Have you seen the Trans Agenda?

Hi Irregular Friends

31^st March is Trans Gender Day of Visibility and it feels like we are in the midst of moral panic.

NHS England has stopped prescribing puberty blockers for trans young people, adding to the desperation many face already of an average 5 year wait for treatment. The Prime Minister made jokes about trans women in parliament in the presence of the mother of murdered young trans woman Brianna Ghey. Author JK Rowling continues to use her platform to speak against trans rights, just last week calling India Whilloughby (UK’s first trans gender TV news anchor) a man. The day-to-day abuses and systematic constraints facing trans people in the UK at the moment have us sliding backwards down international league tables when it comes to human rights.

The small trans community are a target for lazy media headlines about ‘woke’, ‘political correctness’ and ‘identity politics’.

If there is a “Trans Agenda” it’s liberation for all of us. It’s freedom from an old patriarchal system that wants to put us into one of two boxes at birth, stack one on top of the other, and keep us there at all costs. It’s the basic human right to refuse to be kept in our place, and to define our own identity for ourselves.

Identity is a big deal at the moment.

Humans are social animals, driven by our need for belonging, love and connection, and the internet and social media make it more possible than ever to find one another. In our quest for connection, identity helps you find your "tribe", your community of like-minded folks with shared lived experiences and common needs. If you’re different - other than standard, not completely ‘normal’, chances are you’re facing the fear of isolation. So connecting via shared identity brings the relief in finding a group where you are finally "one of us”.

The difficulty with "us", though, is it means there is a "them" – a group, defined and recognised by their opposition to us. Opposition, magnified by social media, can quickly become polarisation. Whichever side of any fence you sit, “they” become the threat, the ones who are "wrong" in our echo-chamber of "right".

The current polarising on the issue of gender is painful to me, as someone who’s been a lifelong feminist and advocate for gender equality. While ever we are in binary, polarised opposition there will be a side that wins and one that loses, and a lot of casualties as the battle is fought. It’s a situation that leaves many of us in fear.

I’ve written about this at more length in a blog which you can read here. And I’ve decided that I want to take action, to address those fears, find common ground, seek connection and celebrate differences.

Over the coming weeks I am going to put together some resources and create a space, probably a webinar, to reach out to anyone who is confused about gender identities and trans issues and wants to learn more.

If you want to be inclusive to people of all genders, but you’re not sure how – perhaps you feel puzzled about pronouns, have questions about queerness, or want to host a ‘women-only’ space without excluding folks who are female-identifying, trans or non-binary.

I will provide a space for questions where you won’t be ridiculed if you make a mistake – because making mistakes is part of learning. If you want to make sure you hear about this when it’s ready – join this separate mailing list here

For now, as Chair of Happy Valley Pride I’ll be championing their campaign to embrace the entire rainbow of human possibilities.

In the spirit of Dolly Parton, Stand By Your Trans!

With love,

Jenn

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