Air Force official, long time Australian army officer and the Australian military’s highest-ranking transgender woman Cate McGregor has thanked the Prime Minister Tony Abbott for his personal and professional support during her transition.
In a moving speech at the National Press Club, McGregor spoke about living with gender dysmorphia, her transition and the support she received from the military and from the government.
She said she was saddened that Abbott was not given credit for supporting her despite his Catholic upbringing and the views of his conservative cabinet colleagues.
Lieutenant-Colonel Cate McGregor, formerly Malcolm, has enjoyed a 40-year career in the military and as a political and sports columnist.
Born in 1956, she lived 56 years as a man and made the decision to transition to a woman in 2012. She previously worked as a speechwriter for Chief of Army David Morrison, during which time she penned his famous address condemning sexism in the military, and is now serving as the director of research and analysis in the office of the Chief of Air Force.
McGregor was inducted into the Order of Australia in 2012 for service to the Australian army.
Yesterday at the National Press Club, McGregor described her decision to live the rest of her life as a woman. She described the support she received from the army, including Lieutenant-General David Morrison, who refused her resignation when she attempted to leave due to her impending transition.
But, she recounted, she held off on telling her long-time friend Tony Abbott because she was afraid of how he might react. Within an hour of her sending an email describing her decision, the prime minister rang to say “it’s okay”.
“He didn’t run a focus group or ring Cory Bernardi or Kevin Andrews to see if it was OK, he just did,” she said.
“He embraced risk in doing that.”
McGregor lamented underestimating the prime minister.
“I did him a disservice and grossly underestimated his capacity for friendship.”
“You all know him – there is kind of a firefighter buried inside the politician still and he tends to barge in burning buildings if his friends are in there.”
Abbott agreed to feature on an episode of the ABC’s Australian Story dedicated to McGregor and her struggle with gender dysmorphia.
McGregor said she was disappointed the Australian public gave Abbott no credit for showing leadership on what she describes as the “next frontier” of gender issues.
“He received cynical abuse from some quarters and almost no credit. I find the reluctance of some in the human rights and gender lobbies to acknowledge exactly what Tony Abbott did quite puzzling,” she said.
“A conservative Catholic, who is far from the most conservative Christian in his cabinet, publicly embraced a trans woman and got sneered at in return. Some people really need to know how to take yes for an answer.”
She did lament the prime minister’s unwillingness to support gay marriage, but said she understood why he didn’t given his strict religious upbringing.
McGregor also used the address to discuss the future of women in the military, saying women bring “unique strengths” to the armed forces but there are some aspects of warfare that will remain male-dominated for some time yet.
“The business of fighting at close quarters on the ground is a very male thing. I think it always will be,” she said.
“It requires a quantum leap to imagine the Special Air Service Regiment or the Commandos ever having a majority, let alone a significant minority, of female members.”
She also described Lt General Morrison’s prediction that a woman could fill his shoes as Chief of Army within ten years as “courageous”.
“Over time it will happen,” she said.
McGregor used powerful stories of her own experience of the physicality of becoming a woman to explain why she felt some areas of direct combat will remain the purview of men, at least for the time being.
“I am not as confident at projecting my physical self. I don’t run on Mount Ainslie at twilight any more. I avoid oncoming groups of young guys, especially if they look a bit intoxicated. I cross the road.”