Trans advocates restore Tasmanian memorial after repeated vandalism

Amid rising transphobia, a memorial to late Tasmanian transgender woman, Marjorie Harwood, has been vandalised for the seventh time in three years.

Warning: this article contains distressing content regarding the abuse and death of a transgender woman. Read on with care.

In the wake of the Giggle v Tickle appeal decision, widely considered by LGBTQIA+ advocates to be a major win for trans rights and women’s rights, there has been an immense wave of backlash and a widespread increase in transphobia across the nation.

High-ranking politicians have been among those contributing to the backlash, with MPs including Angus Taylor, Chris Minns and Pauline Hanson making public statements asserting their desire to legally redefine “biological sex” as a result of the Federal Court ruling.

In Tasmania, a local memorial dedicated to the late transgender woman, Marjorie Harwood, had to be cleaned once again, after it was defaced for the seventh time.

Related content:

• BREAKING: Federal Court upholds and expands discrimination ruling in Giggle v Tickle appeal
• Trans advocates criticise Minns biological sex comments
• Memorial to Tasmanian trans woman defaced with Nazi symbol

‘Predictable’ response to trans rights

In a post on Facebook on 22 May, trans rights activist and the first transgender woman to be inducted into the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women, Martine Delaney, revealed the vandalism. She shared that “It’s all a tad predictable,” noting how the backlash to Giggle v Tickle has spilled into a wider attack on the rights of Australian trans and gender-diverse people.

“Here in Tasmania, Women Speak Tasmania held a protest – demanding the removal of my image from the Female Gaze photographic display, at the historic Female Factory. They followed this up by demanding the Tasmanian government amend the Anti-Discrimination Act to enable the exclusion of trans women from women-only spaces,” she wrote in the post.

Amid the backlash, Delaney reports that a memorial to Marjorie Harwood was defaced — “Again. Seventh time in the past three years and, as always, in the middle of the night. By people so sure they’re in the right, they only ever attack under cover of night.”

Who was Marjorie Harwood?

Marjorie Harwood died at the age of 38 in 2018 after she refused medical treatment for a kidney condition because she was fearful of returning to prison, where she was wrongfully housed in the men’s population and was subjected to sexual and physical abuse. In 2021, Marjorie’s mother, Rosemary Harwood, along with Delaney, created the trans flag-emblazoned memorial to Marjorie near Risdon Prison, where she had been detained.

Since its installation, the memorial has been defaced several times with hateful slogans and images.

Most recently, the trans flag on the rock was painted over in early February.

“Marjorie was a trans woman who’d previously been incarcerated, for persistent minor offences, in the men’s facility – because of Tasmania’s then-antiquated, but now reformed, birth certificate legislation. She chose to die, rather than face a potential return and repeat of the violent sexual assault she’d suffered in Risdon Prison,” Delaney continued in her 22 May post.

‘We’re proud to stand up for Marjorie’

Delaney went on to note the correlation between renewed backlash to the progression of trans rights and vandals defacing Harwood’s memorial.

“Strange, isn’t it? Whenever these anti-trans groups again discover their demands aren’t supported by government or the broader community, Marjorie’s memorial is attacked.”

She shared photos of the defacement and the memorial being restored to its original state, with a vow to continue to defend trans rights. “Marjorie’s mum and I fixed it. And we’ll do so, every time they crawl out into the night and spray their prejudiced paint about.”

“The difference? We’re proud to stand up for Marjorie – and all trans and gender-diverse people – in broad daylight.”

Delaney’s post and words were encouraged by fellow trans advocates, with one writing, “The rock will get a new layer of love every time hate tries to wipe it out”. Equality Tasmania shared the Post and wrote: “A big thank you to Martine Delaney for ensuring hate does not win.”

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