Oxford college flies university’s "first-ever rainbow flag"

November, 23, 2011

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/11/23/oxford-college-flies-first-ever-rainbow-flag-above-university/
An Oxford University college has flown the rainbow flag above a campus building for the first time in its history.
Wadham College hosts the annual Queerfest, a party which celebrates gay history and culture, and raises awareness for LGBT rights.
In recent years this has been preceded by Queerweek, a collection of talks, discussions and social events.
While the 2011 Queerweek celebrations, which began on the 14 November, saw the lights in the college’s front quad turned pink, organisers sought a more visible display to people outside the college.
Queerweek organiser Michael Brooks, 19, a Philosophy and German undergraduate, told PinkNews.co.uk the reaction from the university and the city has been positive.
Brooks agreed on the idea of raising a flag among the city’s spires with the other event organiser, Sarah Pine, before approaching university authorities.
He said: “We discussed it with the college Dean and then it went through to Governing Body. Everyone responded really positively to the idea and we ended up flying the rainbow flag over Wadham for an entire week.
“Putting up the flag was such a simple thing to do, but it had a huge effect on Oxford. I heard many people from different colleges talking about it. I saw tourists stopping outside Wadham to take photos of it.
“It challenges the stereotypes people have of Oxford and I hope that it will make those within Oxford who do hold very conservative views concerning LGBTQ rights to think differently.
“I was speaking to one student about the rainbow flag and he told me that he was surprised that the ‘powers-that-be’ at Wadham allowed us to fly the flag. I think that this shows that other Oxford colleges do not offer enough support to their LGBTQ community and it’s time for that to change.
Ross Brooks, the author of Oxford’s LGBT city guide Queer Oxford, said he was “stunned and delighted” to have seen the rainbow flag over a university building.
He told PinkNews.co.uk: “For centuries, LGBT culture has been integral to life here in Oxford although it has not always been acknowledged and appreciated.
“It was heartwarming to see Oxford University celebrating diversity in the community so proudly and publicly.”
He added the college was the scene of a notable gay scandal.
The author said: “On 3rd February 1739, Robert Thistlethwayte, Doctor of Divinity and infamous Warden of Wadham, attempted to seduce William French, a commoner of the College.
“The ensuing scandal shook the University to its foundations. Thistlethwayte’s career at Oxford was ruined – he fled to France – but he was immortalised in several delightful limericks which have been uttered here in Oxford ever since the 1730s.”
One of the mentioned rhymes runs:

There once was a Warden of Wadham Who approved of the folkways of Sodom, For a man might, he said, Have a very poor head But be a fine Fellow at bottom

While the flag was first used by the LGBT community in the 1970s, it is believed this is the first official gay symbol to be displayed since teaching began on the university’s site in the 11th century.

Hungarian health authority says human dignity of trans pharmacist has to be respected

Budapest, November 24, 2011 – In its recent decision on appeal the Hungarian Office of Health Authorization and Administrative Procedures has ordered the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of State to issue a new pharmacy license to a trans pharmacist that does not contain reference to her birth name and gender. The authority agreed with the applicant that revealing her transgender status in such official documents is a violation of human dignity.

The applicant was born male, completed a degree in pharmaceutical sciences and became a head pharmacist in the Hungarian countryside while still being officially male. In 2011 she changed her gender and started replacing her documents to reflect her new name and gender. While she had no problem obtaining a new diploma, when requesting an amendment to her pharmacy license she met an obstacle. The Office of the Chief Medical Officer of State would only issue a new license that contained both her birth name and her new name and thus the new license would have revealed to everyone that she had undergone gender reassignment.

The applicant turned to the legal aid service of Háttér Support Society for LGBT People who helped her put together an appeal. The appeal argued that forcing a trans person to out herself every time she has to show her pharmacy license was an unacceptable breach of human dignity and privacy, and given the transphobic social attitudes in Hungary it would expose the applicant to higher level of discrimination. In the appeal procedure the Hungarian Office of Health Authorization and Administrative Procedures shared the applicants concerns that the amended license containing both her birth name and her new name was a breach of human dignity and ordered the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of State to issue a new pharmacy license that does not contain reference to the applicant’s birth name.

The case shows very well the uncertainty and vulnerability of people undergoing gender reassignment in Hungary due to the lack of legislation on gender recognition. While in other countries such legislation clarifies the data protection principles that authorities, employers and service providers have to follow, due to the lack of such legislation in Hungary trans persons have to rely on the benevolence of individual clerks.