Nice!

[blamebrampton]

I really like the mother and school principal in this story! http://www.dailylife.com.au/life-and-love/parenting-and-families/my-eightyearold-daughter-just-wants-to-be-a-boy-20140308-34eth.html

And you may all judge me on this, but I confess that since I found out the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was hugely supportive of his friend Lt Col Cate McGregor's journey through gender reassignment, I keep thinking that he can't really be as bad as he's otherwise appeared. Julia Gillard is totally going to block me on Twitter for that …

(She wouldn't actually, because she is super lovely and would instead say, 'Well, I can see how you would find that a sympathetic quality and I can only hope that it is more representative of the way that he will manage his interactions with more people going forward.')

Finally, is it just me, or is this sign risible?

You will note that the sign also points away from the sight lines of the cyclists using the path, which is an uphill contraflow on Wilson St in Newtown. Having mocked it, I should in fairness add that it is a very useful cycle path if you're kicking up to central Newtown!

Comments

[birdsofshore]

That was a sweet article - my friends daughter appears to be transgender but my friend has had nothing but hassle from the authorities, and the school her daughter is about to attend want to make her attend as a boy. It's all a big mess. The whole situation really challenged my own preconceptions, to be honest, so it's nice to read a straightforward story of parents and educators working together to do what seems best for the child.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh that makes me so cross! You wouldn't force a Jewish child to pretend to be Catholic in this day and age, where's the difference?! But yes, I was reassured by the good common sense of most people in that story. The world is less ridiculous than we sometimes fear!

[ashindk.livejournal.com]

That's such a sweet story. I'm following a blog about a mother who is fighting for her daughter's right to be a girl. It's in Danish, but I'll leave the link anyway. The first page is such a beautiful, love filled letter to her daughter, I think it's probably worth reading even after Google translate has messed it up.
http://tanker-om-havfrueen.blogspot.dk/2012/06/hvor-starter-man-hvor-begynder-det.html

[mrsquizzical.livejournal.com]

oh how delightful to read that response from the school principle. and what on earth was that preschool on about??? i can't even begin to imagine. my daughter went to a CHURCH kindy/preschool and dressed in camo shorts and neutral tshirts and noone had a thing to say about it!

tony abbott is a confusing person. i can't even begin to understand what he's doing. he obviously is a human person who has layers and isn't evil incarnate. but how to align that with the rest of it is beyond me.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered whether this is simply a reaction to gender stereotyping. Would it happen in a society where all small children dressed the same and played with non-sex-differentiated toys and your sex was simply irrelevant to your daily life?