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I just pulled out my notes from a GIDS event I attended in 2016. In one highly controlled moderated session, there was a Q&A with a panel of trans youth. Asked about what they could do better one of them said: "until I left GIDS I'd never met a trans adult". I was shocked. 1/
This young woman had been through years of sessions at GIDS, without meeting a single trans adult. No opportunities to ask questions, no support or community. Complete segregation. This is the experience of many trans youth & could so easily have been that of our family. 2/
Until we attended a @Mermaids_Gender residential, our child thought they were the only person in the world to feel the way they did. They felt utterly alone. We were determined they would grow up with positive representation, with role models of trans adults living full lives. 3/
@Mermaids_Gender Through Mermaids, & friends we've made, our child has played with & alongside hundreds of other trans kids, & has had the chance to meet trans adults, many of whom are now her role models. This helps her & us as parents, see a positive future. 4/
@Mermaids_Gender Also really important is positive representation; content created by & for trans people, not written by & for cis people with our obsession on the medicalisation of transition, & traumas of trans experience, or, like John Boyes book, the 'cis trauma' of having a trans child. 5/
@Mermaids_Gender I'd love to hear about & support any initiative creating content for trans kids. Both about the challenges & euphoria of growing up trans and also content not centred on trans experience, but just abour people, who happen to be trans, living their lives. 6/
@Mermaids_Gender If you're a cis creative, thinking about, & wanting to write & talk about trans children, fantastic! But please, please think about the potential to harm of your work. And always work with trans communities & orgs who support, to ensure your work is as authentic as possible. 7/
@Mermaids_Gender I hope this is the last generation of trans kids to grow up feeling utterly alone in the world. Representation matters. Let them see a future, help them soar. #nhsfailingtranskids #transkidsliving #letthemsoar
