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THIS WEEK, a television advert by bookmaker Paddy Power that was labelled as “deeply transphobic” by an Irish transgender support group was suspended from UK television and most Irish TV stations.
The Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) had said that the advert made transgender people feel “mocked and ridiculed” and called for its withdrawal. Although the British television advertising clearance body Clearcast had initially approved the ad, which Paddy Power defended as “a bit of mild mannered fun”, it has since apologised for any offence caused by its broadcasting.
In the advert, a narrator announced that Paddy Power aimed to make the 2012 Ladies’ Day “even more exciting by sending in some beautiful transgendered ladies”. Viewers were then shown images of different women and invited to “spot the stallions from the mares”.
TENI Board member Louise Hannon welcomed the suspension of the advert, saying that the message contained in it caused “enormous damage” to the transgender community:
“It increases mockery and encourages people, especially young guys, to hurl abuse. It may even lead to physical violence,” she said. “It also discourages young transgender people from looking at their issues, which can lead to depression and even suicide”.
Hannon said she was “deeply disappointed” that TV3 was continuing to broadcast the ad.
She explained that it was “a lack of awareness” about transgender issues in society that led to the production of such material – and to a lack of understanding about why it is so offensive.
Dr James Kelly, a clinical psychologist in Dublin’s Diamond Therapy Clinic who diagnoses people with Gender Identity Disorder (GID), says that many misconceptions still exist about the condition.
“Gender Identity Disorder a diagnosable, psychomedical condition that is recognised across cultures and across time,” said Kelly. “It is medically recognised by both the World Health Organisation and the American Psychological Association. It is not a lifestyle choice.”
Kelly said that people are more familiar with the condition in recent years because of exposure through media and television – for example the transsexual storyline in Coronation Street or Portuguese woman Nadia Almada winning Big Brother in 2004 – however, misinformation about GID still persists.
One of the most pervasive misconceptions about the condition it that carries has a sexual element – as those unfamiliar with the issue can confuse sex, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, Kelly explained. “For example, cross-dressing is a behaviour that drag queens, transvestites and transsexuals all do – so there’s no way of knowing if the person who is cross-dressing is GID or not” he said. However, he added, people engage in that behaviour for different reasons.
Kelly contrasted the behaviour a transvestite, who might cross-dress as part of a sexual fetish, to the behaviour of a person suffering from Gender Identity Disorder: “With GID people it’s something they are born with, not conditioned into. It would never be something they would choose, or be caused by parenting or have a sexual element,” he said.
“Instead, when they do get into their cross gender role, it’s like a whole new life,” he said, “It’s complete and utter relief because they can finally be themselves.”
“These people take very difficult steps – sometimes at great personal sacrifice. Theirs is a very serious condition: it’s not done for entertainment or shock value,” Kelly explained.
Similarly, Hannon said that many transgender people are “practically invisible” as they go about their daily lives in a normal manner: “I know people who are professors, solicitors – all sorts of people. They just get on with their lives… but they’re not the ones who get the media attention.”
The Transgender Equality Network (TENI) offers the following definitions of sex, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation:
Similarly, the European Transgender Council says that people who fall under the “trans” category include those who have a gender identity which is different to the gender assigned at birth and those people who wish to portray their gender identity in a different way to the gender assigned at birth.
It includes people who “feel they have to, or prefer or choose to, whether by clothing, accessories, cosmetics or body modification, present themselves differently to the expectations of the gender role assigned to them at birth. This includes, among many others: transsexual and transgender people, transvestites, cross dressers, no gender and genderqueer people,” according to the ETC.
While GID is now accepted as a condition, legal barriers still exist for trans people who attempt to have their gender formally recognised in certain countries.
In the Republic of Ireland, it is not legal for a person to alter the sex presented on their birth certificate – although the Gender Recognition Act 2004 has made this possible for those living in Northern Ireland.
This has not gone unchallenged: In 2007, Dr Lydia Foy, a dentist from Co Kildare, secured a landmark ruling when she went to the High Court to demand the establishment of a legal route to have her female gender recognised. The judge subsequently ruled that Ireland was in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights by failing to provide such a process.
However, no legislation has yet been put in place in Ireland for the recognition of transgender persons.
In May 2010, the Fianna Fáil government established the interdepartmental Gender Recognition Advisory Group (GRAG) to advise the Minister for Social Protection on the legislation required to provide for the legal recognition of trans people. The government said that the legislation would have to cover several areas, including:
CRAG’s report was published in June 2011. It contained some proposals that proved contentious in some sections of the transgender community, including the recommendation that that trans people in existing marriages would need to divorce before the gender could be legally recognised.
It also recommended that those applying for legal recognition of their gender needed to undergo a psychiatric assessment and be given a diagnosis of a mental disorder before their gender could be legally established – a suggestion which some trans people reject.
Writing in TheJournal.ie, Hannon rejected the proposal, articulating the objections of many transgender people by insisting it was forcing her to choose “between (her) proper birth certificate/legal recognition and accepting that (she was) suffering from a mental condition.”
It should be noted that differing opinions exist when it come to defining the condition: Gender Identity Disorder Ireland says it is “distressed” by claims that Gender Identity Disorder or Gender Dysphoria is a mental illness, a mental disorder, a sexual lifestyle or psychosexual disorder. GIDI also says that it is “entirely wrong to include the condition under the various ‘trans’ umbrella terms.”
“This association with “trans” is wholly inappropriate harmful, and for some, is causing a great deal of confusion and distress,” the group says.
The lack of legislation for Irish citizens wishing to alter the sex on their birth certificate is out of step with some other European countries and has led to the existence of some legal anomalies. Last week, for example, a transgender woman in Ireland received official recognition of her acquired gender when she entered into a civil partnership with her partner.
Because the Civil Partnership Act requires that civil partners to be of the same gender, the official recognition of the woman’s partnership by the Civil Registration Service also – by extension – recognised the woman’s acquired gender.
Notably, the woman at the centre of the case (referred to as “Maria”) is not an Irish citizen. If she had been she would not have been allowed to enter a civil marriage.
Instead, an EU law on free movement for workers allows Maria, an EU member state citizen, to live and work in Ireland. Under that law, the Irish authorities must accept her gender as recognised by her home country, where she is fully recognised as female and has a birth certificate and identity documents all showing her gender as female.
When dealing with their gender identity issues, some people have an easier time than others, says Kelly – who works with patients aged between 10 and 76 years of age.
“It can sometimes depend on how feminine or masculine they already look. And, then, some people will do things to mask their cross-gender preference – engaging in ‘ultra macho’ activities for example – in order to deny or suppress this need,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that he and his patients engage in “very goal-orientated” sessions – which can include speech and language services, presentation advice and therapy. Not all patients will decide to have gender reassignment surgery, he says.
“It’s important to understand that not everybody transitions – not everybody can. We try to use a construct-therapy to look at the barriers – be they social or occupational for example – and we analyse those together to find out what’s important and doable. Not everyone has surgery or is on hormones.”
If a person does decide to transition, they would do so with the support of a counsellor. While gender reassignment surgery is not available in Ireland, patients can be prescribed hormones.
Hannon explains that the psychological and, sometimes, physical journey that a trans person goes through can be a “long process”, and stresses the need for people to be given support when they are young. As people in the transgender community are part of a misunderstood and marginalised group, they face a very real danger of harassment and discrimination, which can force them to the fringes of society, Hannon says.
People can lose their jobs because of problems they are having – or they may have been bullied in school and have left without a good education. People need support at a young age in order to become productive members of society.
If they do not receive the proper support, Hannon says, many end up living in poverty – and it’s these people who suffer “the deepest pain” caused by careless stereotyping.
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Thank you to The Journal (& TENI), that was very informative; I feel a little less ignorant now. I wish more of the media here would cover this (and other ‘taboo-ish’ subjects) as comprehensively.
I’d never heard of “pansexual” before so for anyone else: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pansexuality
Firstly, good news that this ad was pulled in the UK. As I understand it however, TV3 are still airing it. It needs to be withdrawn on that station as well. It is crass and offensive and should never have aired in the first place.
Secondly, on the broader issue of transgender rights, Ireland has been out of step with best international for far too long and it is time to accord the dignity and recognition that trans people deserve without delay. S
I find it weird that this is discussed as a “disorder”. Does that not suggest that it could, or should be “cured”? Would homosexuals accept their desires being referred to as “gender preference disorder” or similar? I doubt it.
@random, I felt unsettled as well about the use of “disorder” as it seemed odd, to say the least, given the statement: “…it’s something they are born with…” The article does use the word “psychomedical”, and, of course, you can be born with a medical disorder – for example, asthma in my case – but if I grew up and felt/knew I was a different gender, I don’t think I’d like it referred to as a disorder; it would just be me being me. No?
Compare like with like here – Homosexuality is a preference, and requires no modification to engage in. There is no ‘mismatch’. The reason GID is labelled a disorder is because there is disconnect between the apparent and understood gender, which is difficult, hence transitioning etc…
Oh David, “Homosexuality is a preference…” I won’t even go there; okay just a bit: sexual orientation is not a choice!
I guess the reason why I – and I won’t speak for @random – was bothered by “disorder” is that it is usually associated in people’s minds with “mental”, i.e., there’s a psychological illness as the root cause of the disorder. I don’t believe this is the case with transgender identity, but the use of the word above did make me think “eh!?” – this might be more down to my ignorance of what psycho medicine is…
‘Preference’ does not mean ‘choice’ so please refrain from putting words in my mouth. GID is a disorder because there is the feeling of being the wrong gender, hence corrective measures being taken etc – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder
David, I just copied and pasted your words, and did think twice before adding my “is not a choice” bit. Not here to argue.
Before today I hadn’t heard of Gender Identity Disorder and just replied to explain why “disorder” threw me. Thanks for that link, the third paragraph of it is what I was looking for.
I think I see now… The “disorder” is not that the individual’s gender identity is wrong, just that it does not match their body. The “cure” is not to change the person’s identity to match their body, but vice-versa. Strange how that is less offensive, but there ya go. Thanks for the input David.
Chopper, David probably means homosexuality is a preference for the same sex, just as heterosexuality is a preference for the opposite sex, and bisexuality is no strong preference either way, rather than a preference to be gay/straight/bi.
Random, homosexuality used to be considered a disorder. Perhaps GID won’t be considered so in the future. But as you say, there is a cure, changing the body. I wonder if someone is still considered to have GID after that?
Thanks for the explanation Mollydot, I realised when I saw David’s response that I’d misunderstood his use of “preference” – apologies to David. I shouldn’t have responded, but I’d rather be wrong than quiet about certain things :)
Learnt a lot from this article.
Good article and best of luck to TENI with tv3.
boo. either its all ok or nothing is. theres no such thing as freedom of speech in this country. ye are all offended by stupid things like humorous ads, and not nearly offended eniugh by serious things like the erosion of welfare, the quality of healthcare and education. if we as a country stopped wasting our time being offended we.d be able to achieve something. and i sincerely do not care if anyone is offended by this. as frankly thats why we live in a country like this is so we can and do say what we want freely. so to end. stop wasting time being offended by stupid things. its a waste of good time.
spot the stallions from the mares? if this was a racist ad (il let you come up with similar offensive tags yourself) there would be upraor! whats worse is trans people get so much shit already that this really doesnt help, talk to a transgender person and see what they put up with and its not surprising they’re so pissed off
Sean Finn just because it does not affect you does not mean it is not serious, it is obviously serious for people dealing with these issues all their life. Also we don’t live in a country where we can do and say as we like, free speech comes with a responsibility to show respect to people with different opinions to us.
Sean Finn, the advert encouraged people to “spot the trans” which almost always results in some kind of harassment. For trans people, that’s a very serious issue, directly related to their welfare especially because of how easily these confrontations turn to violence.
Transwomen do their best not to be seen as trans. By saying “Pay attention to trannies”, Paddy Power has seriously undermined their efforts and caused them a lot of harm. It is already uncomfortable enough going anywhere trans, without a big fucking arrow being placed over your head.
Please educate your self before making a comment. Nobody is censoring anyone’s right to an opinion. But adverts have to have standards. If there was no freedom of speech, you wouldn’t be able to make comments like that.
Sean, I think your comment could be clearer. Let me rephrase it for you.
I don’t care if you’re offended. Stop being offended!
We can say what we want. Stop talking about this!
Being offended is a waste of time. I’m wasting my time being offended by people being offended.
Looking forward to seeing it now!
Why, because you’ve actually learned about the kind of people it’s hurting now, so it pleases your morally bankrupt sadistic side all the more?
Nice to see such an informative article.
8 people don’t like being informed. What.
sometimes I wish I hadn’t learnt to read.
And I wish you hadn’t learned to type!
your hadn’t should be didn’t perhaps you should learn to type.
Also Des, I think he’s still having trouble with that one. He corrects your grammar but his capitalisation and punctuation are pretty dire amongst other things.
I’m pretty well spoken but I will regularly make mistakes, it doesn’t mean anything. What’s more indicative of your intellect is whether or not you can engage experts in their field and accept what they have to say. Alzee can’t do that, or refuses to.
my friend is a one-legged, blind, black, transgendered, turret’s ridden, albino midget of Hispanic heritage and he/she/ whatever your havin yourself does not see anything wrong with the ad.
You have a friend???
When he says friend, he means hostage.
Regarding James Kelly’s defense of the term “Gender Identity Disorder”, if we lived in a more tolerant and enlightened society, where we embrace transgender and intersex people as having genders equally valid to those of men and women, then there would be less need for transgender people and intersex people to turn to clinical psychologists such as James Kelly.
A lot of transgendered people don’t want to be some third gender though. Transsexuals, M2Fs and F2Ms, don’t. Other “transgender” people may find themselves in between.
I think there are 5 genders as outlined in that YouTube video I linked to. The Bugis tribe of South Sulawesi recognize 5 genders: men, women, calalai (transmen or fermaphrodite), calabai (transwomen or mermaphrodite) and bissu (intersex or hermaphrodite) .
People won’t need to undergo gender reassignment surgery or hormone replacement therapy and so on to be assigned to the gender of their choice. But, they can, if they want. A 5 gender society makes for a much more stable and stabilizing society. A dualistic two gender society copying the two sex human society is inherently unstable.
The majority of trans people do undergo HRT(especially with MtFs) though, so I don’t think it’d really be a step forward. And also I don’t think it’s fair to distinct between a transwoman and ciswoman, especially if that transwoman is one that is post Op and passes 100%(not that it makes them “More of a woman”, just that it makes even less sense according to current societal constructs to distinct someone like that).
Quote :transgender people may identify as lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual, queer or asexual
Would like to see a definition of queer in the context of the other 6 terms.
Hi Jimmy,
The Gender Equity Resource Centre at Berkeley says that the word ‘queer’ can be used to mean one or more of the following:
- An umbrella term to refer to all LGBTIQ people
- A political statement, as well as a sexual orientation, which advocates breaking binary thinking and seeing both sexual orientation and gender identity as potentially fluid
- A simple label to explain a complex set of sexual behaviors and desires. For example, a person who is attracted to multiple genders may identify as queer
Hope that helps – see here for the link: http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms#queer
Good article but why name the offending company? You are giving them exactly what they want – free publicity.
I’m waiting for the exposé documentary – showing how they will stop taking your bets when you start winning, and how they encourage compulsive gamblers to waste their wages every week without a care.
cool name gobble gobble
I’m so sheltered.
So why not do something about it and educate yourself? Plenty of great resources out there.
There is no such thing as “Gender Identity Disorder” in my opinion. Clearly, there are, at least, 5 genders as outlined in this YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9VmLJ3niVo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
The reference to transvestites is unfortunate but it’s very revealing to watch and listen to.
“Gender Identity Disorder” is so 20th century.
TV3 should pull that inappropriate ad. A fair and expeditous legal process should be put in place to allow people to change their sex on their birth cert and identity documents.
“In your opinion” – fair enough, but there are a lot of different theories with regards gender & gender identity out there.
Interesting thoughts. Read Kate Bornstein, you’d enjoy her work.
A lot of people who are gender variant have found novel and different ways to express their identity in different ways that don’t fall under traditional GID concepts. This is as valid and justified as anybody else is. However I do think the trans label is meaningful for some: the problem is that for those outside of the world of alternative lifestyles it is to easy to conflate gender differences with sexual preference or other differences. I have met many men who though happily married, comfortable with their sexuality and with no desire to change sex are very attached to female personae that they play out when possible. It is not the same as cross dressing for fun, social expression or profit and somehow it is important not to suggest that those who don’t fit into traditional gender concepts but don’t want to change sex as fetishists or unwell. I think its important to allow people to adopt language that suits their own meanings rather than impose new labels that might be just as oppressive and dismissive as the old ones.
Thanks for posting this, by the way. It was greatly needed.
Why is it always the old, recluse past-it ones who ruin things for everyone else?
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Do they think that the younger generation is in any ways concerned with ‘their’ personal “journey” in a time when they resided in the European equivalent to North Korea?
And, worse than that, decided to throw away their lives (they only get one) by deciding to actually remain there?
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And then export their gender-nazi theories on everyone else who has had a different experience of socialisation (they only get one) in life? And, while denying that, infuse those with reminders of times “gone-by” ( no relation to their youthfulness intended).
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And, just ‘what’ is the connection of this item and current (-affairs) news?
Aren’t the Cheltenham ‘Ladies Day’ plans for the (please excuse the inferiority to Her Ladyship) holders of passports issued to ‘males’ who wish to access the event on ‘Ladies Day’ as-such, still going ahead?
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Yes, Irish have succeeded in removing the advertisements for this event in the United Kingdom, but regardless of them: is the promised event still going ahead?
~):(~
PS: why are the Gaelic trans____-community so opposed to equestrian sporting-events? Or, is it the gambling element that has folks going awry, and apparently burning the midnight oil to ‘defend’ their right to defend against offence, via the age-olde Irish tradition of censorship?
PPS: Yawn if anyone thinks I am going to read this cut’n paste conjugation with semi-intended medical statements taken completely out-of-context and apparently used only to justify the individual offence of one person in some country to something they ‘personally’ find ought to be censored.
Then again, with the popish domination in the shire having been so complete for so long, there’s a good argument to state that the Irish learned ‘from the best’.
No offense, but I found that incredibly hard to read and I’m still unsure what you were actually trying to say…
What’s “pansexual”?
From Wikipedia: “Pansexuality, also referred to as omnisexuality, refers to the potential for sexual attraction, sexual desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction towards persons of all gender identities and biological sexes.”
If it’s got a pulse basically.
What a brilliant article. This is such a breath of fresh air compared to the usual shit newspapers say about Transpeople.
Just to answer the person who asked why it’s a disorder. It shouldn’t be one, if someone needs help to make the decision to seek therapy then they should be given that choice. But I believe people should be able to do what they like with their bodies, this is my body and I would rather no one dictate to me what I do or do not need.
I know I’m a man. I do not need two doctors to tell me that. The fact I need to be diagnosed just forwards the myth that Transmen are somehow lesser than cisgendered men.
~Transsssrant
Small correction: unless you have more information than is in the FLAC post, don’t say “last week”. It doesn’t specificy when Maria got civilised*, just that it was “some time ago”.
*so much easier to say than “entered into a civil partnership”.
Interesting stuff….
But the definitions beg some questions, if the diagnosis is now official, then therefore the criteria must be clear.
Seemingly the criteria are only the persons own beliefs, if this is so, how can a true condition of GID be distinguished from a case of mental illness?
For example, Mental illnesses in a lot instances can be recognized and diagnosed by irrational breaks from reality, or beliefs that directly contradict reality. Treatments hope to remarry the two back together is possible.
Isn’t this a contradiction? Does anyone see my point?
Also please don’t jump to take offense, this is a genuine question.
” if the diagnosis is now official” <- It's been official for a long time. If you're interested in the answer to your questions then you're going to have to research online. There's been a lot of study into the feel of transgenderism and there is a neurological basis for the "female/male brain structure" thing.
Leigh you are correct, but if you actually read the papers produced by such reports they all say one thing: that knowledge is incomplete and more work is required to draw definite conclusions. The reality is that we really do not know why some people are not happy with their biological gender and feel drawn to make permanent changes at high personal costs.
have your say