By Melinda Swift
Melinda Swift is an organisational effectiveness and development professional with over 20 years of senior management experience in the public sector working in the ocean economy, the cradle of humankind, and sustainable resource management.
She currently serves as Operations and Partnerships Manager at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO). In her personal capacity, Swift is committed to advancing the rights and inclusion of all young people, especially LGBTQIA+ children.
Melinda Swift says: “Gender-diverse children are in the first instance children.
“Being transgender is like being left-handed or ginger-haired, some people are, and most people are not. It is no other person’s business what any child’s biology may be under their school uniforms.
“The greatest risks associated with gender-diverse and transgender children in schools are the bullying and unkindness shown to them by adults (who should know better) and other children who may be expressing the views of the adults around them.
“Our gender identity and sexual orientation are not choices; but it is easy to choose to be an ally, to choose to learn more, and to choose to be kind and loving.”
Swift is able to advance conversations on: Questions about the anti-gender organisations that reject young people identifying as transgender, non-binary or simply still deciding.
This includes some doctors, lawyers and religious leaders who weigh in against gender-diverse children, where important questions are needed to uncover where they get their money from, and what other beliefs that are trying to promote.
How to share information about any child being bullied at school by other learners, parents (including their parents) or educators. (With the Department of Education, or here.)
How balanced narratives can be used to protect the rights of gender-diverse children as a vulnerable minority group.
