Our reflections from a summer of Pride

As part of the Trans Aware Cancer Care project, our team have attended a full calendar of Pride events across the South Coast this summer. Having already provided workshops and an online chat to hear views and experiences, the team felt that reaching out to the trans+ community at Pride was a natural next step. The events have been full of fun, connection and celebration, but also a fantastic opportunity to speak to the trans+ community about the research and work we are currently doing to improve access to healthcare.

Our stall provided an art based activity to create a square to tell personal stories, experiences and reflections of healthcare from trans+ individuals and allies, which will help to inform trans aware cancer care.

Below, the team reflect on their experiences of Pride and what it meant to them…

Katie Munday, Community Researcher

The Pride events were great as there were so many people to talk to and connect with – trans and queer people who want and deserve better care, allies showing support, groups and organisations who are doing the work to make trans and queer lives happier, safer and healthier. I have had the privilege to be a part of these intimate conversations over the course of Trans Aware Cancer Care and they felt just a little more special in a field in a blowy gazebo.

Being around other trans and queer people feels like family, it feels like I belong. There is an understanding there that I have yet to find outside of queer spaces – especially when we share our stories of trying to access healthcare. There are so many things that do not need to be explained or overtold, there are similarities in my experiences to the ones graciously shared with me and there is also lots of laughter, joy, validation and love to have in these conversations and spaces too.

When the parade came in at Isle of Wight Pride I was really pleased to see all these rainbow-clad people grinning from ear to ear. I was super keen to talk to people, but people need to breathe first. What I’ve learnt along the way with TACC is that transitions are not just important for neurodivergent people like me, they are important for everyone. People need to understand expectations, the risks as well as rewards of joining in, or even starting a conversation. This is why we’ve always maintained a very relaxed feel to what we do. If people want to come round once, twice, three times before the join in – great! If they want to start straight away – we love that enthusiasm! If they have a conversation or look at our stall and feel it’s not right for them – we’re glad you came to have a look.

The real work of being with one another, sharing stories, and making art often happens right after quiet contemplation – there’s no rushing that because that is where the magic happens. Trans+ people don’t get asked our opinions often, and we are not often listened to when we do. There are not many spaces for us to use the language and expression we need to make our stories true. We often have to tone down our upset and frustration, and our joy and passions are often misunderstood, but in a little gazebo at Pride we shared a profound moment of understanding – what we need and want matters, we matter.

Zak H, Community Researcher

Pride in the Park (Southampton, 8-9^th June) The one with all the dogs!

Pros:

• The most dogs (all of the Prides had dogs, but Pride in the Park had SO many, including puppies)
• Much more grassroots than the other Prides
• Lots of trans+ people
• Lots of interest in the project
• A functional “quiet zone” in the far corner

Cons:

• Lots of ambient noise which made it hard to chat
• We didn’t have a table/workshop set up
• The leaflet/site gave no way for people to talk to us

Pride in the Park was a really fun (albeit exhausting) experience! I really regret the lack of workshop and the website not being ready in time, meaning we got no participants from this event despite my talking to so many trans+ people that we ran out of leaflets.

Still, it did give me chance to practice my project pitch, get used to talking to stall owners as well as the public, and confirmed that rushing around talking to strangers is something I enjoy doing at Prides.

Bourne Free (Bournemouth, 6^th July) The one with the wild weather!

Pros:

• More trans-masc visibility than other Prides
• Surprisingly easy to talk over the music, even near the secondary stage
• Free iced coffee being handed out
• The food stall without the queue was really nice

Cons:

• Difficult to get to (not very close to the station), might explain why it felt a little sparse compared to some other Prides

This was the first Pride we had a workshop at, which I hadn’t been sure would work given how noisy the previous Pride was, but Bourne Free was much better on ambient noise and the workshop was a big success!

I’d also been worried that having a workshop would mean I’d be trapped at the table, but it turned out that me running around talking to strangers paired well with getting people over, and the rest of the team focused on that side, which worked smoothly. It was fun to pop back and see the active participants, get shown some of the new contributions, or hear from the rest of the TACC team how it was going.

The weather was very changeable, including hot sun, cloudy with cold winds and, at one point, a sudden, aggressive downpour, which actually worked well as I got to talk to people as we sheltered.

Overall, a very positive experience!

Isle of Wight Pride (20^th July) The one with all the travelling!

Pros:

• A really great atmosphere
• Pretty much all the Pride stuff I wanted was outside the ticketed area
• Lots of engagement

Cons:

• A lot of travel to get there (train and ferry)
• Trip back was a pain

This Pride is probably the one that most felt like a LGBT+ community event, just a little bit more “out and proud (and here to be around others)” than the rest. I got to see a little more of the magic of the workshop table here, with Katie in particular having a knack for creating a welcoming, creative space (every time I saw them invite someone to sit down, the participant did so and got involved).

This would be the one I most wanted to revisit were it not for the faff of getting there.

New Forest Pride (Lymington, 27^th July) The one with the cake!

Pros:

• Pleasant walk from the station
• I really liked the stalls here, such as The Gay Glass Stall and One Planet Bakery
• I liked the music, too (techno folk songs!)

Cons:

• Quite small compared to the other Prides
• Not many trans+ people
• I dropped my credit card and, though I almost got it straight back, the security guard made me say my deadname to claim it

This was a smaller, more relaxed event, and probably is a Pride I’ll return to even if work doesn’t need me to (it was a nice journey even with missing a train, and I feel I could have a pleasant time around Lymington if I ran out of things to do at the Pride).

While we didn’t have as many trans+ people, the allies (often cis gay people) stepped up and wanted to take part, which was great to see (they may not be surrounded by trans+ people, but they’re active allies regardless).

We also had our oldest participant (a trans woman over 70) here: I found her and her friends by the food stalls and spent a while talking to her and hearing her different perspective (she spent too much of her life living a lie and doesn’t have the time to wait for the NHS to catch up). I know she was a participant and I look forward to reading her contribution.

As this was the quietest event, I feel it’s the one where the TACC team and Beyond Reflections got the most time to hang out, which was also nice! The support of Beyond Reflections has been something we can rely upon.

Southampton Pride (24-25^th August) The one with all the things!

Pros:

• More activities than the other Prides, e.g. taking part in one of the various arty workshops or throwing sponges at topless rugby players (the Wessex Wyverns)
• Pride in the Park may have had all the dogs, but Southampton Pride on Saturday had a pack of Puppy Play fans with their dog masks!
• Some impressive singers on the main stage and some really fun acts on the secondary stage

Cons:

• Not as many trans+ people as Pride in the Park
• I found it a little awkward seeing people I knew
• Not many nice places to sit down apart from by the secondary stage
• Clearly much more corporate than Pride in the Park

I wasn’t feeling very well in August, but I was determined to make it to TACC’s last Pride day, which ended up being two days! I don’t regret it, though, as we did get nearly 20 new contributions from it, including someone who saw us on the Saturday and came back on Sunday to find us and take part.

It was a solid ending to TACC’s Prides!

In conclusion, it was really nice to have a reason to visit so many Prides, plus have a reason to go and strike up conversations with people there. The workshops have been a definite success and I think we’ve made a lot of important contacts for moving forward.

Kate, PIER Officer at Bournemouth University

Being part of Pride events across Wessex has been a fabulous aspect of this project. Sharing a stand with Beyond Reflections and being in a place where trans+ people are likely to be and feel relatively comfortable being, has meant that we have captured so many more stories and squares. Participants seemed genuinely excited about contributing to the project. The project has benefitted hugely from adding Prides as workshop venues. 

You can find out more about the Trans Aware Cancer Care project here.