We’ve now launched our online Parents & Families group for parents and family members of young trans people between the ages of 13 - 25 in the UK.

If your parent/guardian/family members feel they need peer support from other parents / family members who’ve been through something similar, this may be a worthwhile source of support for them.

This is also a great way for parents to keep in touch between our Parents & Family ‘SOFFA’ meetings.

The group is staffed by GI parent volunteers who will do their best to share their experiences and answer questions.

Parents & family members can join the group by visiting this page on our website:

http://genderedintelligence.co.uk/families/group

Please ensure any potential members sign up to a google account for best access to the group.

genderedintelligence:

When: Saturday 26th January, 1.45 - 5PM

Where: Central School of Speech and Drama, NW3 3HY. (Map) Meet in reception at 1.45.
Nearest tube: Swiss Cottage

Our next session for young trans people aged 13 to 25 will be a ‘SOFFA’ session - this is where young people can choose to bring Significant Others, Family members, Friends and Allies (SOFFAs) along with them to the youth group.

We’ll spend a short amount of time in the room together, and then we’ll split in to two groups in separate rooms.

For the young trans people, we’ll discuss relationships & disclosure - discussing the idea of what a healthy relationship is, and how being trans may present challenges for relationships - with a focus on ways we can overcome those challenges.

We’ll also be discussing disclosure strategies as well as strategies for keeping ourselves safe when disclosing. Plus, as usual, we’ll play a few games and give you plenty of opportunity to chat!

For our ‘SOFFAs’, they will be accompanied by a GI facilitator and some of our parent volunteers to another room for a general discussion on the issues around having a trans child / family member / partner. This discussion topic can be led by those present - allowing attendees to discuss issues they feel are relevant to them.

Young trans people are welcome to attend the youth group session without ‘SOFFAs’. 

However, SOFFAs must be accompanied by a young trans person to attend the session. We ask that SOFFAs are aged at least 13 - if you have a relative you wish to bring who is younger than this, please email us to discuss.

As usual - we’ll provide up to £7 in travel bursaries. The venue is fully accessible. Light refreshments will be provided.

See you there!

This Saturday!

jeffygiraffe:

This is the first post I am making about Scottish provisions for trans* people. I also intend to make posts talking about NHS Scotland’s Gender Reassignment Protocol and the different GICs in Scotland.

Scotland-wide Organisations:

Scottish Transgender Alliance (STA) [Active]

- The main Scottish organisation for trans* people. They organise many conferences related to trans* people and the services they may be using, as well as publishing surveys. They’re very friendly and helpful - they’ll do their best to sort out any problems you have that are related to being trans*.

- Contact details and website

Stonewall Scotland [Active]

- Unlike their UK-wide parent organisation (Stonewall) which is only an LGB organisation, Stonewall Scotland is an LGBT organisation. They usually work with the STA in regards to trans* equality, and probably are not as helpful as the STA.

- Contact details and website

Here’s an alphabetically-ordered (by place) list of support groups for trans* people in Scotland, who they provide support for and how to contact them. I’ve marked all the groups I know to be currently active.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen T-folk [Active]

- Open to trans* people of all genders, people who cross-dress are also welcome

- Meetings are mainly trans*-only, but there are occasional meetings where SOFFAs are also welcome

- Email: abtfolk@yahoo.com

- Visible facebook group is AbTfolk Friends, open to trans* and SOFFAs alike

North East Scotland Trans (NEST) [Active]

- At a recent Scottish Trans* Health conference, NEST made a number of disparaging remarks about transgender people (non binary and those who don’t want to “fully” medically transition).

- Do not hold support meetings, but may be helpful to contact regarding trans woman-specific problems

- Contact details and website

Dunblane

Central Scotland Transgender Group

- Held monthly meetings, but I do not know if they are still active

- Website and contact details

Dundee

DiverTay

- An LGBT group that mentions having a trans* specific group too (as of 2010)

- Contact details and website

Edinburgh

Beyond Gender [Active]

- Trans* support group for young people (aged 13 - 25 years old)

- I’ve heard lots of good things and no bad things, so would probably recommend to trans* youth

- Contact details and website

Polygender Scotland [Inactive]

- Non-binary trans support group that existed until at least 2010, details provided anyway in case someone wants to try setting meetings up again

- Contact details, website and facebook page

Edinburgh Trans Women [Active]

- Trans woman support group, that also caters for MAAB people who “live full- or part-time as women”

- Contact details and website

Trans Men Scotland [Active]

- Trans men and FAAB trans* support group

- Meetings are held in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with some meetings being open to SOFFAs too

- A very friendly bunch of people! £1 donations may be asked for at meetings to cover the cost of refreshments but are optional so don’t let that put you off if you can’t afford that.

- Contact details and website

T-Time [Active]

- Informal, monthly social gathering of trans* people, those who are questioning their gender identity, and SOFFAs

- More information can be found here

Me & T [Active]

- Support group for friends, family or partners of people who are trans* or are questioning their gender identity

- Contact email: me.and.t.edinburgh@gmail.com

Glasgow

Crosslynx [Kind of Active]

- Transgender support group for Glasgow and West Scotland

- They’ve recently made a facebook event, so are active, but might not have a venue for support meetings

- Website and facebook page

Sandyford Trans Women Support Group [Active]

- Trans woman support group

- Their website has a lot of information regarding coming out, transition, domestic abuse / rape crisis centres, etc that would be useful to MAAB and FAAB trans* people alike

- Contact details and website

Trans Men Scotland [Active]

- See information in Edinburgh section above

Inverness

Swans of Scotland [Active]

- Support group for all trans* people in the North of Scotland

- Contact details and website

Highland Rainbow Folk

- An activist group, raising awareness of issues for older (50+ years old) LGBT+ people. They may have useful contacts though.

- Contact details and website

Perth

Perth Transgender Group

- Contact details and website

CliniQ’s new FREE therapy group for trans people aged over 20 is starting on Wednesday 23rd of January, 3.30pm - 5pm.

Even though it is run by CliniQ, it will not have a focus on sexual health - but will be client-led on general issues of being trans. The group will consist of people who identify as trans* or have a trans history.

You will need to register with CliniQ and have an assessment before joining. CliniQ is a sexual health service for trans people, open every Wednesday between 5pm and 7pm on the 2nd floor at 56 Dean Street, Soho (near Tottenham Court Road / Leicester Square stations). You can drop-in between those times - there’s no need for an appointment.

If you are already in individual therapy you can still join this group.

genderedintelligence:

Last Saturday, we went to Brighton to go screen printing.

The young trans people who participated made lots of beautiful screen printed art work, which will be on sale at our Holiday Party & Art Auction this Saturday!

Check out some of the screen prints below, or click here to see more.

2 days to go until our Art Auction and Holiday Party!

When: 19th December, 1pm - 3.30pm

Where: Albert Kennedy Trust, Unit 203, Hatton Square Business Centre, 16/16A Baldwin Gardens, EC1N 7RJ. (Map) Nearest tube: Farringdon or Chancery Lane

Albert Kennedy Trust are holding an employment support focus group for young trans and questioning people next Wednesday.

This will offer an opportunity to discuss employment issues and ask questions to experienced employment coaches and mentors, some of whom are trans themselves.

If you’re interested in going along, email admin@genderedintelligence.co.uk and we’ll pass on your details to AKT, or you can call them direct on 0207 831 6562.

Lunch will be provided to all attendees.

Want to support Gendered Intelligence’s work with young trans people? We’re always looking for people to join our volunteer scheme. It’s a great way to support our organisation. Our volunteers help out in a number of ways - from running our fundraising events, to representing us at other community meetings, to helping out with our youth events and arts projects.

If you’d like to find out more and apply, go to our volunteer page on our website.

Our next volunteer induction (these only happen 4 times a year!) is in mid-January, so apply before then to be in our next new intake!

Volunteers can be from any age (over 18) or background - you do not have to identify as trans to volunteer for us.

Information and application.

LGBT Youth Scotland’s Green Light Project have produced ‘A Coming Out Guide for Young Trans People’.

The guide goes over various aspects of coming out as trans - who to come out to, how to come out, things to consider, and ways to deal with situations that may come up as a result. It’s a useful guide that will be a useful read for any young trans person thinking about coming out.

A full list of resources for young trans people by other organisations, as well as those produced by Gendered Intelligence, can be found on our community resources page on our website.

Cornwall Schools Transgender Guidance has been written in collaboration with The Intercom Trust, Devon & Cornwall Police, Cornwall Council and Head Teachers.  It is the first of it’s kind within the UK to be incorporated into schools and colleges, specifically aimed at supporting Transgender pupils and students.

While it was written specifically for Cornwall schools, the information is transferable to schools across the UK, and may prove to be a useful document for those who are transitioning in education.

Click here for a PDF copy.

genderedintelligence:

Are you a young trans person between the ages of 13 - 25?

Have you thought about your future and how your family life might take shape?

Would you like to hear the stories of older trans people who have had children and their experiences of having a family as a trans person?

Would you like the chance to bring your family along to meet other parents of trans people and hear the stories of older trans people with happy family lives?

For September’s Saturday session, we are running our next SOFFA session (significant others, family, friends, and allies). This is a session where young trans people (under 25) can, if they choose to, bring along family members, friends, partners or supporters to our monthly Saturday youth group event.

When:

Saturday 29th September
2-5PM

Where:

Central School of Speech and Drama (Near Swiss Cottage Jubilee Line station) (Map)

The theme of this session is ‘Families and Parenting’. We will have guests from the trans community who are parents who will talk about their stories of having a family as a trans person. This will also provide an opportunity for parents, families, and partners of young trans people to meet eachother, chat and gain mutual support.

This session will be a unique opportunity for young trans people, and their families / friends / partners, to hear the stories of trans parents and ask questions - how they came to have children, how they experience being a parent as a trans or queer person, and more. If you and your family have questions about you having a family in the future and how that might take shape alongside your trans identity, this would be a great opportunity to see for yourself how other trans people have gone about their own family lives.  

You don’t have to bring along a SOFFA (family member or friend) in order to attend, but SOFFAS must be accompanied by a young trans person.

Read More

Don’t forget our youth group event this Saturday!

genderedintelligence:

Read More

Galop, an organisation that gives advice and support to people who have experienced biphobia, homophobia and transphobia, are hosting their annual Treasure Hunt fundraiser!

We want to take along 10 trans young people (under 25) to form two teams and take part in the fun.

GI will pay for your entry fee  (worth £10!), your lunch and your travel. Email us at admin@genderedintelligence.co.uk if you want to come!

We need to know if you’re coming in advance so we can make sure we have a team together. Details below.

When: Sat 15 September 2012, From 1pm

Where: Soho, London (we’ll email you with our meeting point)

Grab your mates and maps and go buccaneering through the nooks and crannies of Soho and the West End solving clues, raising money for Galop, and having a rollicking good time!

Fastest team wins a goodly selection of prizes from Galop’s Treasure Chest*

*warning: some prizes may be better than others!

BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!

genderedintelligence: