I AM ENOUGH.
#TransMCR. Advocacy. Foundation.
There tends to be a lot of reasons when someone ups-sticks and moves to somewhere completely new. To be closer to – or indeed further away from – family, moving for a new job or for a whole new start. For myself, I definitely fell into that last category, and the main reason I gave when people asked me why I was moving to Manchester was that I wanted to wear dresses and kiss boys. Job done on that score, at least.
In 2010, I moved to Manchester, finally came out as trans not long after, changed my name and began to physically transition after knowing it was what I needed to do for many, many years. It took me so long to work up the confidence and get myself somewhere safe to do it. I always had a bagful of excuses for why I wasn’t going to do it “yet”. Oh it’s not the right time, because of my job/ where I live/relationship, on and on until finally that thread was fully played out and I had no more excuses to make to myself.
After a while though, I found myself needing some help: enter the LGBT Foundation. I won’t bore you with the full details but suffice to say that they kinda saved my life in more than one way, and like many in the LGBTQ community, my experiences as a service user then led to volunteering – mostly as a way of saying thank you.
When I heard that the LGBT Foundation planned to implement a programme of events and resources specifically for the trans community, I was delighted. Earlier I’d heard from volunteers and staff members that “we just don’t have that much stuff about trans people”. This isn’t a criticism of the Foundation, but of the time. There just really wasn’t that much stuff about trans people in any sphere of life, certainly almost no one had made sexual health leaflets or other useful advice. Now, one Saturday every month is #TransMCR. It provides a regular space for trans people of all backgrounds to come together, support one another, share experiences and get useful advice. Every month, there’s different groups or individuals attending to provide workshops, talks or drop-in advice sessions. There’s also helpful things like a clothing swap shop and changing facilities, and trans-friendly haircut services.
Providing a space has become invaluable to the North West’s trans community and people regularly travel from all over Greater Manchester and further afield to attend. Being able to go somewhere trans-friendly for clothing and haircuts is such a simple idea but so important for those who may be questioning or exploring their gender identity, who may not have the confidence to express themselves publicly or go to a branch of Next. Accessing the appropriate changing rooms in shops can still be fraught with complications and unpleasantness, despite many vendors making a big show of how inclusive and rainbow-flavoured they are whenever Pride rolls around. Additionally, all of these services are free to anyone.
More than this though, the talks and workshops allow the community to learn actual skills and gain useful advice at – for example – a regular drop in with representatives of a law firm who can provide advice and assistance on legal matters, or with members of various charities providing healthcare advocacy. These things are at #TransMCR because there’s a genuine need for them to be. I could write a whole other article about the vagaries and frustrations of accessing the NHS gender care pathway, but I’m quite sure several people already have.
But as well as these perennially useful elements, LGBT Foundation is constantly analysing and reacting to the needs of the community. A recent idea is the Trans Community Leaders project, a kind of working group drawn from regular attendees and volunteers which advises and provides a wider insight to the trans programme team. Another recent development is the Trans Advocacy project. As I mentioned, this kind of help with advocacy has been offered at the #TransMCR sessions, but now this has developed into a funded project by the Foundation itself. There’s many ways in which people may need advocacy with the aforementioned healthcare and legal expertise being a large part of it. To see this develop directly out of the trans programme is a great example of how the Foundation is constantly adapting to the needs of the community. I cannot emphasise enough how valuable this is. Actually being asked, “So what do you need?” and be listened to is still, sadly, a rare thing.
On top of all of this, #TransMCR being what it is, it also involves that staple of LGBTQ volunteering experiences; campaigning. The LGBT Foundation has thrown its full weight behind the ENOUGH campaign which began earlier this year for Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV) on 31 March. The trans programme team have very much taken the lead on this, and the message behind the ENOUGH campaign is simply that “We are enough”. Whoever you are, no matter what kind of trans person you are and how you identify or present yourself, you are enough. You are valid.
It’s galling at times to see how many people – cis and trans alike – have such a fixed idea of what a trans person is, or is supposed to be. The whole point of this campaign is to show that there isn’t just one trans experience, and that no matter what other people may be convinced of, all trans people have the right to express themselves for who they are. In the middle of a period of intense media hostility towards trans people, this campaign sends a message of hope, solidarity and support well beyond the limits of Greater Manchester. You can sign the ENOUGH pledge yourself at iamenough.lgbt.foundation.
I recognise that this article reads at least a little bit like a love letter to the LGBT Foundation and the #TransMCR team and honestly, I’m okay with that. The fact they’re providing all these different kinds of support and opportunities to get involved, or socialise, or pick up a snazzy new outfit is a wonderful thing to see, and the fact they make a point of listening to volunteers and service users instead of just assuming they already have all the answers is a breath of fresh air. Please support your local trans groups and actually listen to trans people. They’re the ones who can tell you how to get this stuff right, after all.