JK Rowling and Posie Parker

You can think of this article as JK Rowling part 1.5 if you like, but it involves a significant digression which I thought deserved an article of its own.

I've worked through the whole of The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, and there's a lot to talk about. My initial thoughts about the podcast are this:

1. Megan Phelps-Roper, the presenter, has an absolutely beautiful voice, which is a complete pleasure to listen to. Interestingly I had never heard JK Rowling's voice before I started listening to the podcast, and it wasn't quite the voice I expected.
2. The podcast has a very American slant to it. It presents many of the events of Rowling's life and career set against a backdrop of American cultural trends and events. There is some discussion of things which happen in the UK or the wider world, but not very much. This is understandable--but disappointing.
3. The Guardian reviewer (that I quoted in my previous article) is right: the podcast is too long and meandering. JK Rowling herself isn't actually in it very much--certainly not as much as I thought or hoped--and doesn't appear at all in Episode 6. I found myself wishing they would skip past what Americans all thought about Harry Potter and get back to what JK Rowling was actually saying. And I wished that they would stop cutting away from what Rowling is saying to put in little asides and quotes from other people. Thankfully there are transcripts available, which feature only what Rowling says, at the Rowling Library.

Posing as Parker: Keen-Minshull

New Zealand had a recent visit by a British woman who calls herself Posie Parker. Her real name is Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, and she is a mother of four who styles herself as a woman's rights activist, and an anti-trans activist. I had never heard of her before a couple of months ago. It turns out that her star seemed to start to rise in 2018. She's very active (and vocal) online, and also takes part in rallies and other events, in Britain and, increasingly, the USA.

Keen-Minshull announced in January of this year her intention to travel to Australia, and across here to New Zealand, in March. This stirred up some pretty fierce opposition, both from the Aussies (they let her in, and neo-Nazis came to her rallies) and the Kiwis. Various petitions were made.  Immigration Minister Michael Wood spoke about her “inflammatory, vile and incorrect world views”. Ultimately, however, it was agreed that Keen-Minshull was not considered a risk to “public order or public interest”.

Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōaro, and Auckland Pride filed for a judicial review in the High Court. They sought an interim order to stop Keen-Minshull from entering the country until the judicial review could take place, but the following day a judge ruled that it was unlawful to keep her out.

Keen-Minshull had planned two events: one was going to be in Auckland, in the large Albert Park on 25th March; the other in Wellington.

Keen-Minshull: They [the rallies] are outside because too many venues will cancel us.

Hounded: Keen-Minshull

Nobody was under any illusions about what was going to happen. She was going to get up on a podium, with a microphone, and make anti-trans speeches, and that's what she tried to do. However, there were large organised protests against her (some of my friends went in carloads to Auckland to protest) and they chanted loudly and blew whistles and trumpets before her appearance. While she had 150-200 supporters, the protesters were far more numerous, thought to be about 2000.

Ultimately she never got to speak. A protester called Eliana Rubashkyn poured tomato juice over her hair and she was escorted away by police and security officers. Watching the events on YouTube, the mood of the crowd was angry and hostile, and it definitely looked as if the protesters outnumbered the supporters. Keen-Minshull was jostled and jeered by the protesters, and the YouTube footage shows her security team had quite a hard time getting her through the crowd to the police and safety.

Keen-Minshull decided to cancel her Wellington rally the next day, and left New Zealand instead, announcing that it was the "worst place for women she has ever visited", and apparently vowing to return to NZ to "win this war". And JK Rowling voiced support, tweeting that a mob had "had assaulted women standing up for their rights".

There was general rejoicing here; certainly among the rainbow groups. A bad lady from another country had come here to spread hate speech and was sent packing with her tail between her legs. There seemed to be general congratulation aimed at an unrepetentant Eliana Rubashkyn, who was charged with common assault but is still awaiting sentencing. No other arrests were made; no injuries were reported and no property was damaged. My impression is that the general feeling is that no great harm has been done, as this cartoon from the Otago Daily Times suggests.

But was this the right outcome after all?

One of my correspondents expressed disappointment with the way Keen-Minshull had been treated, and said she should have been allowed her platform to speak. At first, I have to say, I disagreed. However, a few things made me reflect about it a lot more.

The first was that, while trans people and supporters were in great evidence at Keen-Minshull's rally, and officials seemed to be on our side (Finance Minister Grant Robertson wrote "As a country we need to keep our trans community close, and support them through this time"), there was a sharp rise in anti-trans hatred online in this country. Was this because she was perceived to have been maltreated here? Would the hatred have been worse if she had been allowed to speak? I cannot say.

Otago Daily Times cartoon

The second thing was something JK Rowling herself said, in episode 3 of the Witch Trials podcast (which was made before Keen-Minshull's NZ trip). The italics are mine for emphasis of particular points.

Rowling: I was starting to think about this a lot, subcultures that have their own rigid rules, acceptable beliefs, non acceptable beliefs, everything becoming very reductive. (...) And I was becoming really concerned.

I think the first time I became really interested in what was going on, sort of culturally, it was Milo Yiannopoulos. The alt-right provocateur, I suppose you would call him. And I’m watching from across the pond as he tries to speak on various campuses, and there are protests, riots. You know, "We want him de-platformed, we don't want him to speak at all". And I thought it was a terrible strategic error.

And my feeling was, you are giving this man way more power than he deserves by behaving in this way. It made Milo look sexier and edgier than he deserved to look. I thought it was a strategically appalling turn. Get on that platform and eviscerate his ideas. Get on that platform and expose him for the charlatan that he is. You push back hard, but you’ve given him so much power by refusing to talk.

(...) In fact, I thought they were serving his purposes, because he was able to walk away from that saying, “Look, they don’t dare debate me! This is how dangerous and edgy I am!". And I don’t think we want to cast the alt-right in that light. But inadvertently, [that’s what they’re doing].

And this is definitely true. Immediately after returning to the UK, Keen-Minshull gave an interview with (conservative-leaning) Spectator TV, where a very sympathetic interviewer (musician Winston Marshall) gave her a very free platform, and every opportunity to spin the narrative entirely in her favour without challenge. For example, they both speak of the "violence", when there wasn't any (nothing like what happened with Milo Yiannopolous's rallies in the US). They play a clip (starting at 0:44) of Keen-Minshull being jostled by the crowd, which was filmed by her own phone. In the image, you can see a hand firmly around Keen-Minshull's neck, appearing as if she is being choked--but the NZ Herald footage shows that the hand round the neck was one of her own security guards. It makes it very easy for her to claim that she was the victim, when to trans people and our supporters, she was the aggressor.

Keen-Minshull: I don't know if some latent trauma [from these events] is going to come along and bite me soon, but I'm OK. (...) 

What they inadvertently did, they did two things. Number one they whipped up a frenzy, but the other thing they did is they told everybody my name on a repeating--like so many times that people were like "Well, what is this woman? What does she stand for? How can I-- like, why are we stopping her from coming into the country?" And then they look me up, and then they agree with what I say, and what I stand for. So it had, em, you know, they did me many favours".

Oh dear! How could it have turned out like this?

How could we have done this better?

As always in my articles, a little discussion is in order.

Mysterious: Posie Parker

First, where does the name Posie Parker come from? I assume it's some sort of online identity, so that Keen-Minshull can't be identified, although since she has come out so publicly, everyone knows her real name and identity now anyway. So why keep it? Is it because it's plainly easier to say than Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull? Is it a play on the name Nosey Parker? The closest I can come to is a series of mystery novels set in the 1920's, written by L.B. Hathaway, which feature a female protagonist called Posie Parker. I can't imagine that either LB Hathaway, nor the actress Parker Posey are all that thrilled by the potential association with Keen-Minshull.

Second, I am forced to agree with Keen-Minshull (and JK Rowling): by not letting her speak, we have empowered her. We have given her publicity. We have given her an enduring image: looking upset, hair covered in tomato juice (symbolic blood!). As sure as eggs is eggs, she will display that image whenever she wants to appear like she is the victim of those violent, dangerous trans activists. In short, by not allowing her to speak, we've done her "many favours".

Third, where does free speech fit into all this? In retrospect, I think the decision to allow Keen-Minshull into the country was the correct one. She has a right to freedom of movement, and freedom of speech. That freedom exists, as several government officials have pointed out, even for people whose views we may disagree with. What she is not entitled to is a platform; she is not entitled to an audience; she is not entitled to not have protesters at her events (although clearly the protesters seem to energise her). NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, would not respond directly to her comments, except to say that he thought they were the "comments of someone who just wants to get a headline", and I think he is right.

Self-made martyr

How could we have done it better? I'm not sure. In retrospect, it's always clearer to consider what we should have done. If nobody had made a fuss, and Keen-Minshull had turned up to a crowd of twenty people with placards, and given a speech, and then nobody would really have taken much notice. Instead, she got a large jolt of publicity in her favour.

I think it's right to protest against speech we disagree with. JK Rowling's solution is "Get on that platform and eviscerate his ideas. Get on that platform and expose him for the charlatan that he is." That sounds so easy; so reasonable. But Keen-Minshull didn't come here for a debate! She didn't come here to listen to opposing views, consider them respectfully, and potentially modify her opinions--and she certainly didn't plan to share her platform with her opponents. Instead, she came to stir up trouble. It was made very clear to her that she was not welcome, and she chose to come anyway.

And she's vowing to come back to "win this war"--a war that she, and people like her, are perpetuating, rather than suing for peace. Instead of listening, debating, discussing, they are on the offensive. We cannot simply ignore her: she is too vocal now; too well-known online; too active, and with quite a large following. How can one counter an adversary, civilly and with dignity, who isn't being either civilised or dignified? It's an election year, so it's very likely that the government--and the opposition--will be very careful to try to position themselves favourably on issues of both trans rights and free speech.

I have no easy answers; feel free to add your own in the comments. Click here for the final part of this series.

Bits and Bobs

I've been collecting a few items of news, which aren't really worthy of a blog post all by themselves, but I have decided to put them together here.

Ukraine

Obviously, as much of the rest of the world is, I am appalled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Zi Faámelu

Before this invasion, I knew very little of Ukraine. On the other hand, I was surprised to find that if you rank my blog hits by country, Ukraine comes in 10th. This is almost three times higher than my own country, New Zealand! It won't come as a surprise that hits from Ukraine have all but disappeared since the start of the invasion.

The number of hits from Ukraine made me realise that there is a trans population in Ukraine which is trying to reach out across international boundaries. I took comfort from this--until I started reading. Until recently, being trans in Ukraine could result in you being institutionalised. Ukraine ranks 39th among the 49 countries in Europe for LGBT+ freedoms and rights. Gay marriage, for example, is still illegal.

Then I read stories like this one, which describe how transwomen attempting to flee Ukraine have been detained and turned back at borders. One transwoman, Zi Faámelu, describes in Rolling Stone magazine how she was repeatedly turned back at the border, because in Ukraine, military service is now mandatory for all males, and her passport still states she is male. Eventually she escaped by swimming across the Danube river into Romania. She is now living safely in Germany.

I can understand how the presence of war, plus a country just beginning to experience a little awareness and acceptance of rainbow people, is making life extremely difficult for trans and other rainbow people. But if Ukraine isn't friendly to trans people, Russia would undoubtedly be a lot worse. Russia ranks 46th on that list, and Vladimir Putin has described gender fluidity as "a crime against humanity".

One thing is for sure: the Ukrainians are showing that they are not willing to give up their freedoms and submit to the oppression and restrictions of Mother Russia. Hopefully once they send Mr Putin back to Moscow with a bloody nose, they can get on and grow in freedom and tolerance, as they have been over the last few years.

Ukraine has also won the Eurovision Song Contest for this year. As I've written before, the contest isn't so much a competition of musical talent as a sort of political popularity contest. This victory is definitely a message of support and encouragement from the rest of Europe to the people of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, to any Ukrainian people reading this blog, I salute your courage, and I hope that the war ends soon and you can rebuild your country.

PATHA

As a doctor, I'd known that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health was a thing. However, because I was still being very stealth, I didn't really want to put my hand up, because I thought I might be traced, and that might be a "bad thing".

However, that's changed now. New Zealand has an affiliated branch of WPATH, called the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa, PATHA. I got in touch with them, and they were delightful. I've paid my membership fee, and Dr Vivienne Marcus is now a full member of PATHA.

I'm not sure what this will mean for my future. At the moment I'm just trying to cautiously reach out to the other members. It's that equivalent of slipping in at the back of the lecture theatre and hoping nobody notices you. But I'm confident of full acceptance from them.

What's not so clear is how I can contribute to the cause. I don't particularly look after trans people in my daily work. I don't think being a PATHA member is going to really change anything about how I do my job. What I am good at is writing and teaching, and I've explained that to the executive on my application. It remains to be seen what (if any) contribution I can make. I will certainly notify you of anything momentous I end up doing.

Lofi Girl

I can't remember where I first saw an animation of Lofi Girl, but it struck me immediately as being both pleasing and familiar.

Lofi Girl is the name of a French YouTube channel and music label, which, which provides an endless stream of what Wikipedia calls lo-fi hip-hop, accompanied by an endless animation of a young woman sitting writing in a diary. The music is intended to be relaxing, background music, which can be used to accompany study, relaxing or other activity; in essence, audible wallpaper.

I like lots of things about this. First, I like the animation, which is clearly inspired by the sort of Japanese anime typical of the wonderful Studio Ghibli, whose work I adore. In fact, Wikipedia says they originally used a short segment from the film Whisper of the Heart, before being legally required to take it down. Since then, they have commissioned an artist to recreate an anime-like character (whose official name is Jade) to feature.

Vivienne as Lofi Girl

The Lofi Girl sits, looking thoughtfully at her book and writing by hand. She's listening through headphones (presumably to what we hear), deep in thought. From time to time, she pauses and looks up at the cat, which sits on the windowsill looking out of the window. Then she carries on. This provides just enough action for me to sit and watch it for hours. From time to time, the weather changes outside the window, and day turns to night and vice versa.

What I love about this is that she sits exactly the way I do. I love to write in my journal; I use a gorgeous fountain pen, and delicious inks from Jacques Herbin in Paris. And while Lofi Girl is a leftie and I'm not, I do sit with my chin in my hand while I write. And from time to time I pause and look up into the middle distance. Journal writing is my happy place; both an intellectual and a sensual pleasure.

Surprisingly, the part about Lofi Girl which attracts me least is the music. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but I find it quite samey after a few hours.

Amazingly, the Lofi Girl website allows you to customise the appearance of the Lofi Girl and create a still image. So this is what she would look like if she were Vivienne--complete with dog!

Georgina Beyer and Transgender Politicians

Georgina Beyer is a transwoman whose achievements have been extraordinary. Beyer is a New Zealand institution and the world's first transsexual Member of Parliament. But for those of you not from these shores, it's worth adding a little background.

Beyer was in office when I first came to New Zealand. What struck me about New Zealand (as I mentioned here on this blog) is what a masculine country it is. Men here are real men: they drive trucks, they shoot animals, they drink beer. And you can keep your other namby-pamby ball games: the national sport here is rugby. In fact, I stated here without irony that I have found what I consider to be the pinnacle of masculine behaviour here.

And yet, behind that façade there are some curious observations. New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, implementing true universal suffrage in 1893 (it took the US until 1920, and the UK languished until 1928). Wikipedia describes New Zealand as considered "one of the world's most stable and well-governed nations".

Wikipedia: Between March 2005 and August 2006 New Zealand became the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land (Head of State, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Speaker of the House and Chief Justice) were occupied simultaneously by women.

And one of my other heroes, Richard O'Brien, author of the Rocky Horror Show, grew up here and is now a citizen. For more of my reflections on New Zealand, read my article about him.

Georgina Beyer

So it's in this unusual environment that we find Georgina Beyer. Born in 1957, she had a turbulent and unhappy childhood. Her natural parents divorced when she was five years old. Her mother soon remarried. Beyer's stepfather was a lawyer (whose surname she took), but the marriage was not a happy one. Beyer was sent to boarding school where, feeling rejected, she attempted to take her own life. She left school at sixteen to pursue a career in acting.

Beyer always looked feminine, and was sometimes taken for a girl, which made her feel "far more comfortable". She moved to Wellington, where she met members of the gay and drag scene for the first time, including Carmen Rupe. "It was as if I had arrived home". She began to work as a cabaret artist and occasionally a prostitute, and took drugs. During this time, she was attacked and raped by a group of men.

She underwent full sex reassignment surgery in 1984, at the age of about 27. She began to have success as an actress, but was usually typecast as transsexual or transvestite characters, and she had difficulty finding work. Eventually she enrolled in a government-sponsored training scheme in the small country town of Carterton.



Her Honour the Mayor of Carterton

Carterton, a small "redneck" country town, predominantly white, was slightly taken aback by the presence of a Maori transsexual woman. But it's clear that Beyer is a person of extraordinary abilities, and her openness, ability, integrity, and determination, soon won over the locals. Friends suggested that she stand for election to Carterton District Council, to some outrage from the standing members, and she was eventually elected Mayor, in 1995, at the age of 38.

A natural leader, outspoken and fearless, and with great experience to draw on, the new Mayor of Carterton was a great success, and did considerable good for the town, winning the hearts of its inhabitants, who are still very proud of her. She was approached by the NZ Labour Party to stand for election to Parliament for the entire region, the Wairarapa. She won by a landslide, taking the seat from the expected favourite NZ National candidate.

She served as a member of Parliament until 2007. For much of that time, Helen Clark was the Prime Minister. Since resigning from Parliament, Beyer's political career has been impaired because of health issues, and she is currently awaiting a kidney transplant.

A tribute evening was arranged for Beyer by friends and family in November 2013.

Beyer agreed to be interviewed by me, but unfortunately, after I sent her my questions, she suffered a bout of illness. Since that time, she hasn't been responding to my emails. I waited several months for her to get well, and sent some reminders during that time, but there has been no response. She did, however, approve the text above, and the images I selected, for publication in this blog.

Vladimir Luxuria

Naturally if I am able to make contact with her again, I will keep you posted about the result. The NZ media reported that Beyer had stood as a candidate for the Mana Movement in the most recent General Election in this country, earlier this year.

Beyer published her autobiography, Change for the better: the story of Georgina Beyer with Random House in Auckland in 1999. A TV documentary about her life, Georgie Girl, was made in 2001, and you may be able to see some of it here or even here (though it may be unavailable outside NZ).

In research for this article, I came across the story of Vladimir Luxuria, the second transsexual member of parliament in the world. Luxuria held office in Italy from 2006-2008 for the constituency of Lazio. Luxuria lives as a woman but has not had sex-reassignment surgery, and (according to Wikipedia) is legally a male.

I wonder who will be the third?

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Addendum 23rd October 2014

Nikki Sinclaire

Well, that took less than 24 hours! My thanks to Sam for bringing to my attention Nikki Sinclaire, a British parliamentarian, who held a seat in the European Parliament from 2009 until June 2014, for the West Midlands constituency.

According to Wikipedia, Sinclaire underwent sex reassignment surgery at the age of 23. She came out as a lesbian in 2004 at the age of 36. However, she only publicly revealed that she was born a boy in 2013, which means she was elected without anyone knowing of her trans status.

In 2013, she released her autobiography, entitled Never Give Up, published by Junius Press. Sinclaire's personal website can be found here.

Okay, so my question is now: who will be the fourth?

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Addendum 28th October 2014

Anna Grodzka

Now I am beginning to feel foolish. My thanks to Carole Fraser for pointing out that there is already a fourth, Anna Grodzka, who was elected to the Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament, in 2011, representing the anti-clerical Palikot party. She is still in office, although has switched to the Green Party earlier this year.

Details about Grodzka are somewhat sketchy. Wikipedia reports that she transitioned in 2009, having sex-reassignment surgery in Thailand. Grodzka's own website seems to be blank apart from a background.

The Polish Wikipedia article (using online translation software) says she was formerly married and has an adult son. She has a degree in clinical psychology from the University of Warsaw, and has been in the military, and worked in publishing and in radio.

It's interesting to compare these four. They seem to have very little in common. Beyer transitioned at a young age, but was very open about her transition and was elected very publicly (mentioning her transition in her maiden speech in parliament). Sinclaire, who transitioned at a similarly young age, told no-one and only came out recently, after leaving office. Grodzka (aged 60) transitioned much later in life, and was elected as a transwoman. And Luxuria hasn't transitioned at all!

Stu Rasmussen

Apart from their interests in politics, there seems little to unite these women, other than them all being male-to-female. I wonder if the fifth transgender politician will be a female-to-male?

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Addendum 29th October 2014

My thanks to Ralph for drawing my attention to Stu Rasmussen, mayor of the town of Silverton, Oregon. Rasmussen (aged about 66) prefers male pronouns, but has breast implants and lives full-time as a woman.

If I were going to be strict, I would say that Rasmussen doesn't "count", since he hasn't been elected to a nationwide governing body such as a parliament or a senate. Nonetheless, he is clearly a transgender politician, and I think he (along with the others on this page) deserves a considerable amount of congratulation for standing in public office while being transgendered (and seemingly being successful enough in post that he was re-elected after coming out). It's worth looking at Rasmussen's website here.

Keep them coming, folks!

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Addendum 10th May 2016

Geraldine Roman

Over in the Philippines, known for their traditional Roman Catholicism, Geraldine Roman has just been elected as congresswoman for the 1st district of Bataan. Roman (49) has been living as a woman for 22 years. She has a degree in journalism from a university in Spain and is married to a Spanish citizen.

Roman comes from a politically-influential family. She holds the same office that her mother vacated, representing the Liberal Party. Both her parents are politicians, and are supportive of Roman's openly transgender status. In the Philippines, divorce, abortion, and same-sex marriage are illegal, and transsexual people are forbidden to change their name and legal sex.

As of yesterday, Roman didn't have a Wikipedia page. But she does now! Meanwhile, a good article about her can be found here on the BBC.

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Addendum 28th August 2016

I have just come across Enza Anderson, a Canadian transwoman who has run for mayor of Toronto (unsuccessfully) as well as other public offices.

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Addendum 7th December 2016

This BBC article mentions Tamara Adrian of Venezuela. Adrian was sworn into the National Assembly of Venezuela in 2015 using her male birth name, since in Venezuela it is illegal to change sex.