Salford celebrates Transgender Awareness Week

By Jason Simon on 14th November 2019 in News

Salford is busy marking Transgender Awareness Week.

Salford Youth Council organised a workshop for transgender awareness on Wednesday to teach children about what life is like as a trans person, the difficulties they face and how to use the correct pronouns when referring to them.

The city is also marking Transgender Day of Remembrance on Wednesday, November 20 which memorialises those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia. To support the event, Salford Pride is asking its followers to ‘go purple’ for the day.

Graham Rimmer, a team member from Salford Pride, said: “This can be done by using our specially made frame on Facebook or by wearing purple to work. It is so important that we remember our Trans siblings who have lost their lives for just being themselves.”

Salford Pride is one of the largest organisations in Salford for LGBT support and awareness. First founded in 2011, it organises an annual Pink Picnic every summer. In June 2020, the event will return to Peel Park. The team also organises smaller fundraising, awareness and educational projects throughout the year.

From the start of this year, Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership has been jointly working with NHS England to build a new model of health care for transgender and non-binary people.

But there is still no specialist gender clinic in Salford for individuals with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

NHS England wants to explore alternative models that may offer better opportunity for increasing clinical capacity across the country which would reduce waiting times, address geographical inequality and improve the patient experience.

A proposal for a two-year pilot service has been subject to full agreement by NHS England since January 2019.

According to the Government Equalities Office, there are approximately 200,000-500,000 trans people in the UK.

In a Stonewall survey, 41 per cent of trans men and trans women said they had experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months.

Below, you can find a map of support groups in the Manchester and Salford area.

Salford University’s LGBTQ Society provides support for its non-binary students by creating a safe, fun and informal environment to meet like-minded people. It also hosts LGBT events throughout the year for its members.

To raise awareness of drag culture and money for Mind, a mental health and well-being charity, the society is hosting a Salford drag race on December 12 among many other future events.

David Poucher, the events coordinator for the society, said: “We’re doing a poetry night in the student union bar and it’s just about us all coming together, expressing who we are and making sure everyone feels welcome.”