Transgender Awareness Training Brentwood Council 21-23 June 2010

I have been running Trans awareness workshops for 2 years.

I would say that I wear 2 hats for this training, one as a LGBT Unison rep and the other as an equality trainer.

Previously I have done this as a voluntary trainer, with the expectation of my travelling and lunch costs covered however for this training I started to charge a small and reasonable fee as I do write my own material and aim it at the place where I will be training.

I also am developing my presentation style and also this also opens up another avenue for my own personal and career development.

I had been approached by a member of Brentwood Borough Councils (BBC) head of human resources (HR); she had been referred to me as I had a good reputation with my previous workshops (word of mouth really does help!).

What I have been focussing on in my workshops is the emotional journey of transition that transsexual men and women go through to achieve surgery, as I feel think that too many programmes on trans people focus on the surgery side , yet this is the easy part, social change is so much more harder.

I also talk about the “Tran’s umbrella” and different types of Trans men and women from Transvestites to gender queer to fetishes about a particular part of women’s clothes or underwear.

With my training as a counsellor I do use this to highlight my own insecurities as a child and how this drove me as a child, teenager, young adult, adult and if I had not gone through my own personal transition then on to old age and to the end of my natural life.

The reason I highlight this is about how society has changed, still needs to change and keeps trans people living in fear, as fear developed as a young child will never go away unless a light is hone into your own “inner child”.

Also the amount of suicide attempts both successful and unsuccessful amongst Tran’s people is high; I do disclose that I had tried this 3 times before I was the age of 19.

I use this as a link between “gender dysphonic” and “body dysphonic” and how self harming can be used to try to establish some type of control over a body in the physical sense betrays how you feel mentally and emotionally.

Also as “gender dysphonic” is a biological, mental and emotional condition, physical biology can play a cruel fate on Trans people especially Trans women and the lottery of what physical features you get from height to facial bone structure.

I am told I am feminine looking and indeed people on the course said that if they saw me in the street they would never know that I am trans, although this is nice to hear, I will ask if they would have the same issue if I was over six foot with some very obvious masculine features, this will then lead to a outline of what hormones cant and can do, and of what surgery can and can’t achieve.

I also outline about how I was at first like a “trans bambi” on wobbly nervous legs as I made my first steps into the world as a full time woman and how due to 3 years of hormones and self confidence can now live successfully as a woman.

I do outline that my experience is on the NHS, but do outline what is available if you have the funds as a private option.

I do also outline that some Trans people do not always help themselves.

This leads to a open discussion about peoples experiences with trans people and as I had people who interacted with the public on a face to face level or over the phone, this was useful to help with what could be perceived as awkward situations, pro noun slip ups, and how get a idea of what is going on in that person’s life., as after their 2 minute interaction with this person, what is going on with their life 24/7 after?.

I also added to this training module some slides abut Trans men (female to male transsexuals) and why it is easier for them to live in “stealth” and also the surgery procedures they have to go through and also about “chest binding”, so overall some good topics.

Workshops

The format of the workshops was six over three days with an AM session 9:30-12:30 and a PM session 12:30 – 16:30.

Out of a possible 90 places 76 where taken, so a good percentage.

I always keep to a group of no more then 15, as any bigger and intimacy with the group is lost, and 15 is a good number for group work.

The first day went well, with some good questions and also started to give me a feel of what was concerning the staff.

The main concern was using the right “terms” pro nouns, not to cause offense.

They had also come across a trans-woman whose legal documentation was still in her old male name, yet she was presenting herself as a woman,

I outlined about using general greeting terms like “how can I help you” without using a gender term like “sir” or “madam” and if a name needed to be taken this would help with what gender they preferred.

I also helped with “ a masculine voice, with a female name” this is where how hormones do not change voice pitch helped people, and also how trans-women are very self conscious about their voice, indeed I still am, although I am told it is not masculine.

Now with these types of workshops you will get a different mix of people as some have to come along as part of their work training, so you do not always get a willing audience! And although it is nice to train people who are already open minded, the fight needs to be brought to the unwilling.

Tuesday morning was one such time! Although there were no rude comments, the general feel was of “arms crossed” oh no political correctness stance.

When I come to the question and answer part, there was a great big silence; you could have heard the proverbial pin drop!

I felt like a comedian at the famous Scottish location that has become a graveyard to many an aspiring comic.

As it was a beautiful day, I went to sit out in the park, listen to Enya on my ipod and eat my sandwich.

Well if the AM session was my graveyard shift the afternoon session was one of the best I have run, the group where fantastic and so eager to learn, I did not even get to do the group work, as there was so many questions and I got to tell some more transition experiences.

One of the people on this session is a heavy smoker, yet after he told me that he had never known a session to go so fast and had not even fancied a ciggerrette!

So this ended the day on a high for me.

The morning of the last day also went very well and I feel that my training material was covering the relevant points.

I really did enjoy these workshops and I did feel tired on the Wednesday evening.

As a final note, Kim from HR told me that she had attended an equality bill meeting that covered a lot of borough councils and the second highest training request was for “trans awareness” and she mentioned my name! So more work could come my way.

Outline of course evaluation feedback

Any other comments

Open my eyes Very informative and interesting Good presentation workshops very useful Very informative and though provoking Well set out Felt it was a long course

Covered all areas Good coverage of all aspects Really enjoyed the session, it actually helped me better understand the issues faced by a person experiencing gender issues and going through transition Helpful Interesting to learn more about the subject very insightful

Good All covered

Good very good Good

Well explained and covered information Very Good

Good question and answer sessions Very good plenty of question and answers

Very good Very interesting, very open workshop, explanation very good from Lucy Speaking from her own experiences gave a better insight into the obstacles people go through Very good and personal Very down to earth and friendly Open, honest and approachable Could ask all questions Lucy was very willing to discuss personal experiences and answer all questions

N/A Perhaps an handout was needed

I now have a better understanding of transgender

Any Issues or concerns?

None
No issues or concerns, found it very helpful and gave me a better understanding
None
Not enough people are doing the course!
None for me the subject was fully covered, one of the better courses
Excellent really enjoyed it and learnt a lot, thank you
Managers need to attend!
I thought it was a very interesting course, covering a rarely discussed topic. I found it very informative.
No
None, Lucy had a fresh approach and was very, open, honest and approachable. Thank you
None
None
N/A
Very good information received and how to have a clear understanding of transgender which I will find helpful in my job working on reception
Very helpful on understanding, felt like we could ask any question we had.
No
n/a
Feel course was much too long, could have been condensed to say one hour