Wednesday 01-04-2020 - 10:28

Ben Hodge, your Trans* Officer for 2019 – 2021, has helped us in creating a list of 10 influential Trans* activists and trailblazers over the past 50 years. All of these people have made dramatic changes in the Trans* movements, elevated *Trans voices and/or created space for the *Trans community to be acknowledged in modern society.

Kate O’Donnell:

Our resident Mancunian Trailblazer. Kate is the founder and director of Trans Creative and Trans Vegas situated in the heart of Manchester. Kate is well known around Manchester as an actor and is recognised by many organisations for her activism and campaigning for Trans* spaces in the arts. In her own words about Trans Creative: Trans Creative was launched into the world in 2017. Since then, transgender politics has rarely been out of the news, often meaning one step forward and two steps back for the trans community. We are seen but not heard. We make headlines but we don’t get to write the copy. Trans Creative has been countering media negativity through our mission to “tell our own stories”, which is important now more than ever.

Charlie Craggs:

Charlie is a young, Trans* activist and the founder of Nail Transphobia, an organisation set out to address misconceptions involved in the Trans* community, educate and develop allies whilst giving killer manicures at the same time. As a result, Charlie made it onto the Independent’s Rainbow List 2015, coming 40th out of 101 influential LGBTQ+ people in the UK. She is a published author, creating her first book in 2017 titled ‘To My Trans Sisters’, a collection of letters from successful Trans* women across the world. Sabah Choudrey: Sabah co-founded Trans Pride Brighton in 2013, winner of the Best Trans Event in Brighton (2014, 2015) and nominated for Best Trans Event at the National Diversity Awards (2016). They have worked with queer, trans and non-binary youth since 2014 with Allsorts Youth Project, Metro Charity and Gendered Intelligence from Brighton to London, and formed networks for BAME LGBTQ Youth Workers and Youth across the UK, including Colours Youth Network, bringing together LGBTQ BAME/POC young people from all over England.

Jamie Windust:

Jamie Windust is an award-winning LGBTQIA+ Editor in Chief, Freelance Writer, Public Speaker and Model. Their magazine FRUITCAKE was the 2018 winner at Graduate Fashion Week in London, and has been sold in countries all over the world, such as the UK, US, Germany, France, Spain and many more. Jamie is well known globally for advocating and speaking out for Trans*, non-binary and all LGBTQ+ rights; educating organisations and business’ as how to be better allies and support the Trans* movement.

Travis Alabanza:

Travis Alabanza is a performer, writer and theatre maker. In the last two years they have been noted by numerous publications, such as ARTSY, ID AND MOBO _AWARDS, as one of the most prominent emerging queer artistic voices, and also listed in OUT as an influential queer figure, appeared in campaigns with MAC X ASOS and performed across the country and internationally. Known for increasingly paving much of the UK conversation around trans politics, Alabanza has become a staple part of the London queer scene and further afield.

Sylvia Rivera:

Sylvia Ray Rivera, born in 1951, was one of the known pioneers of the gay rights movement in New York City. She was a figure in the fight for equality following the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Sylvia was a Latina American gay liberation and transgender rights activist, prominent as an activist and community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front. With close friend Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens, gay youth, and trans women. In May 2019, it was announced that LGBT rights activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera would be commemorated with a monument in New York's Greenwich Village, near the epicenter of the historic Stonewall riots. The monument was publicly announced on May 30, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and just in time for Pride month.

My Genderation:

My Genderation is a film project that celebrates trans lives and trans experiences. The project was founded by Fox Fisher and Lewis Hancox after appearing on the mainstream documentary My Transsexual Summer that aired on Channel 4 in 2011. Feeling frustrated that their experiences weren’t portrayed authentically, they started to create films about the trans people around them. They wanted to represent trans people authentically and without the voyeristic gaze of those that aren’t trans. It allows people to see more engaging, truthful and authentic representation of transgender people, and connect with them on a more human level. Since then My Genderation has produced over 100 films, including My Trans Story for Channel 4 and New Genderation for the BBC and campaigns for Stonewall UK, I want Prep Now, CliniQ and more. Their award-winning films are shown in film festivals across the world, and are widely used for educational purposes.

Jake and Hannah Graf: In 2013 Hannah came out as a transgender woman and became one of the highest ranking transgender soldiers within the British Army. As part of the Army LGBT Forum, she became the Army's Transgender Representative where she had responsibility to advise Senior Army commanders on transgender policy, educate the wider Defence and most importantly, mentor and support the Army's many transgender soldiers. Jake Graf is an international multi award winning director, writer and actor based in London known for his roles in ’The Danish Girl' and ‘Colette’, and for viral hit ‘Headspace’. Using his platform to give a voice to the trans male community, Jake is now widely considered to be one of the most visible trans men in the UK.

Laverne Cox: Most well known through her acting career in Orange Is The New Black, Laverne has been one of the most influential and public-facing Trans* rights activists in the past 10 years. Gaining fame from OITNB, she went on to platform the story line of Sophia in mainstream media by advocating for better support of Trans* teens and people in our society. Laverne was the first ever Trans* actor to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in any acting challenge. She was also the first ever openly Trans* person to be on the cover or Times magazine. Due to her fame and popularity, she has been successful in addressing specifically the challenges *Trans women of colour face.

Marsha P Johnson:

Marsha P Johnson is arguably the first LGBTQ+ activist. She was an outspoken activist for gay and Trans* rights, a prominent figure associated with the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and a founder member of the Gay Liberation Front. She was welcomed by famous artists such as Andy Warhol, portraited in his work and projected into the art scene. She was deemed a leader and ‘Mayor’ of Christopher Street, a particular road associated with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village. Marsha also acted a key activist in the early days of the AID pandemic.