Mr, Ms ... or both?

Gender fluidity, androgyny and intersexuality are going to happen whether we like it or not, says Philip Patston in this edition of The Creative Collide. Can we get through this next phase of diversity with a bit less head-banging, resistance and angst than we have in the past?

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I experienced a powerful example of how gender fluidity is becoming more of a social imperative at a recent forum run by Rainbow Youth. Several of the young people speaking were transsexual, having either transitioned from living as a young man to a young woman, or vice versa.

When I was 19 I came out as gay and that was difficult enough. I'm still recovering. These 20-somethings had already come out as bi, then lesbian, then male and are now often mistaken as being gay when they are actually straight.

Confused? That's fluidity for you.

What saddens me was that, in a world of Boy Georges and Ellens, Melissa Etheridges, Elton Johns and Ru Pauls, it's still not safe to come out as transsexual. You may not know that the guy you work with used to be a girl, because in our "modern" society, people are still threatened with isolation, hatred and violence if they do not conform to a binary notion of gender.

And that's not just in the straight world, either. Gender intolerance exists in the gay world as well and the panel believed the change needs to be led by the gay community. I agree.

If you think we live in enlightened times, you're right. But you're wrong. Our attitudes towards gender permanence are formed at a very young age, as are role and behaviour stereotypes.

My question is how society can be assisted to get through this next phase of diversity with a bit less head-banging, resistance and angst than the past. I mean, gender fluidity, androgyny and intersexuality are going to happen whether we like it or not.

Creatives! Your suggestions please!

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