` I think Dubbo is actually a beautiful place for a trans person to live and most of the people that you meet are pretty cool about it, but you do come up against transphobia on a daily basis.
per cent of the general population.
On IDAHOBIT day, workplaces, schools and individuals are encouraged to wear a rainbow or hold a fundraising event to take a stand against discrimination with all funds raised going directly to programs that support LGBTQI Australians.
Ms Mould believes much of the discrimination comes from a lack of understanding and awareness.
“I think a lot of it is down to the fact that often when I meet somebody, they haven’t met an openly transwoman before and I think that days like the IDAHOBIT day help to put it front and centre and hopefully make people more aware of it and force them to think about it and confront themselves, because when they really look at why they are so anti-trans people, it all comes from them and it’s all pretty weak really, it’s just stigma and just pre-arranged discriminations and I think a large dose of fear as well,” she said.
“Sometimes it feels like the best reaction you have hope for is humour and ridicule; people see someone they identify as a man in a dress and they think it’s ok to laugh at people, that needs to change.
“I’m not a joke. I won’t accept ridicule; I’ll walk away from it, but I won’t stand there and let people laugh at me and I just think it confronts people.”
Having connected with other trans people in the Dubbo community,
Proud members and supporters of the Dubbo LGBTQI communiy:
Ms Mould spoke of the importance of acceptance.
Her two daughters, who Ms Mould describes as her “rocks” have also shown unwavering support, as have the staff from Dubbo’s Sexual Health Service who have been “absolutely amazing.
“It’s about acceptance; people who truly accept you and the feeling that people understand your journey is very important to everyone,” she said.
“Finding that is literally lifesaving, and I think the problem for regional towns is that the support is from out of town and most people are pretty traumatised by their life journey by the time they reach an age.”
Ms Mould hopes that one day transphobia will be a thing of the past and that people from the trans community thrive and be recognised in all industries and facets of life.
“I’d like to see trans representation on a federal level, let’s have an openly trans woman in the senate, let’s really make it mainstream and normal because why shouldn’t it be?,” she said.
“Why are people trying to beat me up because they don’t like the clothes I’m wearing? I don’t understand; they are giving me violent fashion advice – you don’t like my clothes and you’re going to attack me? That’s ridiculous. That says a lot about them and nothing about me, you know. Let’s stamp that shit out.”
She also hopes to continue proving to the local community that she really is just like everybody else.
“Dubbo’s got some really amazing trans people and what I commit to is, I work for children’s services and support kids with disabilities of all sorts, so you’ve got a trans person in that role, which is quite respected and acknowledged as a challenging role, and they see me just going around doing my daily business, some might say with no shame, so Dubbo is seeing now a transwoman who is doing reasonably well and I’m out there, I’m shocking and I’m just doing stuff that everybody does and I know it’s been really selfishly good for my mental health, hopefully Dubbo can draw something out of that, who knows.”
While Ms Mould doesn’t have any “staunch activism” planned for IDAHOBIT day this Sunday, she has pledged to continue raising awareness on behalf of the transgender community until things change.
“I do intend to keep putting the message in front of people for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I am who I am and if that helps to change people’s opinion of young trans people as they grow up, then that’s great”
For more information on IDAHOBIT, visit www.idahobit.org.au