Rebekah Robertson

Last updated

Rebekah Robertson
OAM
Born (1967-07-04) 4 July 1967 (age 56)
Surrey, England
Alma materUniversity of Tasmania
John Bolton Theatre School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • Author
Years active1988–present
Website transcend.org.au

Rebekah Sarah Robertson OAM (born 4 July 1967 in Surrey, England) is an Australian actress, author and activist who has appeared on television and on stage. In 2012, Robertson founded the first parent led peer support group and information hub for transgender kids and their families in Australia, Transcend. She now advocates for transgender kids and has won numerous awards for her work.

Contents

Early life

Robertson was born in Surrey, England, but grew up in Hobart, Tasmania with her four sisters.

Career

Acting

Rebekah Robertson began her career with an appearance in the television show, Problem Creek as Min, in 1988. Robertson began appearing in multiple Zootango Theatre Company shows, including Alice in Wonderland as the Queen of Hearts, As You Like It as Phoebe, The Comedy of Errors as Adrianna and A Midsummer Night's Dream as Hermia, amongst others. [1] In 1995, Robertson played Greer in the play Wilful Blue at the Victorian Arts Centre. In 1992, she appeared in theatre shows such as The Legend of the Muse and Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell . Robertson also appeared on television shows Fridge Door and Elvis Was Greek in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

After a move to Melbourne in 1995, Robertson began performing in MTC shows, such as Lady Windermere's Fan and Private Lives . She also made an appearance in the show Queen Kat. In 2003, Robertson was nominated for a Green Room Award for her performance in Humble Boy . She continued appearing in MTC productions, like Boy Gets Girl as Madeleine Beck, All My Sons as Sue Bayliss, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Mae and August: Osage County as Ivy Weston. [2] She won a Green Room Award for her performance in August: Osage County in the Best Supporting Actress category. Rebekah Robertson also made guest appearances in multiple television shows throughout the 2000s, including Neighbours , The Librarians , City Homicide , Tangle and Conspiracy 365 .

Activism

In 2012, Robertson founded the first parent led peer support group and information hub for transgender kids and their families in Australia, Transcend. [3] In 2014, she appeared on Four Corners [4] in disguise (due to a legal requirement) with her daughter, Georgie (also in disguise), talking about their experiences in court and changing the law. From then on, Robertson and Stone have appeared on The Project to talk about the importance of the Safe Schools Coalition [5] and Australian Story , telling their story. [6] Robertson continues to advocate for transgender children and their families. [7] In February 2016, Robertson travelled to Canberra to meet with politicians, urging them to change the law surrounding the requirement that transgender kids should have to go to court to access cross-sex hormones. [8] Robertson was nominated for Straight Ally of the Year at the GLOBE Community Awards in 2016, [9] but lost to Matt Finnis from St Kilda Football Club. [10]

In September 2019, Penguin published her first book, About a Girl. [11]

Personal life

"Because of the stress, anxiety and the time limit of puberty and court together... transgender people and their families are pushed to the limit," [12]

—Robertson on the court process

Robertson lives in Victoria and has two children, Georgie and Harry Stone.

Robertson had to apply to the Family Court of Australia so to help her daughter access puberty blockers, a process she described as being "extremely stressful and a very pathologising experience." [13] After appealing to the Family Court, the law requiring that transgender children and their families should apply to the Family Court to access treatment was eradicated in 2013. [14]

Filmography and theatre

Short film

YearTitleRoleNotesRef
2002Children in FocusKarinaLa Trobe University Short Film [15] [16]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotesRef
1988Problem CreekMin [15] [16]
1994Fridge DoorPresenter
1995Elvis Was GreekRock-a-billy Girl
1998Queen KatLecturer
2004, 2021-2024 Neighbours Rhonda del RubioGuest role
2009 The Librarians LaurenGuest role; Season 2, Episode 1: Just Returned
2009 City Homicide Sharnie PullmanGuest role; Season 4, Episode 2: Good Cop, Bad Cop
2010 Tangle Therapist's ReceptionistGuest role; Season 2, Episode 5
2011 Conspiracy 365 Janet SpencerRecurring role; Season 1, Episodes 9 & 11: September & November
2014 Four Corners Herself (with prosthetics)Documentary, Episode: Being Me
2016 Australian Story HerselfDocumentary, Episode: About A Girl

Theatre

YearTitleRoleNotes
1988 Blithe Spirit Zootango Theatre Company
1988Soft Targets
1988 Les Liaisons Dangereuses
1988Hallelujah Lady Jane
1988 Agnes of God
1992And Then It Starts To HappenPuppeteerTerrapin Puppet Theatre
1992The Legend of the MusePerformer Melbourne Fringe Festival
1992 Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell All Female RolesNed Sherrin National Tour
1993 Alice in Wonderland Queen of Hearts Zootango Theatre Company
1993 As You Like It Phoebe
1993 Quartet Merteuil
1994Alice in WonderlandQueen of Hearts
1994 The Comedy of Errors Adrianna
1994 Così Ruth
1995 A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia
1995Wilful BlueGreerVictorian Arts Centre
1995 Lady Windermere's Fan Lady Carlisle Melbourne Theatre Company
1997 Private Lives Sibyl
2003 Humble Boy Rosie Pye
2005 Boy Gets Girl Madeleine Beck
2007 All My Sons Sue Bayliss
2008 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Mae
2009 August: Osage County Ivy Weston

Awards and achievements

YearOrganisationAwardWorkResultRef
1993Variety Club AwardBest Professional Actor Quartet Won [15]
2003 Green Room Awards Best Female Supporting Performer Humble Boy Nominated [17]
2009 August: Osage County Won [18]
2016GLOBE Community AwardsStraight Ally of the YearHerselfNominated [19]
2018Nominated
2019Australian LGBTI AwardsAlly of the YearHerselfNominated [20]
2019GLOBE Community AwardsStraight Ally of the YearHerselfWon [21]

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References

  1. ↑ "Rebekah Robertson". www.ausstage.edu.au.
  2. ↑ "Rebekah Stone". www.ausstage.edu.au.
  3. ↑ "Transcend Support – Supporting Transgender Children". Transcend Support.
  4. ↑ "Being Me". Abc.net.au. 17 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "WATCH: Trans Teen Georgie Stone Talks About Safe Schools On 'The Project'". Pedestrian TV. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "Australian Story :: About A Girl". Abc.net.au. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Transgender teenagers 'risking lives' buying hormones on black market – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  8. ↑ Medhora, Shalailah (22 February 2016). "Australian transgender children closer to accessing hormones without court permission". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ "Finalists for the 2016 GLOBE Community Awards announced". Australian Pride Network. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "2016 GLOBE Community Awards Announced". Australian Pride Network. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  11. ↑ Robertson, Rebekah; Stone, Georgie (3 September 2019). About a girl : a mother's powerful story of raising her transgender child. Random House Australia. ISBN   9780143785156. OCLC   1114321596.
  12. ↑ Medhora, Shalailah (16 August 2016). "Government open to changing transgender teen transitioning laws – Hack – triple j". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Donelly, Beau (21 October 2016). "Transgender teen Georgie Stone crowned GLBTI Person of the Year" – via The Age.
  14. ↑ Luca Lavigne (10 May 2017). "Georgie Stone knew she was transgender before she could speak". Mamamia.com.au. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 "Rebekah Robertson". Melissa Rose Management. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  16. 1 2 "Showcast – Rebekah Robertson". Showcast.com.au.
  17. ↑ "GRAA". Greenroom.org.au. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  18. ↑ "2009 Green Room Award Nominations Announced". Australianstage.com.au. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  19. ↑ "2016 Finalists". Awards.globemelbourne.com.au. 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  20. ↑ "Galleries | Australian LGBTI Awards". Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  21. ↑ "Congratulations to the 2019 GLOBE Community Awards winners". 12 October 2019.
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