Transgender and Men Who Have Sex with Other Men: Culture and Health

This session heard from a number of trans-gendered indigenous people on their personal experiences and the stigma and discrimination they face as a minority group. The presentation on Rural Australia highlighted the service gap for indigenous persons in remote areas. Health support services were felt inappropriate and insensitive to cultural issues. Information is withheld from the community or is not in a form that is easily disseminated. Peer support was seen as an essential component of survival. The presentation on Sex violence against gay men and sistergirls (local terminology for transgender) highlighted issues of abuse, issues that are not normally brought to the forefront. Certain issues raised through transgender steering committee were contentious and they have to compromise their output to see what is appropriate for the community. Urban areas are better off in the form of services yet there still exists a culture of accepting violence. There also exists a lack of recognition of this problem, which is what the steering committee is trying to address.

New Zealand AIDS Foundation presented an epidemiological study on Pacific Island Men who have sex with men in New Zealand. The majority of the findings were inline with finding of other studies on the general population. A presentation by an Aboriginal sistergirl pointed out the misconception that transgender didn't exist prior to the arrival of the Europeans it was encouraging to note that sistergirls were for the most part readily accepted within their own community and had a role to play. However within the mainstream society at large intolerance and ignorance was still a worrying factor. It was pointed out that sexual health is not a priority issue for most trans-gendered ethnic groups when based on the other social and economic problems they face. An epidemiology and prevention initiative amongst Maori MSM was the most entertaining and enlightened of the presentations. The two presenters discussed the Maori GLB (gay/lesbian/bisexual) community response to HIV/AIDS. The focus was on building respect and education by using traditional values and cultural ancestry in peer education and support. Face to face confrontation was an important aspect in getting the message across. The New Zealand team were the only presenters to put their problems and access to treatment into a regional perspective. Throughout the session there was an underlying theme focusing on spiritual and cultural backgrounds that were valuable tool in mobilising and uniting the vulnerable community.