Hi. I'm a trans teenager living in the UK. Over the last decade, I've realised how horribly this country treats transgender people - particularly those under 18. It frankly disgusts me that I and a couple of my friends consistently have issues with staff at school, and how they treat us on the basis of gender, despite it being a protected characteristic.

It just got so bad one day that it pissed me off beyond forgiveness.

So what can we do about it?

I am still researching and gaining a proper understanding myself, but currently, by non-statutory law, schools are under no obligation to support a child’s social transition. They are told to be “cautious”. It is very difficult to safely socially transition in this environment, and SOME staff (especially primary school) are in a difficult position where if they do support "too much", they could risk their job for not following government guidance.

This also means staff who are extremely unsupportive don’t get held accountable. Teachers are in a more accustomed position to hush a child about their trans identity. I speak from experience. Throughout my primary school experience, I was severely bullied and quite isolated. The staff did nothing - in fact, they told me to stay quiet because other parents didn’t want their children to know about other gender identities. It was scarily comparable to conversion therapy and it left me very suicidal through my younger years.

If I didn’t have issues through secondary too, I probably wouldn’t be fighting this fight now. Teachers can discriminate and then find loopholes by acting like it wasn't with intention to offend the child, even if they are the child's form tutor and know that child very well. It isn't illegal, so nothing can be done and the child is apparently in the wrong.

Point is, they absolutely WILL take law over morals and respect, and they absolutely WILL use it to their advantage where possible. And right now, legislation is biased.

Ultimately, being trans is not a choice. Support is crucial, especially for younger children, because the period in which a young child or teenager realises that they are trans is often a very pivotal point in their life. It’s usually around puberty (obviously some much later, some earlier).

They experience several things through this.

-Their mood changes. Their emotional experiences are typically stronger and mood swings are much more common. This exaggerates any negative experience they may come about.

-Their body changes. Now, this is daunting in itself, but as a trans, your body is changing in a way that feels completely alien and opposite to who you feel you are. It can be confusing as children won’t always understand this is what it is until later, while others will know on an instant that something doesn’t match up.

-Their social environment changes. They are expected to comply with a gender binary, which if they don’t feel that they can adhere to (due to either dysphoria or incongruence), it can cause a lot of mental conflict.

And this is often the bare minimum a trans will experience, without the extra pressure placed on top from bullying, mistreatment, lack of support, isolation and neglect. Without all the pressure to detransition and all of the internal conflict it can cause...

Mermaids is a really lovely charity, they have helped me personally via their web chat helplines (which part of these funds will go to). They do beautiful things and they support the trans youth of the UK. They also have a group for 16+ youths, MANGO, based on politically advocating for transgender rights.

I'm choosing to fundraise for this charity because specifically the children who go through the worst aspects of being trans are NOT recognised. People are uneducated about it, so they receive harsh, adverse reactions and social pressures that most trans folk can say they've experienced. However, they are also developing at this time, so this has a stronger impact on them throughout their life.

It is not an easy thing to endure. This must stop.

Stand with me and please donate. Thank you.