In the US, trans people are being cruelly used as a highly visible internal enemy by people who can only be described as fascists. This is, of course, affecting Australia too. I don't know what to do about it. One thing I can do is to try and discredit the lie that gender diverse* people are a recent Western invention. I will come back to this; in the meantime you can read about it at my Dreamwidth.
Right now, though, I wanted to mention an Egyptian deity, Ptah-Naunet. It was very rare for the Ancient Egyptians to combine a male god, Ptah, and a female god, Naunet (the female counterpart of Nun, the primordial ocean), in this way. Ptah-Naunet appears in the Memphite Theology, a document which explains that Ptah is the real creator deity. Even the great god Amun is the child of Ptah-Nun and Ptah-Naunet. I guess by combining these gods in this way, Ptah, a male god, becomes capable of giving birth.
Ptah-Naunet has been stuck in my head ever since I thought of writing something about gender variance. Maybe he-she is just a male god with a female capability stuck on; maybe the whole thing is just propaganda. But possibly, by combining two primal, powerful gods of creation, there is a symbol here for the relentlessly susprising, creative nature of human gender and sexuality, which is no modern invention but dates from the beginning of time.
(I have never been more disappointed not to be an artist. I imagine Ptah-Naunet as a figure combining aspects of both gods; but if the Egyptians had wanted to represent him-her they wouldn't have felt limited by Ptah or Naunet and would have drawn or sculpted whatever they felt best represented the deity.)
*By "gender diverse" I mean trans, non-binary, gender non-confirming -- everyone who doesn't fit into the neat pink and blue boxes and is therefore under attack. If you're not sure if I'm including you, I am. ("Gender diverse" gets used a lot in Australia. If it's inappropriate I know people will let me know. ty for the heads-up on "gender variant" @apatosaurus)