Tyler I was emotional when Tyler was chosen because I finally knew my name and I felt valid as who I am. Tyler talks about how he chose his name through a Facebook poll I actually used Facebook to run a poll voting on my new name, as I’d originally picked ‘Harley’, but then the new Joker film came out and I was worried people would think I’d named myself after Harley Quinn, which I didn’t! I was pretty indecisive on which one I liked the most at the time, but Tyler was definitely one of the names I secretly…
Blog — True Life
An open letter from Mermaids on World Suicide Prevention Day 10th September 2019 Change now to save transgender children from suicide Mermaids has been supporting transgender children and young people for nearly 25 years. We know that there is nothing more devastating than the loss of a child or young person to suicide. We see, first hand, the terrible psychological trauma suffered by some of our service users because they live in a society that seems unable or unwilling to understand and accept them. Overall, the number of suicides in the UK fell between 2017-2018 but the number of under…
This year, for Volunteer’s Week, we’ve asked our amazing volunteers to share what giving up their time for Mermaids means to them! We have a very diverse range of volunteers ranging from LGBT activists, to parents and former service users. Together they work so hard to provide our vital services, such as the helpline and forums, to everyone who needs them. If you’d like to become a volunteer for Mermaids, click here to find out more! Our trustees are amazing LGBT rights champions who love to get involved with supporting our service users! Some of our most dedicated volunteers have themselves been…
Last week, Phoebe Waller-Bridge revealed in an interview on the American network, NPR that she ‘desperately wanted to be a boy’ when she was younger. Cue the inevitable reaction from certain members of the press. Within hours, articles appeared implying the actress and writer was lucky to have grown up before the days of trans awareness because…well…she would have been forced to take medication and identify as a boy for the rest of her life against her will, right? One of our young people, Sarah, wanted to explain that, then as now, it’s actually just about exploring who you are and there’s…