It’s #TransAwarenessWeek.

This week (running 13 - 19 Nov, 2021) is dedicated to lifting up the voices and experiences of transgender and non-binary people, while educating and signposting how to advocate and take action.

We stand with our trans friends, in the PBC community and beyond.

#ProudParent

During our #ProudParent campaign earlier this year, we had the honour of working with writer and trans dad, Freddy McConnell (he/him). He came along with his little one for a shoot, which was created to celebrate each and every pathway to parenthood.

In his piece to camera, Freddy (who now has baby number 2 on the way!) shared why he feels it is so important for him to speak out about being a trans dad. “I try to be visible so that more trans men and non-binary people know that they have this option too; that they can have a family and they can do it in many different ways. And this way - they way I’ve done it - is just as valid.”

This weekend you can catch a special screening of Freddy’s beautiful documentary, Seahorse, which follows the journey of having his first baby. We couldn’t recommend this film more. The screening - in collaboration with The Queer Birth Club - is raising funds for Freddy’s trip to Sweden to give birth where he will be able to be accurately registered as father on the birth certificate.

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We also worked with transgender couple Jake (he/him) and Hannah Graf (she/her), who joined us with their daughter Millie, who was born via surrogacy in April 2020. Both patrons of Mermaids Charity, Jake and Hannah are both activists - using their experiences to raise awareness, along with campaigning and media engagement.

This month Hannah was featured in The Female Lead’s new book called We Rise by lifting Others, featuring 67 remarkable Women. And Jake has just announced the release of an exciting new short film series - Inclusive Stories. The innovative films use AI to read the emotions of the viewer and change the narrative according to their reactions and the first of the series - in partnership with Gender Intelligence - features a young trans man on his first day of work.

Listening & Learning:

Along with raising awareness and voices, #transawarenessweek is also about encouraging active listening and learning, which should not only feature on national days or weeks but all year long.

AJ (they/them), founder of The Queer Birth Club, authored two great articles for our village blog - one on allyship and one on why pronouns matter. Hit the images below to read: