Gender Fluidity – Not a Western Phenomenon

By Leonie Williams

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Gender fluidity is commonly perceived as a recent phenomenon in the West, but this is not the case everywhere. In reality, there are numerous examples of gender fluidity in pre-colonial cultures and communities, including Native Americans and their Two-Spirit individuals, Third or Sacred Genders in India who have scriptures depicting over 28 genders, and Sistergirls and Brotherboys of indigenous Australia. In many of these cultures they believe that Western societies are only just catching up with an expressive freedom that many indigenous cultures have been practicing for centuries. This article will focus on the history, issues, and future of gender fluidity in Aboriginal people.

Although there is very little documented information about aboriginals and gender from before colonists arrived due to much of their history being taught orally, through stories passed on from generation to generation, transgender and gender-fluid indigenous people are believed to have been present and celebrated. For example, the Dream Time Stories that have been recorded depict the Mimi Spirits as genderless creatures, showing a lack of particularity regarding gender. Along with this, many Aboriginal languages do not have general third-person pronouns; in the Noongar language, the word “baal” is used to refer to ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’, showing that the specific terms used in modern languages to distinguish between genders did not exist. Like in the case of Native American Two-spirit individuals, the original acceptance for their gender fluidity was stamped out with the arrival of colonists and sexuality was further suppressed by the arrival and work of Christian missionaries.

Mimi Spirits by Edward Blitner

Sistergirls and Brotherboys are terms adopted by transgender Aboriginal people, who today are some of the most marginalised people in Australia. These terms don’t just relate to the modern definition of transgender peoples, they can apply to gender-fluid people who are anywhere on the spectrum from not resigning their born sex, to binary or non-binary genders. Isolation is very common for Sistergirls and Brotherboys, hence why we see larger concentrations in pockets of Australia. One of these communities that have become particularly famous in recent years is the Sistergirls of the Tiwi Islands, about 80km north of Darwin, who attended their first Mardi Gras in Sydney in 2017. Here we find the largest per capita indigenous transgender population in Australia, with transgender people making up about 5% of residents. However, it is important to note that they live in towns and cities all over Australia too, not just the North.

Tiwi Island Sistergirls at Sydney Mardi Gras 2017 Image by: Ann-Marie Calihanna

Indigenous transgender people face intersectional discrimination, based not only on their gender but also their race and heritage. Some of the main problems Sistergirls and Brotherboys face are racism, sexual health problems, access to medical care, mental health problems, high rates of suicide and things as simple as being able to change their name.

Lisa, a sistergirl in her 50s, a Worimi Woman from the Port Stephens area, runs the Facebook group Sistergirls & Brotherboys Australia, a vital community for transgender Aboriginal people. She identifies discrimination as the biggest issue, recounting when she had to report an assault to the police. She was told she would have to use her old name to report the assault, a name that she changed 30 years ago and would effectively out her as transgender to her attacker, potentially putting her in further danger. This issue was not rectified until a number of weeks later and she recalls feeling like it was more than them not caring, “it was really transphobic and horrible”.

Indigenous transgender people are at high risk of being sexually assaulted or being publicly humiliated. This is one of the issues that forces sistergirls into isolation, which in turn reduces their access to community and services. A lot of them do not have access to hormone treatment and Aboriginal medical services tend to not be well equipped for dealing with gender issues due to their lack of funding. Lisa points out that there is still “a lot of work that needs to be done”, with some having to travel as far as Sydney from the Tiwi islands to receive hormonal treatment. This raises other issues: if a Sistergirl presented at a women’s shelter, they may not be allowed in.

Lisa explains that “Once upon a time, historically, we were very accepted and had a place in the community. I think with the introduction of colonisation and religion and other beliefs, a lot of that stuff has been lost. Like other trans people in this country, we’ve still got a long way to go as far as acceptance, a lot of times we’re just tolerated”.

There is an increasing visual presence of Sistergirls and Brotherboys in Australian society, attending events such as Mardi Gras. This is really important for increasing representation, which will, in turn, help build a stronger community and a greater realisation of the issues they face, with the hope of starting on the road to resolving some of them. Facebook groups such as Lisa’s Sistergirls & Brotherboys of Australia are also imperative in helping those who are going through or have been through a transition find a safe and accepting community for them to thrive and help each other.

However, we must remember that indigenous transgender people also have a long battle of racism to fight too. It is very clear that more needs to be done in Australia, particularly rural areas of Australia, in the form of representation, education, and application of resources to help them gain the medical and emotional support they need. There are pushes for the decolonisation of attitudes in Australia around gender and a call for people to stop expecting others to subscribe to a very rigid binary view of gender.

A Bundjalung Sistergirl who has since passed on put it simply; “the [gender] binary arrived with the boats!”. The colonialisation of Australia has repressed gender fluidity for centuries, but it is time for transgender rights and every-day needs to be afforded and represented not just in Australia but all over the world.

Two Brotherboys, Kai and Dean, share their stories: https://youtu.be/fTtiYD8GmXQ