 

 I've gained access to some FoI information about debates on the topic of including LGBTIQ+ people for the last census, and my initial reactions are: 

• The inclusion of LGBTIQ+ people is essential, and long overlooked; 
• The acknowledgement of the reality of non-binary and intersex is a very belated and very welcome and essential step forward; 
  
• The people in the ABS (especially the "statisticians") phrasing the questions are either clueless, heartless, or bigots - and fail to acknowledge that past data is actually wrong . . . EXCEPT that it is recommended SOME questions have a "prefer not to answer" option; 
• The submissions made appear to be vague and well-meaning, but focus exclusively on getting inclusion, and FAIL to recognise the potential problems - especially the trauma that can be caused, which all trivialise to "sensitivity".
  This can kill people, you idiots.
  

I have asked the organisation I referred to below for more detailed and specific information, so anticipate being able to further update this in due course. 

I'm going to begin with a stupid question I received while presenting recently on LGBTIQ+ issues in my workplace, when we were discussing adding pronouns to signature blocks:

"Doesn't adding pronouns push people into making a choice?"

No. 

No it doesn't, IPOC (I managed to stop swearing at the time, but the trauma of this question led to me taking some sick leave), and for the following reasons:

• firstly, the overwhelming majority of TGD people know their preferred pronouns, and those who are questioning appreciate being able to change when they know; 
• many TGD people know that they prefer "they or them"; 
• the majority of those doing this are cisgender people with decency and the desire to be good allies; and
  
• trying to pretend gender doesn't exist is an utter nonsense.
  

I have also have come across a foretaste of yet more stupidity for the next census because - allegedly - of TGD advocates. The survey I saw, which was by an allegedly LGBTIQ+ organisation, shows what they are going to push, which is to ask for: 

• sex at birth; and 
• gender now.
  

This is allegedly because cisgender people were confused. Did they include explanations in the trials - like the explanations they buried deeper in the survey I saw? Why are the explanations AFTER the questions?

This is traumatising - not just "upsetting" as claimed when I contacted the organisation responsible: it is the exact opposite of the gender affirmation that is CRUCIAL to supporting the wellbeing of TGD people.

It is also mathematically inefficient. I doubt that they would be able, without doing a LOT of data manipulation, determine the different needs for:

• pre- (including voice training and electrolysis for M2F TGD people), non-, and post-operative TGD people? 
• different operative needs for those who choose gender affirming surgery (for instance, F2M operations involve chest reconstructions, not - as sometimes mis-described - double mastectomies, which is not an issue for M2F [who predominantly do NOT receive silicone breast implants])?
  
• the ongoing needs of, for instance, F2M (including gynaecological) vs the different needs for M2F (no cervix or uterus but still need some gynaecological support and subject to risks of breast cancer + bone loss problems) and non-binary?
• the varying extent of needs for psychological support - which, on the basis of the experience of myself and others I know, is related primarily to the amount of discrimination we experience. That is reduced when documentation is aligned with correct gender, but that doesn't appear to be covered in the survey I saw.

On that last point, the experience of many TGD people has been that all people who ask what the TGD person was at birth has been, without exception, wanting to discriminate - possibly violently. (This also ignores the reality that most TGD people were, in the essence, the gender they knew they .) That trauma is being triggered by the moronic construct of questions in this survey. 

The claim that this is somehow about getting data, when other approaches are available, does not take away or minimise that trauma. To put that another way, I see no difference between those responsible for these questions and the transphobic bigots who ask these questions as a prelude to violence. 

In fact, none of the survey had any sense of being supportive or affirming of TGD people - asking what current gender is does not counterbalance or even mitigate having asked what sex at birth was. (Do those involved in constructing this survey know how difficult reassignment was in the past, and that such questions trigger that?) From an ethical point of view, shouldn't the survey provide counselling / emergency contacts for those who need support at the start? After all, it is compelling respondents to out themselves - and that will be even more so when it comes to the Census. There was a suggestion that the organisation would propose this as an example to the ABS, and thus those behind it have a duty of care to the more traumatic situation of being coerced (in the legal sense) to out oneself to an organ of a notoriously transphobic government.