Why should the charity sector take a stand with trans people, and why now? Melissa Moody finds out.
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If you’ve been present on charity Twitter (or is it now X?) over the last few months then you’ve likely spied the I Stand With Trans hashtag, which was even trending for two days in the week of its launch. As of the time of writing, over 200 charity leaders have signed a pledge to stand with trans people. But why now?

“Trans rights, trans inclusion is one of the most important social justice issues of our time,” states Kevin Taylor-McKnight, founder and campaigner of Charity So Straight, the movement who launched the campaign.

“We’ve reached a point in society where transphobia is off the scale and it can’t continue in the same way. The trajectory that we’re travelling in is just so harmful,” he says.
It’s a movement that’s been fuelled by political parties and mainstream media, one that is very well funded and organised, the likes of which are often seen in the US and appear to be moving across the pond.

“It’s terrifying for trans people and many, many trans people are thinking of leaving the UK, those who can afford to, and of course many people aren’t in that position…that’s terrifying. I’m a cisgender gay man, not a trans person but from the perspective of a member of the queer community I’ve never seen the amount of hate we’re seeing now against gay businesses, pride events and festivals. We’re seeing flags being burned on the streets, we’re seeing shops which are LGBTQ+ inclusive have criminal damage committed to them week after week repeatedly.

“That is terrifying for many of us in the wider queer community and that is the reason for speaking out right now… we’ve reached a point in time where it’s not sustainable to continue in the way we are.”

#StandWithTrans

The campaign, run by only two people, aims to do a number of things, but it’s primary focus is to encourage charity leaders to start to have the conversation within their charities and the wider sector about trans rights and inclusion.

“What would we be as a sector if we accept the continuation of the backsliding of people’s human rights? The campaign is about asking charity leaders to draw a line and to say enough is enough, we won’t tolerate transphobia in our sector,” states Taylor-McKnight.
The campaign has got off to an astonishing start. In the first two weeks, 180 charities signed the pledge, including sector umbrella body the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

Sarah Vibert, the organisation’s CEO, has been a supporter since the campaign’s beginning. “At NCVO, we believe the voluntary sector should be a safe and welcoming place for everyone – including trans people – whether that’s through working or volunteering for organisations, or through accessing services that provide them with crucial help and support. Celebrating, embracing and advocating for diversity can only help grow and develop our society, and by seeking to learn and better understand each other we can help everyone find the belonging they deserve.

“Many charities are doing considered and important work in support of trans-inclusion but are also being heavily criticised when they publicly demonstrate trans allyship. NCVO is proud to be a trans-inclusive organisation and employer, and we believe we can play an important role in facilitating learning and sharing on trans-inclusion across the voluntary sector, alongside our partners in the LGTBQ+ subsector.”

But the pledge is only the like the first step in a programme of steps that people can take to work on the themes of trans inclusion,” says Taylor-McKnight.

Charity So Straight hopes to be able to deliver a pilot programme over the next 12 months, which will support leaders to engage in conversation, support them in a safe place and enable them to meet and work with trans and gender diverse people.

“Ultimately I think part of the programme would be a reverse mentoring scheme, where people can be partnered with a trans person to really help those CEOs who want to engage with trans inclusion in a really deep and meaningful way,” Taylor-McKnight explains.

The troll army

The downside with launching something like the #StandWithTrans campaign on a platform like Twitter is the responses. Some charities have received hate simply for signing the pledge and publicising that.

“They’ve come back to us saying ‘well this reinforces why this is so necessary… what we’re seeing online is just a tiny fraction of what we know trans people receive online and in real life every day… it’s worth it because the right of trans people and the right to exist and live in peace is greater than a couple of days of trolling online.”

Twitter is a double-edged sword. Within the first couple of days of launch, the hashtag was trending and individuals not necessarily associated with the sector began using it in both positive and negative ways. A leading figure in the transphobic movement retweeted the hashtag to her followers and attacked various signatories, encouraging the trolls to go after the campaign. In the end, the Charity So Straight account had to go private for 24 hours until it died down.

“That was an unanticipated outcome of the campaign,” TaylorMcKnight admits. “It wasn’t a surprise to us if we received transphobia but that wasn’t expected.” He was grateful, he says, that it was him managing the account and not one of their trans or nonbinary volunteers.
But the vocal support from the community and some leading charities has eclipsed the hate.
Great Ormond Street Charity CEO, Louise Parkes has been a vocal supporter of the campaign. “GOSH Charity strives to be an inclusive organisation for our trans, non-binary, and gender diverse colleagues where they feel valued and safe. We are committed to ensuring everyone feels like they are represented and belong in our society so that we can build a fairer future for all. I want the trans community to know that GOSH charity unequivocally stands with them and that we will continue to do everything we can to help create a world where they can be free to be themselves.”

Steaming forward

But there’s a lot of work that goes into a campaign like this and that work isn’t over. Taylor-McKnight works as close as possible with trans, gender diverse and non-binary people to inform and deliver the campaign with the first port of call being Charity So Straight’s Slack community. Beyond that, he’s spoken to “a significant number” of people from trans-led organisations and campaign groups to help inform thinking, writing content, designing graphics and more for the campaign and beyond.

So what is next for the campaign? The pledge is still open for signatories and a recent webinar facilitating conversations between CEOs and the trans community was hailed a success, but as many organisations will know, funding continues to be a significant issue.
“We will only deliver more work in this specific area if there’s an appetite from CEOs to do it, and if we get funding to enable us to do it as well.”

It’s undeniable that there’s still a lot of work to be done to support, increase the knowledge and awareness of trans inclusion. “We’ve got lots of good ideas, good plans for the future but we do need the support net.” Meaningful action and change within the sector is the ultimate goal, and the aim is for every charity to pledge to enact on change. But for now, Taylor-McKnight believes, igniting a simple conversation is a good starting point.

Sign the pledge now at: https://charitysostraight.org.uk/

Graphics by: Claudia Baldaccino

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