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Trans Writes is built from the ground up to elevate and support the often unheard voices of the transgender community. This page is where you will find all of the articles contributed to us by you. All of our writers are paid for their work which is made possible through your donations.

Photo of a person at Pride holding a transgender flag sign which reads "non-binary identities are valid" which Ryan Castellucci's case is fighting for.

Ryan Castellucci granted judicial review over UK non-binary recognition

A trans non-binary person is bringing legal proceedings against the British government, urging it to legally recognise their gender as non-binary. Ryan Castellucci, a US citizen who moved to the UK for work in 2019, is legally recognised as non-binary in their home state of California, including on their passport and birth certificate.
Promotional material for A Trans Man Walks Into A Gay Bar by Harry Nicholas

A Trans Man Walks Into a Gay Bar “is sweet, heartfelt, insightful, a seriously...

A Trans Man Walks Into a Gay Bar: A Journey of Self (and Sexual) Discovery by Harry Nicholas is available to buy now. Elia Cugini writes;
Census 2021 logo which reads "census 2021" in a purple font and also includes the welsh for census too which is "cyfrifiad". This is the first official UK government survey to include transgender and non-binary census data.

What does Census 2021 say about trans people?

Trans people live in diverse communities, intersecting ethnicity, age, disability, religion and sexuality. This is not news, but the Office for National Statistics released fresh data comparing the gender identities of people in England and Wales with key demographics which were recorded in Census 2021.
A photo of the Gay Liberation Front of which Rachel Pollack was a founding member

“Rachel Pollack changed my life, I shall miss her always”

Rachel Pollack, widely known for her Tarot reading and comic books, passed away on April 7th 2023. We wanted to honour her life and commissioned this piece from a friend of hers in her memory. Roz Kaveney writes;
A wide shot of Posie Parker at her rally in Victoria, Australia with a small crowd around her. Photo by @CJMurrumbeena on Twitter.

Posie Parker was allowed in Australia, lets make sure her ideology isn’t

"We need to talk more about the ideology which Posie Parker tried to import at her Let Women Speak event in Victoria, Australia", writes LilahRPG - who was part of the counter protest.
A photo from a rally in 2013; someone holds a sign reading "i support trans health equality and economic justice" photo by Ted Eytan source: Wikimedia. Absolutely no relation to Helen Webberley.

Helen Webberley wins tribunal against GMC – but what was it all about? 

Helen Webberley, the doctor behind GenderGP, has been ruled fit to practice medicine and can return to work, according to a judge at the Royal Courts of Justice last week. This marks the end of a seven year battle between Webberley, the General Medical Council (GMC), and other professionals involved in trans healthcare and the regulation of healthcare, with gender affirming care at the heart of the matter. 
Pride in London 2016's parade showing Ugandan LGBT people marching in orange shirts and holding signs that pay tribute to those who died in the Oralndo terror attack and others which read "proud to be gay ugandan and religious" in clear opposition to a Uganda LGBT ban

Uganda LGBT ban: Where the hell is everybody?

Most readers will probably be aware of the situation at the moment in Uganda, where under the influence of American far-right so-called Christian groups, the government has enacted a law criminalising all LGBT people. But the story on the ground of the Uganda LGBT ban is much darker. Jenny List from Trans Rescue writes;
A Bissu from the Bugis people of South Sulawesi performing a wedding ritual; an example of a culture specific identity

On visibility; culture specific identities

On #TransDayOfVisibility we wanted to do our extra best to give the spotlight to the least visible members of the transgender and gender diverse communities around the world. Thank you to Michael for reaching out and writing this piece on culture specific identities they titled "What an Indigenous person would like the queer community to know":
What is a vigil? An image taken from a vigil in Bristol to mark the death of Brianna Ghey. It shows a tree with a ribbon for every victim of anti-trans hate crime. Representing Brianna is a sparkly pink ribbon. Around the base of the tree are lit candles and messages of love and support.

What is a vigil? A letter from Trans Safety Network

Like many trans people recently, researchers at Trans Safety Network have joined with our communities to attend, speak at, and help organise vigils so that we can mark the death of Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old trans girl from Warrington. The question we hope to answer in this letter is a difficult one - what is a vigil?
A sign reading "ladies room" above the door to a women's bathroom. This is from The St James Hotel but I imagine its not far off what the signage in the Marquis of Granby looks like which is why I am okay using it for our penis woman story.

“I think I might be the penis woman”; a response to absurd Tory councillor’s...

Following a piece by a tory councillor in the Daily Mail who alleges that a trans woman attempted to intimidate her in a bathroom we may have tracked down the so-called "penis woman"! Sophie writes;
Twenty Eight; stories from the section 28 generation book cover and promotional art which features a quote from Dr Suzan Meryem Rosita that reads "A new kind of history."

Twenty Eight: Stories From the Section 28 Generation review

"When offered the chance to read Twenty Eight: Stories From the Section 28 Generation, I had some preconceptions about what the book was likely to be." Laura Kate Dale writes;
Miss Major Speaks: Miss Major Griffin-Gracy rides in the back of a convertible car adorned in rainbow patterns at San Francisco Pride in 2014

Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary review

As a Black trans person and long-time resident of San Francisco, I was excited for the opportunity to review Miss Major Speaks. While I haven’t had the honor of meeting Miss Major Griffin-Gracy in person, I have met and worked with many trans folks whose lives she has touched, several of whom are named in the book’s Acknowledgements.
Tavistock clinic; where healthcare for young trans people is supposed to take place

The lies surrounding healthcare for young trans people have gone on for too long;...

On healthcare for young trans people; There is no magical moment at which a child becomes an adult. No single instant at which we may safely declare that a young person has exited adolescence, and is fully equipped to enter the world of mortgage stress, Saturday morning food shopping and running arguments about the thermostat says Max Morgan
A photo of Sam Smith wearing a bejewelled sailor hat and matching shiny long gloves taken from their video for "I'm Not Here To Make Friends"

Sam Smith and the arseholes

Billy Connolly used to talk about arsehole detectors. Flamboyant trousers. Beards dyed in primary colours. These things upset the arseholes so much, just by existing, that arseholes reveal themselves by complaining loudly. Sam Smith is a perfect arsehole detector. Their body, their music, their gender, their pronouns, their videos: arseholes can’t help but comment loudly and persistently.
A photo of the crowd gathered in Glasgow in support of Scottish democracy and trans rights. Photo by Max @SpillerOfTea on Twitter

Scottish democracy and the fight for trans rights

On the 20th of December, I sat down in the Scottish Parliament viewing gallery watching Scottish democracy at work. Almost every MSP sat in the chamber preparing to debate one of the most disputed issues of the last five years - reforms to the Gender Recognition Act.