STAD: Stop Transphobia and Discrimination Report !"#$%"&'($)*+,$("$-,$(.*&/$("$,01,.2,&3,$(.*&/1)"-2* © 2014 Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). All rights reserved. We encourage and grant permission for reproduction and distribution of this publication in whole or in part, provided that it is done so with attribution. Copies of this report are available for download from the TENI website: www.teni.ie. Acknowledgements Alison McDonnell: A Word on Transpose Thank you to everyone who contributed to this The series Transpose is the result of collaboration with report by completing the online forms and sharing transgender people in Ireland that set out to make their experiences of hate crimes and incidents. environmental portraits in ‘safe spaces’ for trans* people TENI acknowledges that the reporting process can around the country. Many of the portraits have been be extremely di!cult and we are grateful to each made at the wonderful space Outhouse on Capel and every individual who helped us record these Street. The work has grown over the last two years to experiences in an e"ort to end transphobia. become an appreciation of key trans activists and allies in Ireland at a particular moment. It is important to This report was compiled by TENI’s Chief Executive me to have a record of the people who are currently Broden Giambrone with support from TENI sta" and denied rights in our country as well as the people who Board: Vanessa Lacey, Aoife O’Driscoll, Ben Power, are #ghting for equality and advocating on behalf Clodagh Leonard and Simon Stewart. We’d like to of trans* people. This is important to me not only extend our gratitude to Aoife Mallon for copy editing because I identify as a bisexual woman and an activist assistance and to Alison McDonnell for the use of her but because the trans* community is one of the most photographs from the Transpose project. marginalised groups in society. Therefore I turn my camera to my life and the lives of the people and issues Special thanks to Joël Le Déro", Björn van Roozendaal I care about in an attempt to highlight LGBT rights in and the ILGA-Europe team for supporting the STAD Ireland. Is it fair to be denied rights, respect and dignity campaign by providing training, resources and skills just because of your gender identity? A question the development. viewer might consider is how could anyone deny this person any right? TENI would also like to thank the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) for their support of TENI’s work in the Alison McDonnell (2014). area of hate crimes, particularly Jo Kenny, Lianne www.alisonmcdonnell.com Murphy, Maeve Regan and Mairead Healy. We’d like to thank Katie Dawson BL, Rebecca Lacey BL and Clare Alison McDonnell is a Dublin based photographer/ McQuillan for providing legal expertise and research artist. She holds a Master of Fine Art in photography which culminated in a law reform submission on hate from the University of Ulster, 2014. Prior to this she crime legislation and sentencing provisions which studied the Photography and Digital Imaging course at informed this report. the National College of Art and Design and graduated in 2011. The STAD campaign was made possible through the generous funding of ILGA-Europe’s Documentation and Advocacy Fund. This report was also supported by the Irish Trans Student Alliance. 3 Foreword This is what the STAD campaign is about. By monitoring In 2013, the Trans Murder Monitoring project1 and recording hate incidents and crimes we are documented 238 murders of trans and gender variant developing a clearer picture of the dangers and barriers people in twenty-six countries worldwide. These that many trans and gender variant people face in their individuals were killed because of their gender identity everyday lives. We are gathering robust evidence and or gender expression. While there has been no recorded documenting these experiences in an e"ort to change murder of a trans person in Ireland, trans and gender the way that society understands transphobia. variant people regularly experience harassment, abuse, violence and discrimination because of their gender This campaign is about awareness, education and identity or gender expression. change. We need our lawmakers and legal institutions to understand the realities of our lives and we need This is the manifestation of transphobia, which our police services to respect and protect us. This will Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) de#nes include changes in policy and law and delivery of as the fear, dislike or hatred of people who are trans training to the Gardaí and PSNI. We’re optimistic that or are perceived to challenge conventional gender the STAD campaign will hold a mirror up to Irish society categories or ‘norms’ of male or female. Transphobia and show us we must be better. comes in many forms and can result in individual and institutional discrimination, prejudice and violence. It is Broden Giambrone at work when a trans person is chased down the street Chief Executive and called ‘tranny’ or when they’re #red from their job when they come out. It happens on the streets, in the workplace, at school and in the home. In 2013, TENI gathered 32 reports of incidents and crimes that were motivated by hatred or prejudice against a trans or gender variant person. Fifteen of these reports were categorised as hate crimes. These included rape, assault and damage to property. There is no doubt that this is just the tip of the iceberg as research indicates that transphobic crimes and incidents generally go unreported. Despite this fact, this report shows us that transphobia is widespread in Irish society and largely goes unchallenged. Trans people, like all Irish people, are striving to live authentic lives and to thrive in society. Over the past few years there has been increased positive representation of trans experiences and heightened visibility of trans lives. There is no doubt that Irish society is changing but the violence and discrimination the trans community faces must stop. To change the way that trans people are treated we need to understand the full extent of the problem and look for viable solutions. 1 For more information: http://www.transrespect-transphobia.org/ 4 Table of Contents Introduction to key terms used 6 1 Executive Summary 10 2 Introduction 15 3 Reporting Transphobic Hate Crime 19 4 Methodology 23 4.1 Data Collection 24 4.2 Outreach 24 4.3 Reporting Period 24 4.4 Limitations 25 5 Transphobic Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents 27 5.1 Respondent Pro#les 28 5.2 Motive for Incident 30 5.3 Bias Indicators 30 5.4 Perpetrators 31 6 Incidents 33 6.1 Location of Incident 34 6.2 Type of Incident 34 7 Incidents as Hate Crimes 37 7.1 Homicide 38 7.2 Extreme Physical Violence 38 7.3 Assault 38 7.4 Damage Against Property 40 7.5 Arson 42 7.6 Threats and Psychological Violence 42 7.7 Other Incidents with Bias Motivation 44 7.8 Police and Law Enforcement 49 8 Overview & Recommendations 51 9 Annex 1 55 5 Introduction to Key Terms Main Glossary Cisgender: A non-trans person (i.e. a person whose Androgynous or androgyne: A person whose gender gender identity and gender expression is aligned with identity is both male and female, or neither male nor the sex assigned at birth). female. They might present as a combination of male and female or as sometimes male and sometimes Coming out: The process of accepting and telling female. others about one’s gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation. Many trans people will come out Crossdresser: A person who wears clothing, as a di"erent gender to the sex assigned at birth and accessories, jewellery or make-up not traditionally or may begin a social or physical transition (see de#nition stereotypically associated with their assigned sex. of Transition). FTM: A female-to-male trans person (see de#nition of Gender Identity: Refers to a person’s deeply-felt Trans man). identi#cation as male, female, or some other gender. This may or may not correspond to the sex they were Genderqueer: A person whose gender varies from the assigned at birth. traditional ‘norm’; or who feels their gender identity is neither female nor male, both female and male, or a Gender Expression: The external manifestation di"erent gender identity altogether. of a person’s gender identity. Gender can be expressed through mannerisms, grooming, physical Gender variant: People whose gender identity and/ characteristics, social interactions and speech patterns. or gender expression is di"erent from traditional or stereotypical expectations of how a man or woman Sexual Orientation: Refers to a person’s physical, ‘should’ appear or behave. emotional or romantic attraction to another person. Sexual orientation is distinct from sex, gender Intersex: An umbrella term used for a variety identity and gender expression. Transgender people of conditions in which a person is born with a may identify as lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t #t the pansexual, queer or asexual (see de#nition of typical de#nitions of female or male. Transgender). LGB: Acronym for lesbian, gay and bisexual. Transgender: A person whose gender identity and/or gender expression di"ers from the sex assigned to them LGBT: Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and at birth. This term can include diverse gender identities transgender. such as: transsexual, transgender, crossdresser, drag performer, androgynous, genderqueer, gender variant LGBTI: Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or di"erently gendered people. and intersex. Trans or trans*: Commonly used shorthand for MTF: Male-to-female trans person (see de#nition of transgender.