Trans Awareness Week, which falls every 13th-19th November, is for our community to share their stories and experiences, and for allies to show up and amplify advocacy around issues of prejudice, discrimination, and violence that impact the trans community.
This Trans Awareness Week is especially important for us, because it marks 30 years of Mermaids.
We’ve come so far since 1995, when Mermaids was only a group of parents around a kitchen table. Now, we support thousands of trans children and young people, their loved ones, and professionals involved in their care, every year.
We’re celebrating this amazing achievement by sharing stories from our community across our social media channels to celebrate our shared legacy of trans joy, hope and resilience in the face of adversity. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok to tune into these stories.
Luan’s Story
Here’s one of the Mermaids journeys we’ve shared this week, from Luan (he/him) an alumni of our Youth Advisory Panel and MANGO, turned volunteer. We hope it brightens your day.
“I don’t think I would have got this far without Mermaids. It has massively changed my life.
When I joined Mermaids Advocacy Network Group Online (MANGO), I had limited interaction with people outside my immediate family due to being bedbound with several chronic illnesses. I was also newly diagnosed as autistic. Through Mermaids I’ve built so many skills and become more confident in all my intersecting identities.
I took part in MANGO’s online 12-week programme, not long after Covid.
We had online training sessions talking about different aspects of activism each week from the history of different movements to how you can build a campaign. From the start it was clear accessibility was an integrated part of the program alongside diversity. It wasn’t about White activism or solely UK activism – It was global and intersectional. To this day I still refer to the inspiring resources provided.
It was my first time being in a space with only trans people. I have a photo of me crying at the last session, because I was so sad that it was over. It was so good.
Not long after completing the MANGO programme, I applied to be a member of Mermaids’ Youth Advisory Panel.
Here, I built even more relationships with these other young trans people, and the Mermaids staff too, who have been inspirational. Seeing trans adults thriving is more powerful than anything.
The greatest gift of YAP has been that connection, as well as the opportunities it gave me. I went with other young trans people to speak with MPs in Parliament about the difficulties trans young people were/are facing.
It was a really special day for me personally because it was the first time I went out independently in my wheelchair on my own.
I was in a manual wheelchair at the time that I couldn’t self-propel. So, I was put on the train, and I met a couple of other YAP members at the station who pushed me to Parliament. That was a special moment because I realised that I can be independent.
I had been really worried about speaking with MPs because I wasn’t very confident and hadn’t been in settings where I could speak to new people. But it went so much better than I thought it would, and I realised ‘Oh, I can do this. I am capable of it.’
These are just a couple of examples of the amazing opportunities I’ve gained through Mermaids. I’ve also written op-eds for national publications, I’ve coordinated online campaigns, and I even travelled to Ljubljana for IGLYO’s AMC which was unbelievable.
Looking back, my initial interactions with Mermaids were a pivotal turning point in my life. I truly wouldn’t be the confident trans, disabled, neurodivergent adult I am today without the support and community I’ve built at Mermaids.
Now that I’ve passed the baton to the next generation of YAP, I volunteer at my local Mermaids community group. I’m also going to run the next MANGO 12-week course so that other young people can grow their advocacy skills and have the same amazing experiences I’ve had.”
If Luan’s story has inspired you, please consider donating to Mermaids to help us empower more trans young people through programs like MANGO and YAP.
It’s only thanks to our incredible community, allies, and partners that we have been able to support trans youth and their families for three decades now. Every call we pick up, every moment of connection at our community groups, every young person we empower, is all because of our amazing supporters.