Good Trans Allyship - Partnership & Sponsorship
by Claire
There are many ways you can be a good ally to the trans community, and one of the best for groups and organisations is through direct support.
Direct support can take many forms, from providing spaces, tools, resources or financial aid, to access to expertise in particular areas.
However, by far and away the best type of allyship is through sponsorship and partnership. This type of activity allows minority groups to develop their own voices to be heard.
Which is something Basildon Pride have done very recently.
Let me tell you about a trans group called Steph’s Place.
About two years ago my friend Steph Richards started a small website with the intention of just raising the visibility of trans women a little, detailing her own thoughts and experiences.
It very quickly became apparent that there were so many lies and so much misinformation about trans lives that she couldn’t do this alone. Before long, she contacted myself, Paul, Nicola and Julie, and we all came on board to contribute our own thoughts and experiences.
We each brought something different to the table - Paul for example is cisgender and has a keen interest in sport, but is the parent of a trans person. Julie and Nicola are both non-binary, being gender fluid, with links to various organisations. And I’m a loud, very openly trans woman who runs my own trans awareness business, and a keen sense for investigative work.
Which came in useful as it happens.
Things really started going downhill for the UK trans community following the general election at the end of 2019, escalating from a media hate campaign to a full on ‘culture war’. As a group we spent more and more time addressing lies and misinformation about trans people, becoming a place to break and discuss current events, as well as help other trans people - until we found out that the public body that was supposed to protect our human rights, the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC), was both working hand in hand with trans hostile groups and were engaging in trans hostile activities themselves.
We spent months gathering information through freedom of information act requests, collating media articles and gathering data found by other trans people. We reported on what we found - which was completely ignored by the UK Press.
That started a backlash from the LGBT community about the Government’s planned ‘Safe To Be Me’ LGBT conference in the summer of 2022, which was then cancelled after every LGBT group in the country pulled out following both the EHRC revelations and the removal of trans people from the Conversion Therapy Ban.
Eventually we had enough information to submit a dossier of evidence to the United Nations - the result of which was a serious telling off for the EHRC and recommendations for changes demanded by the United Nations.
But it didn’t stop there - because of our work we were nominated and shortlisted for the 2022 National Diversity Awards. We were shocked at both, but even more shocked when we actually won the LGBT Community Organisation Award.
From nothing to national recognition, in 2 years.
What’s that got to do with Basildon Pride, you may ask?
Well, up to this point, it might shock you to know that Steph’s Place has been running on no funding at all - this is quite common for trans groups engaged in the fight to protect and extend our rights.
Following the National Diversity Awards, an opportunity came up to raise some funding to really get us moving on our work. After a discussion with the Trustees, Basildon Pride decided to sponsor Steph’s Place at a corporate fundraising event, partnering with us in order to better fight for trans rights in the UK.
Because of this sponsorship and partnership, we raised almost £20,000. Yes, you read that right, and yes, we’re as shocked as you are.
As a result, Steph’s Place is now rebranding as TransLucent, a dedicated organisation for the UK’s trans, non-binary and gender diverse community. We’re also now officially a Community Interest Company (CIC) and will be looking to become a charity. We also have a new website on the way, are in discussions with Government & public bodies on trans issues, and have new team members joining.
Because of the support from Basildon Pride, the UK is well on the way to having a dedicated, national trans organisation.
As a trans person I'm incredibly grateful to have such great friends and allies in Basildon Pride, enabling the trans community to gain its own voice.
That’s being a true ally.