Chryssy Hunter

Volunteer Co-ordinator at Opening Doors

1. What does Trans Visibility Day mean to you?

We all need visible role models and peers – many older trans people acknowledge that they didn’t come out until later in life because they didn’t know living  transitioned life was a real possibility.  ITDoV is a beacon that lights up our possibilities and gives us hope –[ very important in these relentlessly challenging times. 

2. What do you think are the most pressing issues affecting Trans and Non-binary? 

We are fighting a rear guard action just to tread water.  Well funded by right wing money, ani-trans organisations are spreading the anti-feminist lie that trans people’s rights are necessarily won and maintained at the expense of women’s rights.  This is untrue and this is the message we need to focus on.

3. What advice would you give Trans and Non-binary people who are struggling with their identity?

Reach out to the many age-appropriate support groups that can help.  Most LGBTQ+ people know this challenge and we know that when we find our community the challenges, whether from within ourselves or from without, are far easier to overcome.

4. What kind of support systems are available for Trans and Non-binary people? 

We have both online and IRW support groups and both birth and chosen families.  We have supportive work and study environments and trans positive counselling and therapy practices.  We have an increasing range of cultural representations and we have our voices in increasing volume in the third sector.  And we have the energy of young people overwhelmingly supporting us.

5. What do you envision being the future for Trans and Non-binary people in the UK? 

I think in fifteen years time that even in this country we will have moved past this trans panic.  I think self-ID is inevitable and I hope as a country we make the right election choices so that we have a well funded and well run HNH which will offer genuine support for trans and nonbinary people of all ages.

6. Who were your Trans and Non-binary role models growing up?

Jayne County and Holly Woodlawn (but only in the song – I didn’t know she was real!)

7. How do you think visibility has changed or Trans and Non-binary people in the last decade?

Since the beginning of the 21^st Century trans and latterly nonbinary people have been more visible in the public sphere.  There are a lot of high profile people in the creative arts and industries but also more people holding higher stats roles in business and industry and education.  Change happens incrementally and this increasing visibility is embedding change.

8. Why is Trans Visibility Day so important?

We need to be seen, and we need to see our siblings and our niblings.  If we can we need to be out and proud, to set an example and to hold our heads up high, to prove our lives are legible and liveable!

9. What do you think are the key steps to creating a more inclusive society for Trans and Non-binary people? 

As more people have trans and nonbinary people in their lives there will be more acceptance – as was true for LGB people.  People are beginning to see the ugly side of the anti-trans movement and to understand who is funding them and that will take the wind from their sails as well.  And the fact that so many young people are claiming trans and nonbinary identities is a very powerful demographic shift, which will have positive social and legislative effects in coming years.

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Emmet Holden - Carter

Ambassador at Opening Doors

1. What does Trans Visibility Day mean to you?

I’m an openly trans man daily and have given training at work on trans issues as part of induction, this day is a day we can celebrate being ourselves openly to the world.

2. What do you think are the most pressing issues affecting Trans and Non-binary?

I feel the issues we face at this time are the hate groups and prejudice from the government working to block youth trans care and issues about the GRC, now we have the banning of trans women in some sport. Its become so bad in many other countries that face jail or death.

3. What advice would you give Trans and Non-binary people who are struggling with their identity?

Take your time and talk to other trans people, join a supportive group and be gentle with yourself - Rome wasn’t built in a day.

4.What kind of support systems are available to Trans and Non-binary people? 

For myself groups like opening doors and Trans London, I was involved with FTM boys in Camden London. There are many great trans / non binary groups in the UK and the USA on line and I many supportive friends worldwide from the groups.

5. What do you envision being the future for Trans and Non-binary people in the UK?

At the moment things are scary and so much hate but also so much support, its hard to say which was things will go with living here in the UK and being treated fairly and feeling safe.

6. Who were your Trans and Non-binary role models growing up? 

My person was April Ashley, she was a joy to meet, also the many trans people I have met over the years.

7. How do you think visibility has changed or Trans and Non-binary people in the last decade?

We have always been around but now a lot of us are more open and putting ourselves out and proud, we have a lot more people supporting us and standing with us in the battle with haters and the govement. More famous people  have openly come out as trans or non binary or family members.

8. Why is Trans Visibility Day so important?

It's a chance that we can support each other and support others who are worried or scared to come out to reach out and be embraced in our community. It's a day to say we are here and we are staying here, same as trans pride.

9.What do you think are the key steps to creating a more inclusive society for Trans and Non-binary people? 

Stopping the continuing hate and pushing for more acceptance for trans and non binary people in society. Educating people about our issues and treatment and standing up for our rights.

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Angela Traill

Ambassador at Opening Doors

1. What does Trans Visibility Day mean to you?

I am tired of being a victim, of thinking myself to be a victim; I am tired of people thinking I and others like me are victims. Such thoughts create fear. I spent most of my life living in fear of being discovered. I hid myself away from others and even, at times, from myself. Trans Visibility Day is a day to stand up and stand out; to celebrate being myself; to be seen, not as a victim of life, but as life itself. It is hard, of course: decades of fear and loathing, shame and guilt, are difficult to shake off. This day, Trans Visibility Day, is a day to shine and be proud to be who I am and to have others’ support as I do so. Hold my hand and give me courage to stand in the sun and be added to the multitude of colour in this amazing life.

2. What do you think are the most pressing issues affecting Trans and Non-binary?

Trans people are becoming a political football, a target to distract the voting populace from the government’s record. They know that people become easily vexed over gender rights issues, especially when they are couched in such aggressive and provocative terms by those with a particular anti-trans and anti-NB agenda. Anti-trans sentiment is being couched in terms of women’s’ rights. Unless you are a misogynist, who could possibly oppose women’s rights? People are being told that trans-women are not women and should not have women’s rights. So who’s rights should we have? Are we sub-human? Should we have fewer rights than anyone else?

3. What do you envision being the future for Trans and Non-binary people in the UK?

We unite but never attack: that will only just attract more violence and more attacks as sympathy from certain quarters of the general public waivers and it all becomes a too difficult issue to grapple. We join with the diversity groups as a celebration of humanity and build on the good will and nature of the majority before the ‘others’ get to them!

The debates around the rights of women, including trans-women, will undoubtedly give rise to greater mistrust and become heated. Hate towards trans-women and to all trans and non-binary people will build. Hate leads to attacks, verbal, psychological and physical. The UK risks becoming a much scarier place for us all in the coming months as the electioneering takes hold.

4. How do you think visibility has changed or Trans and Non-binary people in the last decade?

Visibility of trans and non-binary people and issues has increased: on the whole, visibility should be a good thing; but it can also create a target for some to aim for and attack. It’s a tricky one: visibility is great but there is a risk we could become overly visible and seen as just another group who wants special attention. The value of and from diversity – all colours, religions, creeds sexuality and gender, becomes drowned out. Human beings are wondrous in our truest nature, but are so easily misled and misguided and manipulated by those who feel a need to do so.

5. What do you think are the key steps to creating a more inclusive society for Trans and Non-binary people?

Only ever focus on what is good and great about a diverse society: try not to allow attention to drift solely on the negative feelings and opinions, for that will merely breed further assaults and attacks. Instead, I believe a prominent focus on the beauty and love within our communities will attract more love towards us.

When attacked, we must try to turn the other cheek and walk away. Do not feed our attackers with more of the same. Stop talking about them and answering back defensively: Starve them of the very oxygen they want and need by ignoring them. Walking away from them, ignoring them and focussing the ‘agenda’ on the positives of diversity within society removes their power over you; remove their power and they become irrelevant and fade away.

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Bina Feroli

Volunteer at Opening Doors

1. Why is Trans Visibility Day so important?

Trans Day of Visibility is so important because of the representation it gives to the trans community and because of its role in changing the mainstream narrative about who we are. It celebrates the lives of trans people everywhere and it empowers and gives emotional support to those struggling with their identity or transition. It shines a light on the struggles our community faces and it provides a platform for our allies to show solidarity and support. It increases awareness of our community amongst the cisgender population, making us visible and challenging mainstream media’s representation and stereotyping of who we are. Although just one day in the year, its impact permeates the lives of trans people daily. We know we are seen and represented on that day and we draw strength in knowing that it is possible to live in a world where we can simply be every day of every year.

2. What advice would you give Trans and Non-binary people who are struggling with their identity

Love yourself, believe that you deserve love and know that you are loved. Travel on your journey at a pace that is safe for you. Don’t ever stop figuring things out. Treat every day as a gift. Follow your own unique path and follow your heart. There is no one path and no wrong path. Be proud to occupy your space. Connect with your community, where you will find so much love, validation and support. Be open to reconnecting with your birth family if this has been difficult and if you need each other in your lives, even those whose reactions to you have been painful. Give them time if they need it. Love them. Become active in the struggle for trans rights and in community building and support. Take time for self-care. Above all, know that your authenticity is your beauty and your resilience is your strength.

3. What do you envision being the future for Trans and Non-binary people in the UK?

 I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, increased visibility of Trans and Non-binary people over the last decade has certainly fostered greater acceptance by mainstream cisgender society. I think about how much change I have seen in my lifetime, about how trans and Non-binary people are now so much more visible, represented and protected under law in a way that wasn’t the case when I was growing up. 

But at the same time, the struggle for trans rights, self-determination, fair representation, job security, housing and access to gender affirming healthcare continues and the community remains ever at risk from violence and hate crimes and from the erosion of the rights we have gained so far. The governing party’s reactionary ideology and the right wing media’s nasty, repressive agenda are perhaps our biggest challenge. An agenda which is designed to create fear, dehumanise us, ridicule us and portray us as dangerous and subversive in order to quash our aspirations for liberation, freedom of expression and access to social equity and equal rights. Will this change any time soon? I don’t think so.

 I see the struggle of Trans and Non-binary people as having so many parallels with the struggles of other minority, marginalised communities. I want to see the Trans and Non-binary community standing more and more in solidarity with other minority struggles and vice versa. As an Intersectional Feminist, I believe that our struggles are one and the same and that collective action is the only effective means of fighting our in-common challenges of institutionalised transphobia, racism, misogyny, ableism, classism, homophobia, biphobia and more. As long as we are divided (or at least not united) we will be conquered.

4. What does Trans Visibility Day mean to you?

I know that Trans Day of Visibility has a personal and special significance for each and every one who celebrates or marks it in some way. The first year I marked it, I had recently begun my social transition and I presented to the world on that day for the second time. I had been building up to coming out to the world for so long. Although I had become aware of Trans Day of Visibility the year before, I hadn’t been ready to be out until then, a week or so before. I remember being gripped with fear, my heart beating at what felt like 120 bpm as I stepped out of my front door into the street on that day. But I was also driven by that unstoppable force that, I have since learned, drives so many gender dysphoric people, after years of living hidden, dual lives.

 As I took my first few steps, I realised the world wasn’t crashing in on me after all, that I was still breathing, that the world was still turning and that people were going about their day just as they had been the moment before I stepped out into it. But for me, that moment in my life, that step, which took me decades to take, changed everything. It set me free. Looking back now, I can see that, since childhood, I had been invisible to myself. I saw no one when I looked in the mirror. Absent from pretty much all conversation I found myself in of a remotely close and personal nature. Detached, awkward, uncomfortable, distracted and alone. On drugs for much of it too in the early years. I had been unable to engage in any way other than utterly superficially, because I wasn’t being all of me. I was being only the part who I believed the world had decided I should be. But from that day to this, my inner strength, my sense of self respect, self-love and entitlement to be me grew and grew. To the point that now I am no longer scared to show the world who I am. 

I am grateful for every single day that I have left to live authentically and I am the happiest I have ever been. Trans Day of Visibility, with everything I now realise it signifies, made this possible for me. By giving me inner strength and by showing me that I am not alone and far from the only person in the world who feels this way.   Trans Day of Visibility was not the day I first presented to the world, but it was the first day I presented to the world with pride and without fear. Every year I now mark Trans Day of Visibility by reflecting on how grateful I am to have arrived at where I now am and I know that Trans Day of Visibility has unquestionably contributed to making this possible for me. I also think about how my life might have been different had this day existed when I was young. But I don’t believe in having regrets. Just gratitude for what is still to come.