Owl_Fisher

Owl Fisher

Owl Fisher

Icelandic writer and transgender activist

Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir, also known as Owl Fisher (born 6 January 1991), is an Icelandic journalist, filmmaker, author and non-binary trans activist.

Early life

Fisher was born in Iceland on 6 January 1991. Fisher announced they[lower-alpha 1] were trans in 2010, and was one of the youngest people to have undergone a medical transition in Iceland.[1] Fisher's father currently leads the governing council of Húnavatnshreppur, the area in which Fisher was born and raised,[2] and has publicly written in support of them and their transition.[3]

In 2016, Fisher graduated with Master's Degree in Gender Studies from the University of Iceland.[4]

Activism and career

LGBTQIA+ activism

Fisher was a founding member of HIN - Hinsegin Norðurland, an organisation for queer people in Northern Iceland in 2011. Following on from that they joined the board of Trans Iceland, and were the chair of the organisation until March 2022.[5] They were the educational advisor of Samtökin '78, Iceland's national queer organisation, from 2012 to 2016.[6] On an international level, they were also a board member of The International LGBTQI Queer and Student Organisation from 2014 to 2016.[7]

In 2016, Fisher did a TEDx Talk at TEDx Reykjavík called "Moving Beyond the Binary of Sex and Gender", where they talked about transgender and intersex people from their own personal perspective.[1]

As chair of the organization Trans Iceland,[8] Fisher played a role in crafting legislation to expand the rights of trans and nonbinary people in Iceland. From 2015 to 2019, in collaboration with Kitty Anderson of Intersex Iceland and with Icelandic lawmakers, they helped develop the Gender Autonomy Act which was passed in June 2019.[9] Fisher has criticized the final version of the bill for removing the provisions against intersex medical interventions which had originally formed part of the bill.[10]

Fisher relocated to the UK in 2016.[11] They co-direct an ongoing film project called My Genderation, highlighting trans experiences.[12] They work with All About Trans,[12] a UK organization which works to improve trans representation in media. They have contributed articles to a number of British newspapers, including The Guardian[13] and The Independent,[14] as well as to the lesbian magazine DIVA.[11] They also co-authored the book Trans Teen Survival Guide with their partner Fox Fisher, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers in 2018.[15]

In June 2020, Fisher and three other authors resigned in protest from the Blair Partnership literary agency also representing J.K. Rowling, when the company refused to issue a public statement of support for transgender rights, saying that "freedom of speech can only be upheld if the structural inequalities that hinder equal opportunities for underrepresented groups are challenged and changed."[16]

Political career

In 2016 and 2017, Fisher ran for parliament in Iceland on behalf of Vinstri Græn, an eco-socialist political party. In 2017 they announced their resignation from the party after it formed a government with Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn, the conservative party of Iceland.[17]

Recognition

In 2015 Fisher was awarded the Science and Education award by Siðmennt, the Icelandic Humanist Association.[18]

They were named one of the BBC's 100 Women for 2019.[12]

Publications

  • Fisher, Owl and Fisher, Fox (2021) Trans Survival Workbook. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78775-629-8.
  • Fisher, Owl and Fisher, Fox (2018) Trans Teen Survival Guide. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78592-341-8.

Notes

  1. Fisher is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.

References

  1. [1]
    LeBlanc, Denique (24 November 2016). "Ugla: Resowing history – GayIceland". Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  2. [2]
    Húnavatnshreppur. "Sveitarstjórn". Húnavatnshreppur (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. [3]
    Feykir. "Tíminn breytir draumum og ævintýrum í veruleika - Áskorandapenni Jón Gíslason Stóra-Búrfelli". Feykir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  4. [4]
    Jónsdóttir 1991-, Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir (June 2017). "Í hvernig nærfötum ertu núna?" Upplifun trans fólks af transtengdri heilbrigðisþjónustu á Íslandi (Thesis thesis) (in Icelandic).{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. [5]
    "Um félagið". Trans Ísland. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  6. [6]
    "Ársskýrslur". Samtökin '78 (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  7. [7]
    "Meet IGLYO's new board members". IGLYO. 17 November 2014. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  8. [8]
    Fontaine, Andie (16 October 2019). "Icelandic Writer And Trans Activist Amongst BBC's 100 Women 2019". The Reykjavík Grapevine. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  9. [9]
    Ćirić, Jelena (14 October 2019). "Set to Rights: Iceland's New Gender Autonomy Act". Iceland Review. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  10. [10]
    Fontaine, Andie (19 June 2019). "Iceland Passes Major Gender Identity Law: "The Fight Is Far From Over"". The Reykjavík Grapevine. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  11. [11]
    O'Hara, Mary Emily (2 July 2018). "This Trans Activist Became a Target Just For Being in a Lesbian Magazine". them. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  12. [12]
    "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  13. [13]
    "Owl Fisher". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  14. [14]
    "Owl Fisher". Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  15. [15]
    Mathieson, Frankie. "This Trans Couple Wrote The Book They Wish They'd Had Growing Up". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  16. [16]
    Waterson, Jim (22 June 2020). "Authors quit JK Rowling agency over transgender rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  17. [17]
    "Varaþingmaður og þingframbjóðandi segja sig úr Vinstri grænum". Stundin. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  18. [18]
    "Viðurkenningar Siðmenntar | Siðmennt" (in Icelandic). 27 November 2015. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
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