Key Points
- Dax Carnay identifies as a non-binary trans person, her pronouns are she/her or they/them.
- ‘The Six Guys an Immigrant Trans Person of Colour will Date in Melbourne” was written by Dax Carnay
- The play is based on the author's lived experience as a trans, person of colour and migrant living in Melbourne.
The struggle is real
Dax identifies as a non-binary trans person, her pronouns are she/her or they/them. ‘Everyone struggled to understand. I said, if you guys struggled, did you ever consider how much I struggled to through the years to get to here?’
Through the years Dax has built a good reputation and client base in the events and entertainment industry in the Philippines. She explains to her colleagues ‘at the end of the day, it all boils down to the quality of my work. If I deliver the expected outcome, then my appearance shouldn’t even be part of the conversation.’ Dax has become a mentor to younger members of the LGBTQI+ community particularly in the Poblacion area known to backpackers and popular for its concept bars. She was known to defend anyone who was discriminated or wronged because they identified as gay, trans, lesbian, just because they didn’t fit the role society dictated them to play.
Learning to pivot during the pandemic
Like everyone else, the COVID pandemic changed her life. She had to leave everything that was familiar to live overseas. She and her Australian partner for many years re-settled in Melbourne just before international borders were closed. For two years, she wore many different hats. She worked as a marketing specialist, took on jobs in the hospitality industry but found her way back to the arts sector.
Dax Carnay's (left) ‘The Six Guys an Immigrant Trans Person of Colour will Date in Melbourne” was a story Justine Javier Long was able to relate to as a migrant, 'the concept of reinvention was what struck me the most, Who I am? Taking into context my life here in Australia versus to the life I left behind in Manila. Re-inventing and building my identity as a migrant, as a person of colour.’ In photo Dax and Justine at SBS Radio with Maridel Martinez
Identity, dating and migrant life
Justine Javier Long has been living in Melbourne for seven years. It was love that brought her to a foreign land. Like Dax, she explored different employment opportunities until she reinvented herself and became a real estate photographer.
While they are two very different individuals; their shared experience of migration and its struggles have brought them together to work on ‘The Six Guys an Immigrant Trans Person of Colour will Date in Melbourne”.
'I read the script in one sitting and I said lets do this’ Justine co-produces the play which stages as part of the Midsumma Festival. Dax wrote the play ‘as an ode to the general reluctance to show the struggles of the marginalized community’. While the characters in the story is entirely fiction, it is mostly based on Dax’s lived experience as a migrant, something that Justine was able to relate to.
‘Having moved to another country, I realised I was now part oF the minority, I became a person of colour, everything that was once familiar was gone. I had to re-learn a lot of things’ shares Justine. ‘One of the things that struck me the most and related to the most was the concept of re-invention. Who I am? Taking into context my life here in Australia versus to the life I left behind in Manila. Re-inventing and building my identity as a migrant, as a person of colour.’
Not just gender identity
It was through their lives as a migrant that both Dax and Justine truly understood what it was like to be marginalized. Dax explains what it was like to experience life from the other side, ‘In the Philippines, while we also struggle, we are in our comfort zone, surrounded by the people we love our family our friends. We are not considered as the other'. Justine adds ‘because we grew up in the Philippines, we all know how the system works, how society works. You know your place in society, with the hierarchy. Here everything is different.’
Dax Carnay moved to Melbourne in 2020 just before Australia closed its international borders. it was her experience as a trans, person of colour migrant with English as a second language that she truly understood what it was like to be marginalized. Credit: Darren Gill
The story on ‘The Six Guys an Immigrant Trans Person of Colour will Date in Melbourne” while fiction is inspired by Dax’s experience and a deeper understanding what it is it to be truly marginalized. ‘We can only truly understand what it is like to be marginalized if we understand the different aspects of marginalization, when it intersects. You are either gay, a person of colour, or a female migrant or when English is your second language; these are experiences you can find in the first world like Australia. If we only view it from one level, it gives us a shallow understanding, because that is the everyday reality of life. We can only truly understand a person’s journey and marginalization if we are able to look beyond the surface.’
LISTEN TO
Pagharap sa pagsubok ng isang pamilya para protektahan ang anak na transgender
SBS Filipino
23/11/202211:25
