Are you a transgender or gender fluid person who would be interested in contributing to a project that aims to reduce discrimination towards people in the trans community?

I plan to create a piece of art that will be a panel of photographs in the style of ‘a day/moment in the life of’. The photos will be of trans people doing everyday activities or things they enjoy in social, work and home settings.

The aim will be to show how, although we are all different, there are also many shared experiences in our human journey. I would like to get the artwork/panel of photographs published as widely as possible, perhaps in magazines or possibly in a book. My hope is that, through improving education and raising awareness, this will contribute to the longer-term aim of changing attitudes towards trans people and reduce the incidence of intolerance and bullying.

If you are a transgender or gender variant person who would be happy to share your story and be photographed for the project, please get in touch . I would love to hear from you!! Also, as a thank you for your involvement, I would like to send you electronic copies of your favourite pictures

Please read on for a little more background to the project and to see a sample of my photography.

BACKGROUND

I have a good friend who has gender dysphoria. Hearing her story of living a life with a huge ‘secret’, that by the age of 50 could be contained no longer, encouraged me to read and learn more about this subject. My friend has been transitioning over the last few years and I very much admire her bravery, honesty and authenticity.  I have been struck by the levels of discrimination in society towards trans people. Prejudice against trans people in the UK is widespread and the hate crime statistics and personal stories are distressing.

According to Stonewall research in the UK, 2 in 5 trans people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months and more than 1/4 of those in a relationship have faced domestic abuse from a partner.

At an international level, Amnesty International quotes that in the year to 30 September 2020, 350 trans and gender-diverse people were killed globally. 

This kind of discrimination is clearly unacceptable and the Covid pandemic has made the situation for some trans people even more difficult as they have been confined with hostile family members. It is this situation that has motivated me to start this project.

ABOUT ME