Following on from the recent Compass program, here is the beginning of a television interview transcript given by freedom2b[e]’s patron, The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG;

INTERVIEWER: What makes a man a man in your opinion?

Michael Kirby: Well now hang on. I think there?s a hidden assumption in that question. It?s an assumption that I would question. It?s an assumption that there?s just one definition of a man. I don?t accept that at all. I?ve known men who are “real men” who had a real feminine side to them. I?ve known other?s who have been really “butch” and yet have been very feminine people. So I really question whether you can just put people into a box and say “well you?re a man and you?re a woman”. That?s been part of our problem and it?s a problem with some of the Churches, “Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve”. So I really question the assumptions in the question. But having said that, my special image of a man is a person who has strength, courage, determination and an ability to gets things done and to be a leader. That, certainly, is an aspiration of manhood that I have always embraced.

The full transcript of the television interview can be found at http://www.michaelkirby.com.au/images/stories/speeches/2000s/2010_Speeches/2455.TelevisionInterview-WhatMakesAManAMan.pdf

Interesting question: what makes a man a man? It makes me wonder what makes a woman a woman or any of us who we are..

I guess what Michael Kirby has said in his television interview could apply to anyone, gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, transgender, intersex etc.

What beliefs, qualities and values do we as individuals hold, and how do we apply those in our lives? This is the sort of stuff Anthony does very well as a coach.