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Tag: Trans

This is where you can find all articles about and for the trans community. Are we missing something? Send an email to newsdesk@thegayuk.com

  • COMMENT | The Trans Battleground

    Is the battle for transexual equality over? Ten years on from the Gender Recognition Act, TheGayUK’s legal experts look at how the law is protecting or not, the transgender community.

    This April, the LGBT community and their supporters will celebrate the ten year anniversary of the Gender Recognition Act 2004. This landmark law gave the trans community the ability to be legally classified by their chosen gender, i.e. to obtain a new birth certificate recognising that person as being a man or a woman (known as a “Gender Recognition Certificate”). The test was whether the person in question suffered from gender dysphoria (i.e. severe discomfort with one’s biological sex) and had lived as their chosen gender for two years.

    Until December of last year there was a quirk in the law, which meant that any married person who wished to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate had to divorce their spouse if they wished to have their gender recognised. However, thanks to gay marriage, that quirk has now been removed.

    Yet more good news came in the intervening 10 years, in the form of the Equality Act 2010. This act means it is now unlawful for a person to discriminate someone for being (among other things) trans. The definition for trans is whether someone has undergone, is undergoing or is proposing to undergo a process “for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex”. This means it protects trans people both before and after the operation, but not people who are happy with their biological sex but prefer to dress as the opposite.

    But we are not there yet.

    Alarming figures from the Home Office show that in 2014 there were over 550 hate crimes perpetrated against the trans community. This mightn’t seem like a lot, but it represents around a quarter of the trans community in the UK (based on the 2009 figure of how many Gender Recognition Certificate had been issued). What is of further concern is that the gap between the social acceptance of LGB people and trans people is widening. There is a danger of trans people being “left behind”, losing some of the unity that previously aligned their cause with that of the LGB community.

     

    So whilst on the statute books the battle against inequality and prejudice has apparently been won, in the hearts and minds of many, trans rights are irrelevant or even abhorrent. It is up to all of us to continue to show solidarity in the fight for equality so that the abbreviation remains LGBT, not LGB and T.

    Have you got a question for our legal team? Check out our legal pages here

     

    Charles Irvine is a barrister at 1 Gray’s Inn Square; David Peachey is a barrister at Enterprise Chambers. Both practice in the area of trusts of the home, inheritance and property law. Special thanks to Phillipa Woodrow, pupil barrister at 1 Gray’s Inn Square, who helped research this article.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • Hallmark Reaches Out To Trans Community With Touching Tribute From Alex

    Kudos to one of the world’s leading greeting card makers HALLMARK for the latest instalment of their social media campaign ‘Put Your Heart To Paper’ which they have produced for Mother’s Day.

    The video features Alex, who identifies as transgender, recounting his touching relationship with his mum, Pam, whom he describes as: “the strongest, most wonderful person I know.”

    “I’ve never felt home in my body, and even though I was born a girl, I’ve always felt like I was a boy,” Alex says. Looking back on his experience coming out as transgender to his mother, he adds: “I was afraid to tell her because I thought love would have conditions.”

    Fortunately for Alex, he needn’t have worried. “The unconditional love that she’s shown has made me a better person in all of my relationships,” he says. “I am who I am because of who she is and who she’s been to me.”

    The clip ends with mother and son sharing a warm, misty-eyed embrace.

  • Welsh Lib Dems: “Embed Gender Awareness” In Teacher Training

    The Welsh Assembly voted in favour of calls by the Welsh Liberal Democrats to explore the feasibility of establishing a gender identity clinic in Wales

    Welsh Lib Dem AMs proposed an amendment in the Welsh Assembly to the Welsh Government’s Annual Equality Report which called for an independent feasibility study into establishing a clinic. Wales is the only nation of the UK without its own gender identity clinic, forcing trans patients to travel to England to receive treatment.

    The absence of a Welsh clinic was one of many issues raised by the Welsh Lib Dems in their landmark debate on transgender issues, the first of its kind in the Welsh Assembly, which took place in November 2014.

    An additional Welsh Lib Dem amendment calls on the Government to embed gender awareness training in teacher training courses to help create gender aware learning environments in Welsh schools. This amendment was also passed by the Assembly.

    Peter Black AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Equalities Minister, said:

    “From a lack of local clinics to inadequate housing provision, trans people in Wales are being somewhat left behind. I’m proud that the Welsh Lib Dems are leading the way on improving the experiences of trans people as they use public services.

    “This is an important first step in finally ensuring that Welsh trans people don’t have to travel to the other side of the UK to receive treatment. The Welsh Labour Government previously claimed there isn’t enough demand for a gender clinic in Wales, but did so without any solid basis for their claim.

    “We want Wales to lead the way in creating a fairer society where no-one, no matter who they are and what their gender, faces discrimination in their lives. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m proud we are walking along the right path to equality.”

  • Welsh Lib Dems: “Embed Gender Awareness” In Teacher Training

    This evening, the Welsh Assembly has voted in favour of calls by the Welsh Liberal Democrats to explore the feasibility of establishing a gender identity clinic in Wales.

    Welsh Lib Dem AMs proposed an amendment in the Welsh Assembly to the Welsh Government’s Annual Equality Report which called for an independent feasibility study into establishing a clinic. Wales is the only nation of the UK without its own gender identity clinic, forcing trans patients to travel to England to receive treatment.

    The absence of a Welsh clinic was one of many issues raised by the Welsh Lib Dems in their landmark debate on transgender issues, the first of its kind in the Welsh Assembly, which took place in November 2014.

    An additional Welsh Lib Dem amendment calls on the Government to embed gender awareness training in teacher training courses to help create gender aware learning environments in Welsh schools. This amendment was also passed by the Assembly.

    Peter Black AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Equalities Minister, said:
    “From a lack of local clinics to inadequate housing provision, trans people in Wales are being somewhat left behind. I’m proud that the Welsh Lib Dems are leading the way on improving the experiences of trans people as they use public services.

    “This is an important first step in finally ensuring that Welsh trans people don’t have to travel to the other side of the UK to receive treatment. The Welsh Labour Government previously claimed there isn’t enough demand for a gender clinic in Wales, but did so without any solid basis for their claim.

    “We want Wales to lead the way in creating a fairer society where no-one, no matter who they are and what their gender, faces discrimination in their lives. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m proud we are walking along the right path to equality.”

  • BRUCE JENNER: “I Am A Woman Now”

    ‘I JUST CAN’T PULL THE CURTAIN ANYMORE.’

    At the beginning of the interview Diane Sawyer made it clear that Bruce was still using the pronoun He, therefore our review of the interview reflects that.

    When Bruce Jenner won the Olympic Gold Medal for the Decathlon in 1976 he broke the hold that the Soviets had on that event for years and instantly became an American Hero. For years this strapping handsome 6’4” man was recognised as the World’s Greatest Athlete. Tonight however she is sitting down to give an exclusive interview with ABC TV’s Diane Sawyer to finally confirm the news that he worries may disappoint so many of the fans who have looked up to him for years.

    Jenner is visibly extremely nervous as the cameras start to roll but she soon finds confidence as he begins to tell the real story for the very first time. What we discover in the next two hours is an outstandingly honest and open person who is also disarmingly charming. Jenner doesn’t shy away from any of Diane Sawyer’s probing questions and is utterly frank with his answers. Jenner’s words evoke a response from Brandon, his son, who puts it very simply when he tells his Dad that he was proud of his when she won all her medals, but that pales into insignificance with Jenner’s bravery now.

    Jenner tells the waiting world “I am a woman now. I have told a lie all my life, and this is who I am. I cannot hide anymore and I just can’t pull the curtains”. He adds “I still have all my male parts but I identify as female.” He believes that what he is doing is going to change the world by talking about it all now.

    Jenner explains that this is the very last time he will do an interview as ‘Bruce’ as he is about to undertake more of his transitioning which she reveals she started back in the 1980s when for a few years she took hormones.

    A deeply religious and a family person Jenner married Chrystie the first wife in 1972 and they had two children before they divorced nine years later. Wife number two was singer Linda Thompson and they had two children before they separated five years later, and then in 1991 Jenner married Kris Kardashian and as well as fathering two daughters Jenner became the step-father to the infamous Kardashian sisters. Jenner shares that the first person he revealed her gender confusion too was Chrystie, and he is very quick to point out that this was not the cause for the failure of this, or the other marriages.

    Jenner makes a point of explaining to an inquisitive and rather bemused Diane Sawyer that he is 100% heterosexual and has never ever even considered having sex with a man. He however has done his homework on this particular topic beforehand and quotes a very simply way of explaining the situation.

    “Sexual identity is about who you go to bed with, whereas gender identity is about who you go to bed as.”

    Jenner has been an integral part of her family’s infamous hit Reality TV Show for years, so his relationship with all the children has been carried out under the glare of spotlights for some time now. His four eldest asked to be part of the interview so that they could publicly express their support for their father’s transition.

    I think even Diane Sawyer was surprised with the answer Jenner gave when she pushed Jenner on how the ubiquitous Kim Kardashian had reacted. Kim had said that her husband Kanye had turned her around to the whole idea. West used his own life as an analogy: “I can be married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and I am. I could have the most beautiful little daughter in the world, and I do. But I’m nothing if I can’t be me. If I can’t be true to myself, they don’t mean anything.” Kim added her own advice telling her dad “you’ve got to rock it”.

    Aside from the sensationalism of having a celebrity having the bravery to come clean to the world with such astounding and highly personal news, both Jenner and Diane Sawyer took time out to acknowledge the ongoing struggle of other people transitioning which is still so greatly misunderstood and still results in suicides and violent crime. Jenner expressed her deepest hope that talking about this topic in this manner on primetime TV may save more lives and give others the strength to become who they really are.

    When Jenner explained to Diane Sawyer that next time they meet she would only see Jenner as the woman she now is and she finished the interview with “I am saying goodbye to peoples perception of me, but I am not saying goodbye to me.”

    I think when the reviews are in, we will find she is even more of a Hero than ever before. Certainly in our book.

    The similarities of Jenner’s story with that of the Award winning TV series TRANSPARENT is remarkable . That featured a retired Professor also in his 60s who finally decides to transition and has to share the news with his adult children. It’s a rather joyous positive journey based on the real life story of the series creator Jill Soloway’s father .

    by @RogerWalkerDack

  • Did Diane Sawyer Mis-Gender Bruce Jenner?

    For many people watching last night’s Diane Sawyer special with Bruce Jenner, it seemed that she was misgendering Jenner after telling her that he was now a woman. It may have seemed disrespectful, but here’s why it wasn’t.

    Many took to social media to question Sawyer’s use of masculine pronouns, however, at the beginning of the interview, it was made clear that Bruce was still using male pronouns and had asked to be referred to in that way.

    A statement released by GLAAD may help people understand what might feel like a minefield when assigning pronouns to those who are trans, transitioning or transitioned.

    At this time, Bruce Jenner has not requested that a new name or pronoun be used, therefore we are respecting his wishes and will continue to refer to Jenner by his current name and with male pronouns. Some transgender people prefer to change their name and/or pronoun quickly. Other transgender people may take more time to decide what name and/or pronoun feels right to them. To be respectful, use the name and/or pronoun requested by the individual.

    During the 2-hour special, Jenner told Sawyer:

    “I am a woman now. I have told a lie all my life, and this is who I am. I cannot hide anymore and I just can’t pull the curtains”. He adds “I still have all my male parts but I identify as female.”

     

    He believes that what he is doing is going to change the world by talking about it all now.

  • Did Diane Sawyer Misgender Bruce Jenner?

    For many people watching last night’s Diane Sawyer special with Bruce Jenner, it seemed that she was misgendering Jenner after telling her that he was now a woman.

    It may have seemed disrespectful, but here’s why it wasn’t.

    Many took to social media to question Sawyer’s use of masculine pronouns, however, at the beginning of the interview, it was made clear that Bruce was still using male pronouns and had asked to be referred to in that way.

    A statement released by GLAAD may help people understand what might feel like a minefield when assigning pronouns to those who are trans, transitioning or transitioned.

    “At this time, Bruce Jenner has not requested that a new name or pronoun be used, therefore we are respecting his wishes and will continue to refer to Jenner by his current name and with male pronouns. Some transgender people prefer to change their name and/or pronoun quickly. Other transgender people may take more time to decide what name and/or pronoun feels right to them. To be respectful, use the name and/or pronoun requested by the individual.”

    During the 2-hour special, Jenner told Sawyer:

    “I am a woman now. I have told a lie all my life, and this is who I am. I cannot hide anymore and I just can’t pull the curtains”. He adds “I still have all my male parts but I identify as female.”

    He believes that what he is doing is going to change the world by talking about it all now.

  • How Twitter Responded To “Bruce Jenner” In A Maxi Dress

    Was it or wasn’t it Bruce Jenner in the maxi? And in 2015 does this even matter? But apparently Bruce Jenner was spotted in a stripey maxi-dress outside his Malibu home and we thought Jenner rocked it.

    Bruce Jenner is expected to make a huge announcement on the Diane Sawyer interview that is airing on Friday. Many have speculated will reveal that is wishes to transition into a woman.

    This is how Twitter reacted…

    Perez has a moment…

     

    https://twitter.com/Midnite_Cyclist/status/590889049184980992

    Why you worried hun?

    https://twitter.com/kimyonceee/status/590886911683776512

    Kinda feeling you on this one… Although Jenner is about to do one of the most sort after interviews with Diane Swayer on Friday… So?

    Except he won’t won’t be a guy… Will she?

    https://twitter.com/rohanloncomedy/status/590803192339951616

    Well… No comment

    https://twitter.com/high__dry/status/590796802569428992

    Speak on it…

    https://twitter.com/SirRatchettness/status/590719839800532993

    It is a nice dress

    https://twitter.com/mattyybullockk/status/590545008467542016

    Well done now grow up!

     

  • COMMENT: Not Trans Enough – The cost of a “Gendered” name

    What’s the cost of a gendered name? Lola was discharged after the clinic that they* had attended for two years determined that not changing their name from Lola to a male gendered or gender neutral name did not warrant the surgery that would ultimately make them feel more like Lola.

    When I went to the gender identity clinic’s (GIC) welcoming session, they proudly told me that they treated non-binary transgender people. A non-binary person is someone who identifies as something other than male or female. I am agender, so I am neither of those options.

    It’s taken me a long time to get to where I am. I was born with a condition that caused me to not produce many hormones, including oestrogen and testosterone. I was put on hormone replacement therapy when I was 12 and now I take both oestrogen and testosterone.

    Being quite androgynous when I was younger, I got bullied frequently by others demanding to know my gender. That made me want to fit in. I didn’t resist hormone replacement therapy when I was 12. I embraced it. It was about growing older to me. But the more I developed, the worse I felt.

    When I discovered the concept of “agender”, it fit. It matched how I felt my entire life and it just made sense to me. I suspected for years and years that I wanted my chest to not be there any more. And when I finally put on a binder – everything fit.

    For the last five years, I’ve been pursuing chest surgery. Unfortunately, my chest isn’t large enough to merit what I want through the NHS. So, with the encouragement of my doctors and despite the warnings from other non-binary people, I went through the GIC.

    I waited two years in total from start to finish to be denied. I had two assessments with two different psychiatrists, lasting an hour and a half each. In three hours, I told the truth. I told them where I came from, what I’d been through, and what I needed from them.

    Two days ago, I received a discharge from the GIC. It stated:

    “We would not countenance endorsement of an irreversible surgical procedure unless the individual had been able to demonstrably consolidate a social transition including name change to the preferred gender role.”

    I don’t recall even begin asked during my assessment if I had plans to change my name. The name I go by is Lola. I love it. I don’t care if it’s not “gender neutral” because my experience of being androgynous early in life is that no matter what, if people can’t guess your gender, they’ll just ask.

    Changing my name to something gender neutral won’t actually make anyone see me for who I am. It’ll just make people ask me what I am. I don’t live in a society where people will ever see me as agender just from looks, so, as frustrated as it makes me, I cope with it by trying my best to accept it. What’s more important for me is having my body feel right.

    And it doesn’t. As the summer months approach, my anxiety increases thinking of the way the heat reminds me of the constant presence of my chest. Every day I feel like I’m lugging around two giant tumours. The psychological relief I feel by wearing a binder is good, but the physical discomfort and pain of it cutting into my skin makes it not a good enough long-term solution.

    While I owe my life to the NHS and I am glad for the treatment I receive for my disability, the lack of money allocated toward GICs only means that they are forced to pick and choose. Individuals who go to a GIC and wait 9-6 months for a first appointment and longer to be assessed, we’re not confused about what we want.

    The journey it takes to realising your gender is different and your need for medical assistance begins way before you reach a GIC, so most already know how they feel before they get assessed. Still, with a limited pot of funding, I suppose they must make decisions based on ridiculous, outdated criteria.

    Criteria that make it impossible for agender people to actually receive any care.

    Around this time of Transgender Visibility, I would like people to know and see the struggles transgender and non-binary people face to receive care. And maybe, in time, “GIC” won’t be such a tumultuous word among transgender people.

    Lola is currently fundraising for their chest surgery via YouCaring.

    *We asked Lola which pronoun they were most comfortable us using to describe them.

    This article was taken from Issue 11 of TheGayUK. To Subscribe click here

    by Lola

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • BOOK REVIEW | The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

    ★★★★★ | The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

    I think it says a lot about me as an individual that my attention span in these social media days seems to have dwindled to the point where if it’s more than 140 characters, I get bored.

    I have a stack of great books waiting to be read, or started and tossed aside as one thing or another distracts me.

    That is until this book dropped through the letterbox.

    I honestly can’t remember the last time I relished an authors words so much, felt so deeply in-volved in the plot, felt it resonate on a personal level – basically, found that rare thing, a truly un-put-downable book.

    The storyline is one we can all understand to some point – the slightly kooky outcast group, not the A-crowd, but individuals who have their own voices. Think a good John Hughes film (Pretty in Pink, etc) Bullied at school? Tick.Small group of geeky friends? Tick. Fancy someone you can’t have? Tick. Odd family life? Tick.

    The list is endless, but Lisa Williamson, the book’s author, has the talent of drawing you in and making you feel this book could be about you (in a general sense) without detracting from her own storyline or making any of it seem trite or generic.

    Putting it bluntly, she makes you feel you belong to this story – and a bloody good story it is too.

    In a nutshell, it’s about 2 boys and their lives as they grow and meet. One is a troubled teen, shift-ing from school to school, not much of a family life, not much of a home, no real friends. The other is from a good family, good home, but has a deep secret and deals with it as only teenagers can, and do, daily.

    David Piper has the secret, he wants to be a girl. He’s obsessed to the point of writing everything down in his book, from his penis size to how visible his Adam’s apple is, all in the name of not wanting to look like a man.

    Leo Denton wants to simply be invisible. However, his first few days at his new school ensure that this is going to be impossible.

    After Leo stands up for David against the school bully, an unlikely friendship begins to form and grow – but the secrets they all have are about to come out and things will never be the same.

    This book isn’t another teen drama; it looks at the subjects it covers sensitively but also with humour. The subjects covered aren’t simple, and on some level may have been felt by most of us – being an outsider, wanting to belong, wanting to be invisible, fear of bullying, fear of our families, lack of friends… the list is endless but Lisa tackles these themes so well.

    If you are looking for a good holiday read, pick this. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, but it’ll never bore you!

     

    by Chris Jones

  • Bruce Jenner The Interview Promo

    Watch this first promo of Bruce Jenner’s interview with the the former Olympic star turned reality star Bruce Jenner.

    ABC / YouTube
    ABC / YouTube

    The two-hour interview with veteran interviewer Diane Sawyer is set to air on ABC in the US on the 24th April. The 23-second clip doesn’t reveal much except to say that Jenner will talk about “the journey” and “the decisions” and “the future.”

    There has been much speculation on Bruce Jenner’s possible transitioning, Jenner has yet to talk publicly about it.