April 16th, 2012
Hong Kong University Vice-Chancellor: Save transgender research at HKU. Employ Sam Winter beyond 60
Hong Kong University Vice-Chancellor: Save transgender research at HKU. Employ Sam Winter beyond 60
Why This Is Important
For twelve years Associate Professor Sam Winter of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has been working in rights and health for transgender people. There are transphobic people at HKU , as anywhere else. So his work in this area has benefited from the fact that he had ‘tenure to 60’ (that is, security of employment until 60).
Sam’s work now faces the axe. Why? He is approaching 60 and A KEY COMMITTEE HAS DECIDED THAT IT WOULD NOT BE IN HKU’S BEST INTERESTS FOR SAM TO BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE HIS RESEARCH AND WRITING, AS WELL AS SERVICE BEYOND THE CAMPUS, AS A FULL-TIME STAFF MEMBER OF HKU..
So what has Sam’s work involved? Well, he has been active working for enhanced rights and health for transgender people in the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide. He has been a vocal advocate for diagnostic reform in transgender health, arguing that the current psychiatric diagnoses applied to transgender people are inappropriate, and undermine their health and rights. He has written widely on trans issues; in journals in health, psychology, law and history. He has written chapters for books and encyclopedias for the general reader. He was recently commissioned by the Lancet, a leading medical journal worldwide, to lead a team writing the initial article in a short series on transgender health. He teaches on trans issues, and his courses on this subject are among the most popular and best evaluated courses across the whole campus.
Sam is a member (and in some cases has helped set up) a range of groups in Hong Kong and across the region working for transgender health and rights. He has recently written a report for UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) on factors influencing HIV risks among transgender people (report due out in next few weeks). He is a Board member of WPATH (the World Professional Association for Transgender Health); the only Board member from Asia. He has been appointed to a key WHO Geneva Working Group on diagnostic reform in the area of sexual health and disorders.
All this work is due to come to an end if he is removed from HKU.
Does anyone get to work at HKU beyond 60? Yes. Lots. For a start the Vice Chancellor is above 60. And many associate professors like me continue employment beyond 60 too. The overriding consideration — the consideration that prevails over all others — is whether it is in the UNIVERSITY’S BEST INTERESTS to continue to employ the person concerned.
So what is the problem with continuing to employ Sam Winter?
Well, it can’t be his work performance. Independent reviewers recently rated his work in the three key areas of teaching, research and service as excellent, excellent and excellent. And his courses are popular, with even more demand from students likely from next year. He is well regarded by colleagues and students. Over 230 students wrote to the Vice Chancellor voicing support for his case.
It certainly is not that HKU needs to cut staff. His faculty is planning to hire a whole load of new people next year. And it can’t be that Sam’s health is bad. So far it is great. So what is the problem?
IT IS HARD TO ESCAPE ONE CONCLUSION – THAT THE PROBLEM IS THE AREA OF WORK SAM WORKS IN – RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY FOR THE RIGHTS AND HEALTH OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE.
There are very few scholars working in this area in Asia. After Sam is removed there will be no one working exclusively in this area in HK. So please help save Asia-Pacific transgender health and rights research and advocacy at HKU. Sign the petition now. And if you like write to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tsui Lap –Chee today at tsuilc@hku.hk.Click ‘petition letter’ above to see sample.
More on Sam Winter’s work : http://web.hku.hk/~sjwinter/general/
SIGN PETITION: https://www.change.org/petitions/hong-kong-university-vice-chancellor-save-transgender-research-at-hku-employ-sam-winter-beyond-60
June 6th, 2011
Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights
Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights
Edited by Peter A. Jackson
Description and Author
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The Thai capital Bangkok is the unrivalled centre of the country’s gay, lesbian, and transgender communities. These communities are among the largest in Southeast Asia, and indeed in the world, and have a diversity, social presence, and historical depth that set them apart from the queer cultures of many neighbouring societies.
The first years of the twenty-first century have marked a significant transition moment for all of Thailand’s LGBT cultures, with a multidimensional expansion in the geographical extent, media presence, economic importance, political impact, social standing, and cultural relevance of Thai queer communities. This book analyses the roles of the market and media — especially cinema and the Internet — in these transformations, and considers the ambiguous consequences that the growing commodification and mediatization of queer lives have had for LGBT rights in Thailand. A key finding is that in the early twenty-first century processes of global queering are leading to a growing Asianization of Bangkok’s queer cultures.
This book traces Bangkok’s emergence as a central focus of an expanding regional network linking gay, lesbian, and transgender communities in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and other rapidly developing East and Southeast Asian societies.
Peter A. Jackson is professor of Thai cultural studies in the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific. He has written extensively on modern Thai cultural history with special interests in religion and sexuality. He is editor-in-chief of the Asian Studies Review and founder of the Thai Rainbow Archives Project, which is collecting and digitizing Thai gay, lesbian, and transgender magazines and community organization newsletters (see http://thairainbowarchive.anu.edu.au/index.html).
“The myriad faces of Thai gender/sexuality culture have been an attraction for both pleasure-seekers and researchers/scholars/activists. Exploring the rapidly changing LGBT cultures and Thai queer identities, the essays collected here provide insightful analyses of historical continuities as well as developing variations within the highly complex erotic/economic texture of Thai society. A must-read for anyone in the booming field of gender/sexuality studies.” — Josephine Ho, National Central University, Taiwan
“In the global imagination Bangkok is identified with sex, much as were Paris or Shanghai in previous eras. Peter Jackson has done a first-rate job of bringing together interactions with the full range of sexual others in the expanding worlds of Bangkok, underlining its significance as a regional inspiration and the ways in which Thai notions of sex and gender have interacted with Western images to create new communities, identities and political possibilities.” — Dennis Altman, La Trobe University
“An impressive collection bringing together important and innovative research. This volume will be essential reading to those with scholarly and activist interests in South-East Asian studies, as well as sexuality and gender studies. It will also be useful to students of nationalism, postcoloniality, popular culture, urbanism, and capitalism.” — Tom Boellstorff, University of California, Irvine.
Source: HKU Press
April 22nd, 2011
Managing Diversity in Plural Societies
Conference Programme & Abstracts
Source: HKU
Please note that this programme is in draft form and may change. Click here to download the pdf version of the conference programme.
DAY ONE: THURSDAY 28 APRIL 2011
8:15 – 8:45 REGISTRATION
8:45 – 9:00 OPENING REMARKS
9:00 – 10:00 KEYNOTE SPEECH: Ms. Gay J. McDougall, United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, The Right to Be Me: Equality Wars on the Ground
10:00 – 10:30 COFFEE BREAK
10:30 – 12:30 PANEL 1A: Religion and the State: Fissured Discourses on Secularism, Accommodation and Tolerance (1)
Chair: Mr. Simon Young, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Religious Appearance Adjudication
Professor Beverley Baines, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
‘Passive’ Crucifix and ‘Proselytizing’ Headscarf – The European Court of Human Rights and its Understanding of State Neutrality
Dr. Dorota A. Gozdecka, University of Helsinki, Finland
Islamic Impediments to Marriage for Disparity of Faith as Applied by Muslim Communities in Scotland: A Hybrid Legal Solution?
Mr. Gianluca P. Parolin, American University in Cairo, Egypt
“It’s Not About Religion”: Multicultural Policy, Local Government Planning and the Refusal of a Hindu Temple in Sydney, Australia
Dr. Laura Beth Bugg, The University of Sydney, Australia
Q&A for Panel 1A
10:30 – 12:30 PANEL 1B: Inclusion and Recognition: A Rights-Oriented Approach
Chair: Dr. Sam Winter, Faculty of Education
Speakers:
Is Pluralism an Enemy of Gay Equality Rights?
Professor Douglas Sanders, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
The Power of Minority Advocacy: The Inclusivity of Hong Kong’s Policymaking System
Dr. Raees Begum Baig, Centre for Social Impact, Hong Kong Council of Social Service
A Life Less Liminal? Issues of Inclusion and Recognition for Trans-Identities
Mr. Paddy McQueen, Queen’s University, Belfast, United Kingdom
Sex Workers Centric-Based to Execute Decriminalization of Sex Work in Hong Kong
Mr. Li Chun Wai, Project Coordinator, Midnight Blue (A Male Sex Worker Mutual Support Network), Hong Kong
Q&A for Panel 1B
12:30 – 2:00 LUNCH
2:00 – 4:00 PANEL 2A: Legal Pluralism and Cultural Diversity (1)
Chair: Dr. Staci Ford, Department of History, School of Humanities
Speakers:
Performing Recognition in Post-Metaphysical Injustices. Marginalized Cultures, Gender, Critical Pluralism
Professor Anna Loretoni and Dr. Antonio Carnevale, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
Quebec’s Bill 94: Taking “Culture” Out of Multiculturalism
Dr. Vrinda Narain, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
The Problem of the Modern Identity in Charles Taylor’s “Politics of Recognition”
Ms. Pamela Joy M. Mariano, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
Muslim Women and the Veil in Britain: A Critical Legal Pluralist Study
Miss Amy Jackson, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Q&A for Panel 2A
2:00 – 4:00 PANEL 2B: Unraveling Prejudice: The Rights of Immigrants, Migrants and Refugees
Chair: Ms. Kelley Loper, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Rethinking Immigration Detention in the United States
Mr. Anil Kalhan, Drexel University, Philadelphia, United States
The African Traveller and the Chinese Customs Official: Ethnic Minority Profiling at Border Check Points in Hong Kong and China
Dr. Adams B. Bodomo, The University of Hong Kong
Refugees and Hong Kong: Whose Benefit?
Mr. Francesco Vecchio, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Achieving the Implementation of a Multilateral Migration Framework in Southeast Asia
Mr. Andrew S. Billo, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Q&A for Panel 2B
4:00 – 4:30 COFFEE BREAK
4:30 – 6:30 PANEL 3A: Legal Pluralism and Cultural Diversity (2)
Chair: Ms. Puja Kapai, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
‘Progressive Multiculturalism’: Minority Women and Cultural Diversity
Professor Maleiha Malik, King’s College London, United Kingdom
Q&A for Professor Maleiha Malik
Legal Pluralism and Cultural Diversity in Africa
Professor Salvatore Mancuso, University of Macau
Accommodating Accommodation: The Case of Clashing Minority Rights Claims in Quebec
Ms. Vanessa A. MacDonnell, University of New Brunswick, Canada
The Immigrant Rice Balls: Khmer Ancestral Worship in Enemy’s Land
Mr. Napakadol Kittisenee, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
Q&A for Panel 3A
4:30 – 6:30 PANEL 3B: Investing in the Future: Towards Inclusive Societies
Chair: Professor Lusina Ho, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Toward Harmonious Multiculturalism or Plural Monoculturalisms?
Professor Gerard A. Postiglione, The University of Hong Kong
Integration and Accommodation in an Economic Perspective: Allocating the Costs of Diversity
Mr. Ian B. Lee, University of Toronto, Canada
Diversity and the Social Studies Curriculum in the Philippines
Mrs. Rowena Anthea Azada-Palacios, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
Integration or Peaceful Separation?
Mr. Mohd Yazid Bin Zul Kepli, International Islamic University Malaysia / The University of Hong Kong
Q&A for Panel 3B
7:00 CONFERENCE DINNER (OPTIONAL)
DAY TWO: FRIDAY 29 APRIL 2011
9:00 – 11:00 PANEL 4A: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Addressing Marginalisation and Inequality (1)
Chair: Ms. Farzana Aslam, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Constitutional Responsiveness in Pluralist Societies
Dr. Vlad Florin Perju, Boston College, Newton, United States
Q&A for Dr. Vlad Perju
Sane or Insane: When the Mentally Disabled Become Involved in the Criminal Justice System
Professor Zhiyuan Guo, University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
Why Religious Freedom and Language Rights are More Similar than Different
Dr. Meital Pinto, The Carmel Academic Center, Haifa, Israel
Q&A for Panel 4A
9:00 – 11:00 PANEL 4B: National, Multiple and Fluid Identities: The New Politics of Identity and Recognition
Chair: Mr. Benny Tai, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
The Influence of European Identity on the Protection of Minorities in the Nation States
Dr. Gabriella Horváth, University of West Hungary
Protection of Minorities in China’s Legislation
Dr. Gulazat Tursun, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
A Right to Equality in International Law and its Potential Application to Tibetan Claims for Greater Autonomy
Ms. Kelley Loper, University of Hong Kong
Reconfiguring Citizenship for Multicultural Societies
Ms. Puja Kapai, University of Hong Kong
Q&A for Panel 4B
11:00 – 11:15 COFFEE BREAK
11:15 – 1:15 PANEL 5A: Religion and the State: Fissured Discourses on Secularism, Accommodation and Tolerance (2)
Chair: Professor Albert Chen, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Defining ‘Minority’: An Analysis of ICESCR Treaty Terms and Practice towards Minority Protection
Ms. Heather J. Van Meter, Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon, United States
Q&A for Ms. Heather J. Van Meter
Electoral Speech and Church-State Relations: Laws Must Foster Neutrality, Tolerance, Pluralism, and Diversity
Professor Nina J. Crimm, St. John’s University School of Law, New York, United States and Professor Laurence H. Winer, Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, Arizona State University, United States
In God We Trust: Lessons in Absolute and Positive Secularism from Freedom from Religion Foundation v Barack Obama
Mr. Jeet Hiten Shroff, Government Law College, Mumbai, India
Contesting Identities in Bangladesh: A Study of Secular and Islamist Frontiers
Dr. Sanjay K. Bhardwaj, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Q&A for Panel 5A
11:15 – 1:15 PANEL 5B: Citizenship and Belonging in Diverse Societies
Chair: Dr. Anne Cheung, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Marginal Oversight: Rethinking the Inclusion/Exclusion Debate
Mr. William Colish, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Citizenship and Formalized Identity Building Processes in Europe
Mr. Daniele Ruggiu, University of Padua, Italy
Ethnic Federalism and Human Rights: The Ethiopian Experience
Dr. Firew Kebede Tiba, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Philippine Government Decentralization: Perils and Potentials for a Politics of Inclusion
Dr. Ranilo B. Hermida, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
Q&A for Panel 5B
1:15 – 2:30 LUNCH
2:30 – 4:30 PANEL 6A: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Addressing Marginalisation and Inequality (2)
Chair: Ms. Cora Chan, Faculty of Law
Speakers:
Adjudicating Social Welfare Rights in Hong Kong
Ms. Karen Kong, The University of Hong Kong
The Widening of Economic and Social Inequality in Singapore: An Inevitable Consequence or a Preventable Outcome?
Ms. Janice Weng Huiqin, National University of Singapore
Indigenous Identity and Nationhood: Buying into the Government’s Rules
Ms. Marilyn Poitras and Ms. Ruth Thompson, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Militant Covering
Professor Brandon Paradise, Rutgers Newark Law School, New Jersey, United States
Q&A for Panel 6A
2:30 – 4:30 PANEL 6B: Diversity and Inclusion in Education
Chair: Dr. Filiz Polat, Faculty of Education
Speakers:
Ethnic Identity, Power-dynamics and Inequity in Schooling: An Ethnographic Exploration of Schooling of a Tribal Village in India
Mr. Sukanta Kumar Mahapatra, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India
To Tell or Not To Tell? – Dilemmas Faced by the Parents of Children with an Autism Label in the Search of Inclusive Education
Mr. Simon Tat-Ming Ng, University of Hong Kong
Homophobic Bullying: Situation of Gay Youths in Secondary School
Mr. Chun Yam Chau, The Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong
Marching Towards Liberation: Transgender Awareness and its Space within Public Affairs Graduate Programs
Dr. Richard G. Johnson III, University of Vermont, United States
Q&A for Panel 6B
4:30 – 4:45 COFFEE BREAK
4:45 – 6:00 REFLECTIONS
Roundtable Discussion
6:00 – 6:15 CLOSING REMARKS
March 8th, 2011
The Vagina Monologues at the HKU
V-DAY HKU 2011
presents
a benefit production of
a benefit production of
Eve Ensler’s
The Vagina Monologues
Date: March 23rd (Wednesday) and 24th (Thursday)
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong
Advance tickets: HK$50
At the door: HK$70
Breaking news: The Vagina Monologues has finally come to an HK educational institution! 11 passionate women from HKU will be performing the award-winning play by Eve Ensler. A play about women, for everyone, The Vagina Monologues is based on interviews with more than 200 women, and celebrates women’s sexuality and strength, giving voice to experiences and feelings rarely exposed in public.
The Vagina Monologues is a part of V-Day, a global activist movement which aims to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. For more information, visit www.vday.org.
For advance tickets, email your name(s), the number of tickets and the date of the show to vagmonhku@gmail.com. Instructions will be sent to you after.
Show your support, spread the word – and see you there!
Enquiries: vagmonhku@gmail.com.
All proceeds will go to The Women’s Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in Hong Kong through research, community programmes, and education and advocacy. For more infomation:http://www.thewomensfoundationhk.org/main/home.php?LANG=english
January 13th, 2011
Upcoming Conference: Recognition and the Politics of Identity and Inclusion in the 21st Century
Source: HKU
Upcoming Conference: Recognition and the Politics of Identity and Inclusion in the 21st Century: Managing Diversity in Plural Societies, 28th & 29th April 2011, The University of Hong Kong.
This conference seeks to explore the changing dimensions of the politics of identity and inclusion and their implications for governance and the protection of minority communities in plural societies. The conference intends to forge new synergies between disciplines and will draw on the concepts of equality, non-discrimination, identity, inclusion, minority rights and human rights to address the comprehensive challenges posed by life at the margins of society.
People from all disciplines, including, but not limited to anthropology, cultural studies, economics, education, healthcare, law, philosophy, politics, psychology, social work, and sociology working on these or related themes are invited to submit proposals for consideration.
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The ESRT on Diversity Studies aims to strengthen and consolidate diversity-related research efforts within and across disciplines and to enhance the interdisciplinary research capabilities of the University. Diversity is a broad concept often associated with the multiplicity of peoples, cultures, religions and values. It encompasses a range of community identities including ethnicity, race, religion, disability, gender and sexuality, among others. Growing diversity in Hong Kong and elsewhere necessitates targeted and coordinated research efforts supported within a broad diversity framework. As such, the ESRT seeks to facilitate a holistic approach towards researching diversity by emphasizing connections between existing projects, creating inter- and intra-institutional collaborative opportunities, and encouraging new multidisciplinary approaches to researching key issues facing many societies with increasingly diverse populations, including Hong Kong.
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Recent Activities:
Research Workshop on Understanding and Addressing Diversity
High Level Dialogue: Punitive Laws, Human Rights and HIV prevention among men who have sex withmen in Asia Pacific
Conference on Inclusion in Education
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The ESRT has undertaken a number of initiatives, including 1) development of an interdisciplinary project team which has brought together researchers and research centres across Faculties, 2) organization of international conferences, seminars, and a research-sharing workshop, 3) submission of grant applications for diversity-related projects, 4) publications, 5) curriculum development, 6) engagement with experts from outside of Hong Kong, and 7) engagement with the civil society in Hong Kong in knowledge exchange activities including trainings and other initiatives.
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