The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

2021-05-17 Member of the Espoo Equality Committee

Today is the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Homophobia, transphobia and biphobia do not only occur in interaction between individuals, but also in the structures of our society. They are encountered in situations and places where members of these minorities may not be expecting them.

"Some people are excluded from the sports and exercise services offered by the city due to the lack of gender-neutral dressing and washing rooms."

The Espoo Story is being updated and I have heard that it will also highlight minorities more prominently.

"A child would like all three parents to come watch the spring show at the day-care centre, but only two are allowed to attend."

It would be really easy just to give a long list of grievances and say that things must change without explaining how. Many of the discriminatory aspects of the structure can easily be remedied by training.

"Health care appointment records begin with the words ‘xx-year-old woman’, even though the client is a transgender man. Personal ID gender cannot be corrected in health service records, which raises the client’s threshold to seek support and help with health problems."

Day-care centre staff cannot be expected to realise that a child might have three parents unless they knew about it beforehand. Nor can it be assumed that nurses and doctors working in health care would think it offensive to start a record with the words xx-year-old woman about someone who is not a woman, even though their personal identity code says so. It takes an outsider to explain and justify it.

"Sexual health classes in school may only touch on sexuality and gender diversity. The lessons are strongly focused on sexual interaction between a man and a woman. In other words, sexual health classes may briefly touch on sexuality and gender diversity, but they are strongly focused on penetration-centred heterosexual sex."

I have often come across the idea and assumption that organising training is cumbersome and time-consuming. In reality, even a half-hour lecture can produce results. I myself proved this when I gave a half-hour lecture on gender diversity at my own school: the staff immediately adopted new approaches to teaching situations and interaction with students.

"A public health nurse states their conviction out loud, knowing the sexual orientation and/or gender of the client, but refuses to refer the client to another public health nurse."

It is a value judgement to provide training for staff. It is a value judgement whether the city also gives visibility to minority groups and how minority groups appear in the city’s communications. It is also a value judgement as to how visible minorities are in the cityscape.

"There is no culture or entertainment in Espoo aimed at lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) people. We have to go to Helsinki if we want to see an LGBT art exhibition, party safely or listen to a lecture on matters concerning us."

Helsinki Pride has grown into a massive week-long event in Helsinki, which also draws thousands of people from Espoo. Why not make Helsinki Pride more visible also in Espoo? It would make members of minorities living in Espoo feel welcome, accepted and visible.

"I feel like I am not important to the city because I belong to a sexual and gender minority."

It is time for Espoo to stand up and show that it is a diverse city where every resident can feel good about themselves. For a long time, diversity and equality have been talked about using lofty phrases, but now is the time for Espoo to act and translate words into action.

Quotations in the blog post are quotes from Espoo residents belonging to sexual and gender minorities.

The writer is a member of the Espoo Equality Committee