Rowena Allen

Ro Allen is an Australian LGBTIQ advocate.[1] In July 2015, Allen was appointed as Victoria's first gender and sexuality commissioner.[2]

Career

Prior to their appointment as Victoria's gender and sexuality commissioner, Allen held executive positions with numerous organisations.[2] This includes being chairperson of the Victorian Adult, Community and Further Education Board, commissioner of the Victorian Skills Commission, commissioner of the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, deputy chairperson of the Hume Regional Development Australia Committee, chairperson of Communities for Children in Shepparton and chairperson of the National Working Party for GLBTI Social Reform in the early 2010s.[2] Allen was also the founding Chief Executive Officer of UnitingCare Australia's Cutting Edge community services agency in the Goulburn Valley.[3]

Politics

Allen stood as an Australian Labor Party candidate in the electorate of Benalla at the 2010 Victorian election.[4] Allen said their motivation to stand as the ALP candidate for Benalla was due to the frustration of seeing basic infrastructure and community services for the electorate being overlooked in favour of more marginal seats.[4] After preferences, Allen was defeated by the National Party of Australia's candidate Bill Sykes who attracted 73.1% of the vote, with a 5.6% swing in his favour.[5]

In 2017, Allen was a proponent of the "Yes" vote for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.[6]

Gender and Sexuality Commissioner

Since Allen became Victoria's gender and sexuality commissioner, there have been a number of public endeavours to achieve better inclusivity for, and acceptance of, LGBTIQ people in the state.

Allen is credited with helping coordinate the first Australian Football League-sanctioned Pride Game, which occurred in Round 21 of the 2016 AFL season.[7][8]

The first national retreat for trans and gender diverse Aboriginal people was held in November 2016, which Allen hosted.[9] The event was held in Brunswick and incorporated workshops, celebrations and networking opportunities.[10]

Following Allen's appointment in 2015, there have been various events held in regional Victorian communities to promote the inclusion and reduce the discrimination of, LGBTIQ people in non-metropolitan areas.[11][12][13][14][15]

In December 2017, Allen promoted the introduction of T-screen, a joint initiative by Breast Screen Victoria and Transgender Victoria to make breast screenings for trans and gender diverse people more inclusive by educating medical staff on how to be more respectful during screenings.[16]

Personal life

Allen identifies as "gender diverse" and uses the term "walker", for "walking" between genders.[17] Allen has said they are comfortable when people address them using male pronouns, as they are "very relaxed" about how people gender them.[18] Allen officially changed their name from Rowena to their preferred more gender neutral Ro in 2018.

Allen is a member of the Uniting Church.[19] They came out at a Christian youth convention at the age of 20.[17] While they were publicly praised their mentor for being supportive and telling them they didn't need to choose between their faith and their sexuality, Allen has criticised an earlier experience at a friend's Pentecostal Church where ministers attempted conversion therapy.[17] Allen has described such therapy as "unbelievably dangerous".[17]

Upon their appointment as Victoria's Gender and Sexuality Commissioner, Allen discussed past incidents of assault and occasions they have received hate mail. This has included an elderly woman hitting them with a handbag in a women's toilet after mistaking Allen for a man, a man assaulting them in the street, and receiving a card containing cut-out letters spelling "devil child" following the birth of their daughter.[17] Allen has said such experiences have made them stronger and more determined in their work to ensure others don't have to experience such bigotry.[17]

Allen resided in Violet Town with their partner Kaye Bradshaw and their daughter Alex Bradshaw-Allen, before they moved to Melbourne in 2016.[17] They have also lived in Shepparton and Glen Waverley.[18]

Bradshaw and Allen took part in a public commitment ceremony at a rally calling for equal rights for gay people in Shepparton in 2014, prior the legalisation of same-sex marriages in Australia in 2017.[20] In October 2017, Allen, Bradshaw and Bradshaw-Allen attended a marriage equality rally in Melbourne to promote the "Yes" campaign for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, where Bradshaw-Allen, then aged 9, addressed the crowd to support her parents.[6]

Honours

Allen was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2009.[2][21]

References
  1. Gold, Kyriakos (4 March 2016) Rowena Allen on Mardis Gras, mental health and misgendering, SBS Sexuality, Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  2. Foley, Martin (15 July 2015) Rowena Allen is Victoria's first Gender and Sexuality Commssioner, Victorian Government. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  3. (15 July 2015) Rowena Allen announced as Victoria's first gender and sexuality commissioner, ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  4. (10 November 2010) Ready to make a difference, Benalla Ensign, McPherson Media Group. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  5. Victoria Votes 2010: Benalla results, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Accessed 23 November 2018.
  6. (27 October 2017) Rally for marriage equality, The Age, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  7. Stark, Jill (2 August 2015) St Kilda lobby AFL for gay pride game, The Age. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  8. (27 July 2016) Stories of Pride: Rowena Allen, St Kilda Football Club. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  9. Wade, Matthew (17 May 2016) New retreat for trans and gender diverse Aboriginal people, Star Observer, Gay & Lesbian Community Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  10. Marlow, Karina (28 November 2016) First national retreat for gender diverse mob, National Indigenous Television, Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  11. Cunningham, Melissa (15 March 2017) Ro Allen breaks down stigma surrounding LGBTI community, The Courier, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  12. Ebsary, Ellen (25 May 2017) Victoria's first gender and sexuality commissioner Rowena Allen celebrates launch of Gateway's Health's Gender Service, The Border Mail, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  13. Charalambous, Stephanie (31 July 2017) Love is the answer to intolerance: Ro Allen, Latrobe Valley Express, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  14. (3 December 2017) Ro Allen returning to Warrnambool to hear how equality initiatives have evolved, The Standard, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  15. Kearney, Mark (15 February 2018) Roadshow returns, with LGBTI mental health, violence atop the agenda, Bendigo Advertiser, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  16. Morgan, Michaela (1 December 2017) Saving lives: the program making breast screens more inclusive of trans and gender diverse people, SBS Sexuality, Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  17. Stark, Jill (29 August 2015) Fighting for equality: meet Victoria's new sexuality and gender commissioner, The Age, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  18. (9 September 2015) Rowena Allen, Victorian Commissioner for Gender and Sexuality, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  19. Carleton, James (4 March 2018) Fabulous and Faithful, God Forbid, ABC Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  20. Lewis, John (17 November 2014) Call for marriage reform at equal rights rally, Shepparton News, McPherson Media Group. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  21. "Victorian Honour Roll of Women" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-05-13.
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