Six ways lockdown is making the lives of trans people in Cambridge harder – Cambridgeshire Live

Its Pride Month, but a very different one to those seen in previous years. Rainbow flags can still be spotted in windows, but Cambridge Pride and Peterborough Pride have of course been cancelled due to coronavirus.

And though these events are among hundreds that have had to be cancelled over the lockdown period, the loss of these celebrations has been keenly felt by the LGBTQ+ community in Cambridgeshire.

An exciting opportunity to be among friends and chosen family, celebrating the challenges overcome and progress made, this year many will instead be isolated from the very community they call home.

Loneliness has been shown to cause physical and mental health problems, and for LGBTQ+ people who may have been rejected by their own family, this can leave them with nowhere to go for support.

There have been reports of higher distress calls received throughout lockdown across the nation, including at the Cambridgeshire LGBTQ+ youth charity the Kite Trust. As LGBTQ+ people suffer from higher rates of mental ill-health than the general population according to Stonewall, social isolation will have hit the community hard.

The BBC at the start of lockdown reported that many LGBTQ+ peopler were stuck at home with homophobic family members. As we near the end of month three of these living conditions, Cambridgeshire Live reached out to the Cambridge's transgender community to learn about their unique experience of lockdown.

Those who are undergoing a medical transition, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or are booked for gender transition surgery, have seen appointment delays and treatment cancellations since lockdown, some reportedly being unable to access their hormone prescription according to LGBT Consortium. This can lead to the dangerous use of black-market hormones.

Those who choose to medically transition engage with these treatments to ease the debilitating symptoms of gender dysphoria, which according to the NHS is a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity [which] may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life.

This may be targeted at reproductive organs or genitalia which are out of place with the persons gender identity and expression. Some use short-term solutions to relieve dysphoria, such as chest binding, however long term use of chest binders can lead to physical damage.

Therefore delays to upcoming surgery or a lack of HRT can have huge negative impacts on transgender peoples mental and physical health.

Gem Taylor is one of the organisers of the Diamonds. Gem, 52, said for her group the lockdown has been difficult: For many people who are starting their journey [into their trans identity], it is incredibly difficult living 24 hours a day with family who are not aware.

However this isnt just an issue for young people. For those who are older or who are parents to young children and not open about their trans identity, the conditions at home can be unbearable.

Gem said two or three of her group, who didnt wish to be identified, are living under these conditions: They may have an agreement to experiment away from home, or only when the children are away, but those outlets are no longer available. The realistic chance of being confronted when out walking denies them of any chance of expression. For some, the risk of exposure also means they can't or won't join us on video.

The Zoom calls Gem has tried to convene, while having helped, have not been able to replace the group's regular social gatherings.

Using the correct pronouns when referring to a transgender person gives an increased sense of wellbeing and validity in their identity. An American study found that 41 per cent of transgender individuals reported attempting suicide at some point in their lives, compared to 4.6 per cent of the general population. But contexts in which a transgender person's chosen name was used saw a 56 per cent reduction in suicidal behaviour.

Cici Carey-Stuart is the Project Officer for Cambridges LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Encompass Network and is currently stuck at xir parents home in Hastings.

Having gone home for a week to visit xir parents on March 16th, xe found ximself unable to return to Cambridge where xe lives and works. Cici is transgender and non-binary, meaning xir gender fits outside of any binary gender i.e. male or female. Xe therefore uses the gender-neutral singular pronouns xe/xir.

On Trans visibility day on March 31 xe posted on Facebook about life in a town where no one knows xe is trans:

Trans life is...odd in isolation. I can dress up (except I left all my cravats at home which is a devastating blow to my gender presentation, obviously), I can put a pronoun badge on, I can talk about gender on the internet but... No one ever sees me. No one validates my gender because no one even has the option of invalidating my gender.

Xir hometown of Hastings has never known Cici as xir true gender identity. Xe said about xir neighbours: "They knew me as a kid, but I'm a different person to them now. No one here is going to gender me correctly."

Xir parents are for the most part accepting of xir and the clothes xe wears. However they dont use Cicis correct pronouns, and Cici pointed out its odd to have no one around who truly sees xir.

Xe said: I kind of thought that not being gendered at all is as validating, but theres no one here, no ones acknowledged my gender for a long time.

For Gem who lives by herself, shes not subject to these family or pronoun issues. However it doesnt mean shes not impacted by being unable to see anyone she knows: Even if you do have the freedom, its not the same if you have nowhere to go.

For Cici, the only way xe gets gendered correctly is online: "Chatting to friends, messaging, phone and video calls, and online communities are huge positives during lockdown. I have rants to them, or tell them I when I feel good about my gender that day. I still go to the trans and non-binary virtual coffee hosted by the Cambridge community every two weeks. It's nice to know that theres still a purely trans space."

Cici's job means xe knows the main issues going on for the LGBTQ+ community in Cambridge: "It's loneliness. A lot of people live alone, or had to go back to their families and are now in worse situations than me." According to Stonewall, almost a quarter of young people at risk of homelessness are LGBT, usually because their families reject them.

To combat this, Cici said: "I try and provide spaces for interactions during this time because not everyone has someone to call. [An older LGBTQ+ woman] on the Encompass committee lives alone, and isn't able to connect to Zoom for the meetings."

Cici is still in Hastings and is therefore stuck, as many of us may have experienced during the start of lockdown, with a singular bag of clothes to wear.

The only clothes available to xir apart from this bag are ballgowns xe left at xir parents house from xir childhood. While this is a mild inconvenience for some, for Cici and other transgender people, they rely on their clothing to inform others about their gender identity, but also to give themselves confidence and validity in their own gender.

This has meant some days when shirts and xir one tie is available, Cici feels ok. However other days xe can be close to breakdown.

Cici said: My clothes were an important part of how I show to myself my pride in my gender. Its not about showing it to anyone else, it's for me.

Cici then suffered a breakdown shortly after the announcement by MP Liz Truss, the Minister for Women and Equalities, in April ,of the governments long-awaited response to a consultation on reform for transgender rights legislation.

The concern many LGBTQ+ groups across the UK had was in response to her statement in which she said she wanted to protect under-18s "from decisions that they could make that are irreversible in the future - thereby suggesting such access to treatment could be limited in the future.

Cicis breakdown was a reaction to xir living situation, Truss's announcement which felt like an attack, and xir isolation, which is only temporarily relieved by going online to speak to friends. On Trusss statement, Cici said:

It made me feel scared. The fear is for trans kids now and trans kids in the future. Those who are being abused and not able to access services, and the fear that [the government] could do this to us, that we could regress when we've had so much progression recently.

Truss also announced that the review would preserve the protection of single-sex spaces to which only women have access. In response to that Cici said:

If [the government] starts gender policing bathrooms Im never going to the toilet in public again. I dont have the energy to campaign against a transphobic government right now, Im already fighting with social isolation for our whole community.

You don't have to wait for an event to get connected. The communities are here for you:

Cambridge LGBTQ+ Meetup - for online (and eventually in person) events

QTI Coalition of Colour- for people of colour

QWiC- for women and non-binary people

SisterAct - for women who like women

Ace-Spec, Aro-Spec and Questioning Folk - for people on the asexual and aromantic spectrum

The Kite Trust- for youth groups and practical support for LGBTQ+ under 25s

CUSU LGBT + - for Cambridge University students

LGBT Mature- for the over 50's looking for company and support. Meetings are 2pm every Tuesday on Zoom

To learn about ways to feel proud during a pandemic Pride month go to our round-up of virtual and socially-distant ways to celebrate.

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Six ways lockdown is making the lives of trans people in Cambridge harder - Cambridgeshire Live