More than a pussy or a penis

Today, November 23rd, is the Transgender Day of Remembrance and in light of that a special event will take place at the City Hall (i. Ráðhúsið) at 17:30. Halla Þórlaug Óskarsdóttir met Ugla Stefanía Jónsdóttir, the chair of Trans-Iceland, at The University Bar (i. Stúdentakjallarinn), for a quick chat about the issues transgender people face in Iceland. When asked about the biggest challenges they’re currently confronting, Ugla immediately mentioned linguistic issues. The definition of transgender people by law is “people having problems with gender identification” which suggests that trans people have a disease.

UGLA: “It’s condescending. Also: Transgender people should have control over their life. Today there is a committee that decides if you can have the reassignment surgery or not. This committee is some sort of “gate-keeper”. Regardless of its work, which is very good in a way, its authority is abnormally great. They could have said to me: “No, you can’t have the surgery, we don’t feel you’re woman enough.”

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Ugla Stefanía Jónsdóttir chair of Trans-Iceland. Photo by Mía Hjartardóttir.

Hence, the biggest issue is definitely for transgender people to gain control over their life. Having the right to decide for themselves. This makes sense. Who would ever decide to undergo a difficult procedure just for the heck of it? Ugla tells me that Denmark has already adopted “the Argentinian way”; which basically gives every person permission to decide for themself which gender they belong to.

UGLA: “This way being transgender is not defined as a disease. There is still a committee, but its job is to offer support and education. They don’t have anything to do with decision-making. This also gives way for people who don’t necessarily define themselves as either male or female. There they can participate in the process up to some point. In Iceland this is not possible, for the law require you to define your gender and enter the gender reassignment process towards “the opposite gender”. So if you want hormones, you have to define yourself as an individual of the opposite gender.”

Ugla herself has undergone a sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and says that after the procedure she felt a great pressure to become even more “girly” than she already was.

UGLA: “I think I felt even more pressure than my female friends. I felt a pressure to be extremely feminine, extremely pretty and preferably watch chick flicks all day.”

HALLA: “Basically become another person.”

UGLA: “Exactly. Someone very different from myself. But I played the part for a while, because I felt I had to.”

HALLA: “Ironic, since you went through with the whole thing because you felt that your body wasn’t representing the person you were on the inside. And then afterwards you felt the need to pretend to be someone else.”

UGLA: That’s right. But gradually it dawned on me: I’m not some “typical girl”.”

Criticizes the fight

Our talk goes back to the conflicts that the transgender-battle faces, how it sometimes clashes with other ideologies and movements; such as feminism and the Queer movement.

Ugla with Rebekka We and Raul Budusan at adsf adsf.
Ugla with Rebekka We and Raul Budusan at a summer camp for queer youths in Germany.

UGLA: “Modern Feminism, for example, focuses on constructivism and socialization. Then all of a sudden some trans-individual arrives and says: “Baby, I was born this way. It’s in my nature.” That doesn’t exactly go together.
As a member of the younger generation of trans-individuals, I have started to criticize the norm, while the trans-people before me basically had no other choice than just walk into the norm as it was.
It’s not different from the waves in other movements, such as feminism, now we’re facing the second wave of trans-people. And they have started challenging the idea of Man and Woman … and started asking the question: What gender do you want to belong to?”

HALLA: “And maybe in what proportions you want to belong to each gender?”

UGLA: “That’s exactly it. Obviously I think gender matters, but at the same time I feel that it doesn’t. It’s difficult, because people are discriminated against based on their gender and that’s why I think it’s an important discussion. It’s also important to think about gender in the sense of what it is and how it’s represented. Because gender is more than just male or female… penis or pussy. It’s personal rather than biological. But then again, I think we’re way too focused on gender in every field.”

And there are other matters Ugla is highly critical of. As a part of an educational group from The National Queer Organization (i. Samtökin ’78) who visit elementary schools to educate children on trans-gender issues, Ugla says that sadly kids don’t get any other education on the matter in school.

UGLA: “I feel that the issues of transgender people should be discussed in biology, sociology and sex education. Transgender kids don’t get any education in school. They have to search for information elsewhere. That’s not okay.”

On the positive note Ugla says that members of Trans-Iceland, which she is chair of, applaud the idea to discontinue the Personal Name Committee of Iceland. The committee has the power to reject names on various grounds. One of them is that women should have female names and men should bear male names.

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As this photo shows the kids had a lot of fun at the camp.

UGLA: “This name-committee being abolished would mean a lot to the transgender society. Then anyone could go out and change their name to whatever they felt like – without legally being of a certain gender. You could even have a female first name and a male middle name.”

In the beginning we started talking about linguistic issues and it’s evident that the Icelandic language doesn’t make life any easier for transgender people, since it is very gender oriented.

UGLA: “You’re constantly forced to confirm your gender. You can’t say you’re hungry without stating your gender. I was listening to a radio show the other day where a linguistic expert blatantly declared that the pronouns are a closed word group. What a load of crap. Who decides that?”

Obviously gender has nothing to do with the feeling of hunger. And although it’s difficult to mess with the sacred language of Icelandic, it’s probably only a matter of time before the closed group of pronouns will open up for other identities.

Language should definitely encourage the freedom of expression – instead of being a deterrent for a minority group. Everyone should be encouraged to speak up – and not feel forced to shut up, because of language.

How ironic when language itself is making people uncomfortable with speaking.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is held annually on November 20th to remember people who have been killed, shown hatred or feared due to trans-phobia. The aim is to bring attention to the challenges transgender people face with events such as candlelight vigils, art shows and film screenings.
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is held annually on November 20th to remember people who have been killed, shown hatred or feared due to trans-phobia. The aim is to bring attention to the challenges transgender people face with events such as candlelight vigils, art shows and film screenings.

Á. Óskarsson
Á. Óskarsson

Á. Óskarsson offers a variety of products and services to sports centers, swimming pools, schools, kindergartens, and the general public. The company specializes in sport-related products, activity-focused games, and a wide range of solutions for sports facilities.

Á. Óskarsson has been involved in numerous big projects related to building sports facilities and has made it their benchmark to offer good quality products and equipment since the company was founded.

See links to social media in the upper left-hand corner

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Á. Óskarsson selur fjölbreytt vöruúrval fyrir íþróttahús, sundlaugar, skóla og leikskóla og einnig ýmsar vörur til einkaafnota. Fyrirtækið selur vörur til íþróttaiðkunnar og leikja ásamt því að bjóða upp á ýmsar lausnir fyrir íþróttamannvirki.

Á. Óskarsson hefur komið að fjölda stórra verkefna við byggingu íþróttamannvirkja og hefur frá stofnun kappkostað að bjóða vandaðar og endingargóðar vörur.

Tenglar á samfélagsmiðla eru í efra horninu vinstra megin.

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Blush

    Blush was founded in 2011 when it started selling high quality sex products. The goal from the beginning was to change the market and take the discussion about sex products to a higher level. Today Blush provides professional services in a pleasant environment that fulfills different needs, both for individuals and couples. Blush respects diversity and wants to set a good example in all of its messaging to target audiences. Sexual health and equality in sex is important and Blush wants to focus on those issues through education and open discussion. Blush works in a socially responsible manner for society, their customers and the environment.

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    Omnom Chocolate
    - award-winning chocolate maker

      Omnom Chocolate is an Icelandic craft chocolate company based in Reykjavík. We produce handcrafted chocolate from organic cacao beans sourced ethically and sustainably. We’ve developed direct relationships to create premium chocolate with fine flavor cacao beans.

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      Nasdaq

         

        Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a global technology company serving the capital markets and other industries. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software and services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence.

        With over 4,300 employees in 39 offices around the world, at Nasdaq we all contribute to the success of the company and its culture, and each one of us has the ability to make a difference. When it comes to our core mission and values, we embrace the role of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) as a fundamental driver of our corporate growth, workplace culture and market development. We strive to create a culture that embraces the power of different perspectives—a culture where people’s unique backgrounds and different experiences helps us fuel innovation and support our clients around the world.

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        Blue Lagoon
        - One of the 25 Wonders of the World

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        The Blue Lagoon. A wonder of the world. A world of wonder.

        Landsbankinn
        - leading financial institution
        Landsbankinn

        Landsbankinn is a leading Icelandic financial institution. It offers a full range of financial services and is the market leader in the Icelandic financial service sector with the largest branch network.

        The present bank was established on 7 October 2008 but the history of its predecessor dates back to 1886. The bank is owned by the National Treasury of Iceland, which holds 98.2% of its share capital, and other shareholders who own 1.8%.

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        It intends to achieve this aim by building solid infrastructure and a strong team of 1.100 employees, by listening to its customers and by respecting and encouraging its employees to actively participate in their community. Landsbankinn was a founding member of Festa, a Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, and is a member of the UN Global Compact.

        Landsbankinn has been a proud sponsor of the Reykjavik Pride since it was first celebrated in Iceland.

        Dohop
        - get inspired
        Dohop

        Dohop allows people to find the cheapest flights available with just one click. Founded in Reykjavik in 2004, it is the only Icelandic company of its kind and quickly became the go-to tool for finding cheap flights among the locals. Dohop finds the best deals among hundreds of different airlines and online travel agencies, to make sure that the user is getting the cheapest price. Dohop also offers hotel and car rental search engines, so users can make all of their travel bookings from a single website.

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        VSÓ Ráðgjöf

           

          VSÓ Ráðgjöf er alhliða ráðgjafar- og verkfræðifyrirtæki sem leggur áherslu á trausta og faglega þjónustu sem tryggir viðskiptavinum hagkvæmustu lausnir hverju sinni, skilar raunverulegum árangri og stuðlar að samkeppnisforskoti.  Á skrifstofum VSÓ í Reykjavík og í Noregi starfar yfir 80 manna samhentur hópur verkfræðinga og annarra tæknimenntaðra starfsmanna.

          Macland
          - for all your Apple needs
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          From starting out as a proper startup with only a good idea and the need to change things, to becoming an established company with 6 employees. Starting from scratch and expanding organically has allowed us to love our expansion and take our customers on the ride with us.

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          Ísey skyr
          - once tasted never forgotten

          Our Story
          Once upon a time, 1,100 years ago in fact, Nordic settlers began arriving in Iceland. They brought with them the skills and knowledge for producing skyr. As time passed, the know-how and recipe for this nutritious food slowly faded out elsewhere in the Nordic region. Luckily, the Icelandic skyr-making tradition continued.

          For centuries, Icelandic skyr formed a cornerstone of the national diet, helping to keep people strong in living conditions that were often harsh. On family farms countrywide, it was the women who nurtured this dairy and passing on both the recipe and the original Icelandic skyr cultures from mother to daughter.

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          This is our secret and you are in on it

          You can read more about Ísey skyr on our website.

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