Equality and Human Rights are vitally important and are something I’ve been involved in and working to improve for a number of years.
Shortly after coming out I created my first LGBTQI+ focused venture with a website called TForm. I’d noticed that there were very few places on the internet where trans people could talk anonymously about their worries and issues in a secure environment without being hassled by anyone.
It was a success and to this day I still have many friends I met through starting that website. It became very apparent however that a campaigning organisation was needed and that TForm wouldn’t fit.
This lead me to starting a website called Wipe Out Transphobia. We started on Facebook and as an accompanying page to Wipe Out Homophobia (now Stop Homophobia), but we soon grew to be independent. Wipe Out Transphobia is an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of trans individuals and the hate crime/incidents and discrimination that affects them in various ways.
Our reach on social media is significant. Before Facebook deleted many accounts, we had reached nearly 180,000 followers. The largest group of our type in the world. We also have a large following on Twitter.
We have effected change all over the world, including law changes in the US. We have intervened and supported people and organisations in countries like Iran, Turkey, Australia, USA, UK, Sweden, France, Germany, the Philippines and Russia.
Wipe Out Transphobia operates as not-for-profit. I stepped back from managing the organisation in early 2017 to focus on other work and this role has passed to Kate Hutchinson, however I am still very much involved as the founder.
For Wipe Out Transphobia I created a range of four posters that highlighted transphobia and sought to combat it by humanising the individuals in the posters. The posters were bilingual and were supported by all four police forces across Wales, as well as numerous organisations. The posters made the press and were reported on positively.
I also designed a business card that included suicide prevention details on the back covering, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. These were distributed widely, with a focus on universities, LGBTQI+ groups and support organisations.
I was also responsible for campaigning successfully and liaising with our local council to raise the trans flag for the first time ever on November the 20th – TDOR (Transgender Day of Remembrance). They now do this every year.
We were also present and involved with the first ever meeting between trans groups in the UK and Stonewall (UK). The meeting resulted in Stonewall extending their support from just LGB communities, to include trans people in their campaigns.
We have also run worldwide campaigns where hundreds of people supported us by sending pictures of themselves holding up a sign to ‘Wipe Out Transphobia’.
In addition to Wipe Out Transphobia, I also sat on the Anglesey Equality & Diversity Partnership as a core equality stakeholder, I’ve worked with Unity Group Wales as a director, the North Wales Police as an Independent Advisor and I’m the LGBTQI+ Coordinator for a local political party on the executive committee. I am also a volunteer with the Red Cross.
View My LinkedIn Profile – Online CV/Résumé
