An anonymous story on being transgender and being treated differently in sport
Our We Care About Not Caring Campaign begins with stories from Team UOP member's. This campaign aims to provide insight into the lives and experiences of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. These honest and frank stories are an example of how sport and physical activity can play a part in providing a sense of belonging and combatting feelings of anxiety. We want to raise awareness for these stories and of the issues they look to challenge. These personal stories are powerful and should start up conversations between you and your friends, family, and teammates. We have also supplied a number of resources below if you are affected by this story.
Tell us about you...
I am a transgender man. I am stealth at uni and most of my life meaning that people don't know I'm trans they think I'm a cis gender man.
I am currently 2 years on Testosterone and 1 year post op top surgery. I have overcome 1 suicide attempt and many years of self harm and self hatred. With crippling dysphoria and a family that at first didn't accept. My journey to the man I am today has been the most difficult thing I have, and probably will, ever face. But 100% worth it.
Have you ever felt or experienced a negative situation due to your sexuality/gender identity within your sport? How did the people around react?
Not in my sport at the moment because people don't know I'm trans. But before I transitioned when it was obvious that I wasn't a biological male when I did sport I would get judged regardless of what team I played for and found the changing rooms a nightmare to tackle. I didn't belong anywhere. People treated me differently too, they wouldn't make jokes around me for fear it would hurt my feelings and act like I was incapable of sport in the same way they were. This is partially the reason I am stealth in my life at the moment.
What do you think Team UoP clubs and members can do better to make their LGBTQIA+ and transgender teammates feel safer within their sport?
Don't be afraid to ask questions. You aren't expected to understand and know everything about being LGBT. As long as you approach a situation with open-mindedness and care most trans people are happy to help you understand.
If you could meet your younger self what advice would you give yourself?
Being trans is the worst thing that will ever happen to you but you are strong enough to become who you are both inside and out, just you wait.
We Care About Not Caring because...
University of Portsmouth - Education
Everyone has the right to be themselves without fear. It will take time to secure better recognition for trans people, but by increasing understanding in our communities, informing and inspiring politicians and raising the visibility of trans people's stories we can achieve vital gains and pave the way for trans equality. https://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/come-out-trans-equality
How to be a trans ally
In the public domain, conversations about trans rights are increasingly polarised and often become heated and harmful. At Imperial, we support respectful dialogue; at the same time, we are committed to accepting and including trans people for who they are. Trans people face transphobia from both outside the LGBTQ+ community and within it. Therefore we encourage everyone who is cis, whether you are straight or LGBQ+, to be a trans ally. These suggestions from ImperialCollege London, offer some practical examples of how you can be a trans ally and support our trans and non-binary students and colleagues. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/equality/resources/lgbtq-equality/how-to-be-a-trans-ally/
If you have 10 minutes…
1. Share
The easiest action you can take is to keep yourself informed about trans rights and inform your friends and family of what they can do to create positive change for trans people. An easy first step is to share this page.
2. Read
- Supporting the transgender people in your life: A guide to being a good ally
- A guide to being an ally to trans and nonbinary youth
- A beginner’s guide to being an ally to trans people
- Gender identity for beginners
3. Sign
Signing petitions about issues important to trans people is also a simple and quick action you can take and usually takes no longer than a minute to do so. Sharing to social media also helps expand the impact of the petition and ensures more people see the current efforts to bring about trans rights.
You could start by signing these petitions:
- Help us claim our rights & freedom to ID our own genders: https://action.allout.org/en/m/238ce337/?utm_campaign=mgp-238ce337
- Ban trans conversion practices
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/613556 - Improved access to healthcare for all trans people: https://www.gendergp.com/signnow/
More information and lots more ideas are here: https://www.transactual.org.uk/change-actions