The Wire

Male, female, man, woman, butch and femme….sometimes the ‘either or’ mentality is just too narrow. Even if we accept that someone’s gender is fluid and changing, the reality is that the constraints of language, combined with society’s tick-a-box mentality, means that some people feel the need to alter their bodies and make the transition into a different sex from the one they were born into. Last Friday, TwentyTen youth service hosted the first youth specific gender fair in Sydney. The event brought together a wide range of professionals as well as people with personal experiences of questioning and transforming their gender. Grappling with the often mind-boggling subject of gender and transexualism, the organisers sought to create a safe environment for young people to explore their identity. She-Fah Szetu went along and spoke to psychologist Vikki Sinnott, and Nori mAy Wellby, performer and transgender project worker at ACON.