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Download our new toolkit for ideas on shining a light on the T in LGBT this month and beyond Happy LGBT History Month! Celebrated every February in the UK since 2005, it’s an opportunity for the community to claim our past, celebrate our present and create our future.  This year, the theme is Politics In Art, so we’ve teamed up with an incredible non-binary illustrator and comic artist, Rowan Frewin, for a very special trans history lesson.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rowan Frewin (@rowanfrewin) We’ve also got some great ideas in our toolkit for shining…

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Mermaids Press

MPs show overwhelming support for GRA reform at Westminster. Kai O’Doherty (they/them), Head of Policy and Research at Mermaids, asks when will the Government act? On Monday 21 February 2022, Westminster held a debate on reform to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA), triggered by a petition signed by over 130,000 trans rights supporters. In addition to impassioned, supportive cross-party speeches from MPs, the Minister for Equalities, Mike Freer MP, committed the Government to some further specific reforms on language and spousal veto – but with the wider population’s overwhelming support for reform, both in and outside of the House,…

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Meet the author and illustrator of a joyful, heart-warming book celebrating the power of individuality Interview by Bex Shorunke LGBT History Month might be drawing to a close but we know we should be learning about and celebrating queer identities year-round, so if you have a little person in your life why not gift them The Spectacular Suit?  This joyful and heartwarming book follows Frankie, who, as her birthday party approaches, is desperately trying to find the perfect outfit to wear. The Spectacular Suit explores gender identity and the power of individuality, as author Kat Patrick (they/them) and illustrator Hayley…

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To mark LGBT History Month, author and academic Zoë Playdon talks to Mermaids about her book, The Hidden Case Of Ewan Forbes, and Ewan’s impact on the lives of trans people today Interview by Carrie Lyell Described by The Bookseller as “as significant to the trans experience as Oscar Wilde is to gay men”, the case of Ewan Forbes is one we should all know about. And yet many of you reading this may never have heard of him. This LGBT History Month, Zoë Playdon, author of an “enthralling and explosive” book about Ewan, tells us why. For those who…

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Filmmaker, photographer, author and producer Elegance talks to Mermaids about LGBT History Month, his documentary Pier Kids, and how art can transform us Interview by Bex Shorunke This LGBT History Month, we’re focussing on the way in which art can be political and revolutionary. With that in mind, we spoke to the magnificently talented filmmaker Elegance Bratton, whose debut documentary Pier Kids chronicles the lives of trans and gay youths of colour living in Manhattan’s Chelsea Pier.  Made between 2011 and 2016, Pier Kids authentically represents a community experiencing homelessness and social exclusion, who in the face of adversity are…

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Mermaids Press

In a shameful act of trans exclusion, the Equality and Human Rights Commission yesterday (Wednesday 26 January) failed our community, calling for gender identity to be removed from the proposed ban on conversion therapy legislation in the first instance to allow for further “scrutiny”. The Commission also wrote to the Scottish Government to further delay its work to update the Gender Recognition Act. The ban on conversion therapy and gender recognition has endured several years of “scrutiny” and will be subject to more throughout the respective legislative processes. These years of public discourse have resulted in trans people and communities…

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Content warning: This article contains reference to abuse. Please visit mermaidsuk.org.uk/ct-support if you need to talk to someone. I was 19 at the time of my conversion therapy experience. I was having a same-sex relationship with another member of my church congregation, and we had been found out by a senior leader in the church. My whole world was thrown upside down.  Before that day, I was a respected member of the church. I had a job as the church youth worker, I was a respected Sunday worship leader, and was living with the Vicar’s family. Young people in the…

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Happy New Year! Welcome to the second instalment of our Day In The Life series. Here, we spotlight the important work being done by Mermaids and the people who make the charity what it is. Meet Kerry (she/her), one of our Helpline Services Officers, who marks her fourth year at Mermaids this spring. Kerry started out as a volunteer before joining the charity as a staff member. Today, you will find her on the frontline, answering your calls or replying to messages over webchat. Whatever the problem, she’ll be here for you with a kind and supportive ear. Read on to…

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Abby, Danielle and Verity share their Miles For Mermaids stories Our challenge event Miles For Mermaids is back and better than ever!  With different distance options to suit all abilities, these virtual events are designed so that you can support the vital work we do while moving your body at a time, place and pace that suits you.  And best of all, we’ve got a brand new medal for 2022.  We caught up with three proud medal-winners – Abby, Danielle and Verity – to hear what inspired them to take on their Miles For Mermaids challenges, the hurdles they encountered…

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It’s been an ugly year in many ways, not least for the trans community. But even in the darkest of times, there is light. Whether it was the Court of Appeal overturning Bell v Tavistock, a huge moment of relief for trans kids and their families, non-binary representation on TV in shows like Sex Education and Feel Good, small gestures of allyship from the likes of Billy Bragg and Lorraine Kelly, or Joshua Cavallo shutting down the LGBA in the most perfect way, there was plenty that put a smile on our faces in 2021.  To mark Trans Awareness Week…

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