Perth Voice Interactive

MARRIED trans people in WA could soon have their gender officially recognised.

Last week Maylands MP Lisa Baker spoke in favour of the Gender Reassignment Bill 2018, which will scrap an old law that prevents a married person from being issued with a gender recognition certificate.

The vestigial law, from the days when same-sex marriage was banned, closed the loophole of a heterosexual couple getting married and then one of them officially changing genders.

Ms Baker told parliament the new legislation would improve trans people’s mental health and wellbeing.

“Members cannot possibly imagine what life must be like for people who have to go through a marriage or their lives having to deny either their gender, identity or love,” she said.

“We have already dealt with the marriage equality issue, but this is a much more endemic and personal issue. In some respects it is about how people identify as human beings at the most basic physical and cultural level.”

Mental health

Ms Baker said allowing trans people to affirm their identities on documents like government forms would boost their mental health.

The suicide attempt rate for trans adults is 11 times higher than the general population, with commentators saying the rate is exacerbated by gender dysphoria and trans people not having their gender recognised and affirmed.

Ms Baker cited the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which stated “that for optimal physical and mental health, persons must freely [be] able to express their gender identity,” in official documents.

She said “such documents are essential to the ability of all people to enjoy rights and opportunities equal to those available to others, for instance to access accommodation, education, employment, health care, travel, to navigate everyday transitions in life, to enjoy a safe environment and, most of all, to be married and recognised for who they are”.

Ms Baker said she’d been told by trans people “that there are many people in marriages who have not been able to be public about who they are”.

Parliament is expected to vote on the bill by early December.

by DAVID BELL

THE best weekend of the year to be a nosey-parker is back.

Open House Perth is giving tours of more than 100 prominent buildings across the city, including many usually closed to the public.

The first Open House Perth was in 2012, but the global movement dates back to 1992 when it was founded by UK architects promoting the value of good design.

Along with mainstay attractions like the Old Perth Girls School in East Perth and the grand WA Ballet Centre in Bayswater, there’ll be a bunch of places opened for the first time, including The Old Boys School on St Georges Terrace, finished 1854.

The state library is also part of Open House weekend and you can see behind the return chute and some storage spaces and archives – packed with rare books, maps, paintings and film reels – that are normally off-limits.

Everything’s free with dozens of tours over November 10 and 11, but it’s really popular and fills up fast so make sure you register at http://www.openhouseperth.net

MAYLANDS library will hold a red poppies workshop today (Saturday November 10), the eve of Remembrance Day.

At the free workshop artist Geraldine Pillinger will help locals make their own red poppy pins or badges.

Bayswater mayor Dan Bull says this year’s Remembrance Day marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, which ended World War I.

“Each year, Remembrance Day is an opportunity for our whole community to pay their respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we often take for granted,” he says.

“This workshop provides community members with an opportunity to acknowledge this important day in a tangible way.

“Our libraries are a rich source of information and I would encourage community members to feel free to browse the huge array of books, magazines and digital resources available.”

The workshop, open to all ages, is from 10-11am at the Maylands Library on Eighth Avenue.

WHILE the major political parties (and One Nation) charge thousands of dollars to access pollies at swank nosh-ups, the Greens are letting supporters bend their ear for free.

In October, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson charged lobbyists and business owners $5000 to join her for an exclusive dinner in Perth, while tucker with PM Scott Morrison can set you back $2000.

There are no free lunches with Labor’s leader either: In 2015 Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo paid $55,000 for lunch with Bill Shorten.

Federal Perth Greens candidate Caroline Perks says everyone should have access to their MPs.

“You really need the people’s voices at the front and centre,” Ms Perks said. “We’re going to be encouraging the people of Perth to come out and meet their Greens politicians for free and put on a bit of a dinner for them.”

The dinner’s free and because it’s a Greens nosh-up there’s a vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free option.

The dinner is on November 19, 6pm at The Meeting Place in Yagan Square. Tegister via the Greens’ event page.

by DAVID BELL

VINCENT council may grab headlines for being progressive and green, but Bayswater has being quietly making strides in environmentalism for years.

It was one of the first councils to introduce a three-bin collection in 1997, has recently stopped using single-use plastics like balloons and water bottles at city events, and is trialling compostable dog poo bags at Riverside Gardens.

Bayswater’s latest initiative is a home composting trial that will help households reduce their organic waste.

Methane

When sent to landfill the organic waste produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming.

Cr Giorgia Johnson says the city must make it as easy as possible for residents to be environmentally friendly and the trial is another step in the right direction.

“Participants are currently trialling a compost bin, worm farm or Bokashi bin at home, and sharing their experiences through regular surveys over the next six months,” she says.

“I’m excited to see the difference this program will make.”

Cr Johnson, a green entrepreneur, is so committed to the environment she recently stopped selling bottled water at her Cool Breeze coffee van at Riverside Gardens.

“This was a really tough decision because it is a popularly requested item, especially in summer,” she says.

“But I had to make a call; we are lucky in Australia to have perfectly good drinking water and there is just no reason to cart water around in such extravagant single use packaging which just ends up in landfill, or worse – filthy incinerators.”

Ms Johnson says her coffee truck already uses recyclable cups, diverting 15,000 cups from landfill, compostable packaging and has a recycle bin.

She’d like to see Bayswater council go a step further and incorporate the Food Organics Garden Organics system into their three-bin collection.

The FOGO system, recently introduced by other councils like Melville, combines food and garden waste in the same bin to create a high quality compost; previously the food ended up in landfill where it can produce methane gases.

Bayswater mayor Dan Bull says they are “currently investigating the use of FOGO”.

Organics

“Practicing environmentally friendly methods is a priority to both the city and our community, and that’s why we run a range of free programs arming people the tools and knowledge they need to get greener,” he says.

“We’ve recently offered a series of free home composting workshops, we’ve partnered up with local schools to educate kids on recycling methods and we also work with Environment House to offer over 50 sustainability workshops each year.”