Transgender Awareness Week: ‘Trans awareness matters – now more than ever’

Posted by Liam Chivers in Blog 2 min read

As the Access and Inclusion Officer for Shelter Cymru, it’s my job to make our services more inclusive and accessible for people with protected characteristics. I believe that to do this effectively, it’s not enough just to come up with ideas. You have to be passionate about inclusion, have real care and understanding for people with protected characteristics and be a real ally to everyone who wishes to celebrate their identity traits that help make Wales so diverse.

From 13 to 19 November, people who are transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming, as well as allies of the LGBTQ+ community, will be able to celebrate and raise awareness as part of Transgender Awareness Week. The intention is to shine a positive light on transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people and elevate their visibility within our society. This brings an excellent chance for us all to develop greater knowledge and understanding of people’s transition journey, issues and barriers and how we can all become better advocates for transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people. Without knowledge and understanding, it is very difficult to make our society, and the services that exist within our society, more inclusive and accessible. Speaking as a service provider, it is important to be able to relate to the issues and barriers people face in order to offer effective solutions and provide advice, guidance and support.

It’s fair to say transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming awareness has been an important factor of the services we offer at Shelter Cymru. Firstly, we have housing advice pages that are specific to the LGBTQ+ community on our website. These also offer guidance on how to deal with harassment from your landlord (and others) and emergency housing information in the event of a relationship breakdown with family, friends or your partner. We will also be adding a hate crime section to this guidance in the near future.

Another area where Shelter Cymru has been involved has been attending the inaugural Wrexham Pride event in 2024 and again this year, led by our Fundraising team. It has been a fantastic experience getting out into the community, meeting people in person and learning about their housing needs and issues. Finally, I am also in the early stages of building links with Galop, an LGBTQ+ anti-abuse and victim advocacy charity, with a view to collaborating on a new project together.

As an ally of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, Shelter Cymru will continue to offer support, advice and guidance to everyone who is seeking a safe, secure and happy home. In the meantime, I hope Transgender Awareness Week continues to raise awareness and I look forward to delivering more work that helps anyone that needs it.