For the past several years, trans rights advocacy across Northern Ireland has developed enormously. The efforts by many across the community of trans people and their families have been tireless and passionate, and successful in many ways. Trans advocacy work in Northern Ireland has spread to international human rights work, direct work with health services, provision of direct health supports to trans young people and a massive increase of work in schools, colleges and universities. All this means that the work we’re doing has expanded greatly, giving us greater capacity to plan strategically how to work together to make the sector more sustainable, streamlined and fit for future purpose and growth.
Today we’re announcing the launch of a new organisation, TransgenderNI, that will take forward the advocacy, sector development, venues management, professional training, international human rights and capacity building projects for our new emerging sector. TransgenderNI has been established as a non-profit company limited by guarantee, meaning that all its profits will be invested back into community services, development and support. The organisation will now be responsible for the Belfast Trans Resource Centre, for strategic trans policy work with local, regional, national and international bodies, for resource development and capacity building, and for strategic service development across Northern Ireland. We will work closely with the long-established trans and family support organisations to reinforce their ongoing work to support trans people and their families, and championing their issues at strategic level to effect lasting change.
We would like to thank SAIL NI and GenderJam NI for the incredible work by their families, individuals and volunteers thus far. Thanks to SAIL NI, Northern Ireland has some of the best gender family support services in Europe; through passionate activism by GenderJam NI, the situation for trans young people in the region has moved forward significantly; and thanks to the combined effort of many volunteers working together across organisations, and strategic leadership, resourcing and financial support from SAIL NI, Belfast has the first trans community resource centre anywhere in the UK & Ireland, which continues to thrive and grow.
TransgenderNI has established partnership relationships with SAIL NI and GenderJam and will continue to work with these organisations and other sector groups to ensure that all its work is based in up-to-date and representative community experiences, is evidence based, and is in line with the community’s needs and priorities. SAIL NI will continue to be the family support organisation for families of trans and questioning people in Northern Ireland, and will continue to lead on issues for families and young children by providing resources and building comprehensive family support services. GenderJam NI will continue to be the trans young people’s charity for Northern Ireland, and will continue to lead on issues for trans youth, focusing on their expertise of directly supporting more vulnerable trans young people.
We’ve already seen such wonderful changes across NI trans advocacy and family support across the past few years. This is what we now need to do to excel further and move to the next level.
Thank you for your continued support for trans rights in Northern Ireland.
[one_third]
Ellen Murray
Executive Director, TransgenderNI[/one_third][one_third]
Nicola Doran
Director, SAIL NI[/one_third][one_third_last]
Jack Freeman
Chairperson, GenderJam NI[/one_third_last]