Weeknotes #8 — Marking trans awareness week
This week is trans awareness week. It feels a little pointless to harp on about the research analysis and user need writing I did last week when hundreds of thousands of people are suffering every day.
The best estimate is that around 1% of the population might identify as trans, including people who identify as non-binary. That would mean about 600,000 trans and non-binary people in Britain.
41% of trans and 31% of non-binary people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity.
25% of trans people have experienced homelessness.
41% of trans people feel healthcare staff lack understanding of specific trans health needs when accessing general healthcare services.
These are statitics I highlight in my Let’s talk about sex talk, the story of how I worked to ensure the Covid-19 booking service was accessible for people of any sex or gender. They come from the LGBT in Britain, Trans report published by Stonewall 2018. These statistics are already three years old and I I have no doubt the situation has got worse for people since.
Last week the BBC withdrew from Stonewall’s LGBTQ+ Diversity Champions Programme stating it’s inability to remain impartial when reporting on public policy debates where Stonewall is taking an active role. This was yet another blow in the fight against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. If one of the countries largest employers is no longer committed to providing an inclusive workplace culture, who else will follow?
So what can you all do to help?
Get to know trans and non-binary people. Have conversations with folks at work or in your community. Ask them how they are, how they really are and ask them how you can help.
If you see transphobia online call it out. It’s not easy, the internet isn’t always a nice place to be, but as allies we don’t face this every single day like our trans and non-binary friends do. We owe it to them to fight on their behalf.
Normalise the use of personal pro-nouns. Use yours, ask people you work with for theirs when you start workshops or meetings. Add them to your email signature and your badges at work.
Buy a care package for a trans person this Christmas.
Read books by LGBTQ folks. Understand their stories.
Increase the representation of trans and non-binary folks in your social media circles. Use your power and privilege to amplify their voices.
As we get closer to the Christmas break I’m starting to jigsaw puzzle my work together for next year. I have a few proposals out for tender and a few opportunities I’m considering at the moment but I would really like to do more work to support the trans and non-binary community.
That’s why it was great to hear on Friday that I’ve been appointed by Birmingham LGBT to help design the legacy of their aging better programme. Through Joy, I’ll be working to co-design materials aloginside older LGBT people. I’m really excited to put into practice a co-design approach to graphic design and work with a group I’m passionate about supporting.
