Working in partnership to deliver transgender workshop

The aim of the workshop was to inform people to support trans employees and students.

The day featured three outstanding speakers:

• Bernard Reed and Terry Reed (pictured above centre and right) who helped their trans daughter win a landmark sex discrimination case in 1997 and, with a group of trans activists, established the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES)
   
• Larna Gallier (pictured above left), an experienced trainer in trans issues, who has worked in the public, private and voluntary sectors, including the police, the NHS, universities, schools, commercial companies and LGBT groups

Terry, Bernard and Lana presented enlightening sessions entitled Preparing to support trans staff and students and Practical examples of good practice, providing delegates with plenty of informal interactive case studies as well as informative question and answer sessions.

"We hope to make staff and students, whether trans or not, more confident in their interactions, so that a truly inclusive culture develops, in which everyone is equal and values," explains Terry. "We hope that workshop attendees will become champions and allies of trans people, and encourage others to become allies, so that gender diverse people can take their proper place in the culture of the University. We hope that all students will carry forward what they have learnt at LJMU into their post university lives. It will make them better citizens, and create a better society for everyone."

After sharing lunch and chatting with delegates, the three facilitators offered confidential 1:1 sessions where delegates could talk privately about trans matters.

"It was great to see a cross section of staff, academics and non-academics, and students at this event. It was particularly encouraging that staff, students and managers were all keen to explore the context for trans identities, sex and gender equality and to increase the skills and confidence needed to support colleagues and address any form of discrimination," adds Moni Akinsanya, LJMU Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager. "Feedback from the workshop was extremely positive, with several requests for another workshop of this type to be scheduled."

About Bernard and Terry Reed

Bernard Reed OBE, MA, MBA and Terry Reed OBE, JP, BA (Hons), MCSP, SRP, Grad. Dip. Phys. are both members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and present papers at professional conferences internationally. They received WPATH’s 2016 Education Award. Terry has co-authored articles in peer reviewed journals, recently including The Lancet. She is a member of the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity. She served on the Royal College of Psychiatrists Intercollegiate Committee on treating gender dysphoria. They served respectively on the NHS England Clinical Reference Groups that develop the specifications for gender identity services for young people and adults and have contributed to the new Prison Service Instruction on caring for transgender people. They were each awarded the OBE in 2010 in recognition of their services to the charity.

About Larna Gallier

Larna has developed training materials, for instance relating to transphobic hate crime for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, to be used in upskilling staff and managers. Larna has also supported many people, in individual and group settings, who are dealing with personal trans issues. Larna’s own lived experience as a trans person has given her a deep insight into the needs of this community.  She is an excellent role model who can inspire other trans people to be successful.

About GIRES

GIRES has won an international award for education from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and provides 50 training events a year on trans awareness in a range of organisations. Schools, further and higher education are the considered the most important as they are the key to ensuring that the myths around gender diversity are dispelled in society, so that the next generation does not suffer the discrimination inflicted on previous generations of gender diverse people.