Enter... The Trans Dimension!

Geeks for Social Change are thrilled to to announce The Trans Dimension, an online community hub which will connect trans communities across the UK by collating news, events and services by and for trans people in one easy-to-reach place.

We’re developing it in collaboration with Gendered Intelligence, a trans-led national charity improving the lives of trans and non-binary people. Geeks for Social Change is a studio led by trans and disabled people, so this is a real dream collaboration and hopefully the first of many announcements we’re going to be making over the coming months.

It’s been funded by the Comic Relief Tech for Good “Build” fund, and builds on GFSC’s existing work on the PlaceCal initiative. Our pilot will focus on London, after which we will plan a UK-wide launch.

This graphic is a first look of the coming website, featuring illustration by the wonderful Harry Woodgate and logo from frequent GFSC collaborator Squid.

Why is this so important?

People who are trans, non-binary or gender diverse experience:

• Higher levels of social isolation, exclusion & loneliness
• Higher levels of discrimination, shame, abuse & violence
• Greater inequalities in health & wellbeing, especially mental health, and
• Less opportunity in terms of education, training & employment

As a result, 4 in 5 trans people experienced transphobic hate crime in 2020¹. Experiences like these can be a deterrent to finding crucial and life-saving support networks.

Right now, NHS waiting lists for trans healthcare are up to five years long, and there is more pressure than ever on mental health services. If we can support our users to build networks and reduce their social isolation, we hope we can build collective resilience and build a national network of trans-led and trans-friendly groups. Together, they can create safe spaces for trans people and battle the seemingly never-ending wave of transphobia sweeping the UK and the world.

What are the difficulties?

Whilst many organisations and trans community groups maintain their own social calendars, they’re not ‘owned’ by the wider community, nor are their listings as easily discoverable as they could be.

Right now, finding events means knowing where to look in the first place, and then going to each separate website to try to find something relevant to your interests. Facebook can be a good tool but fundamentally pits groups against each other for attention. It also increases the barriers to access if you’re not already well socially connected. There is also a high chance of being ‘outed’ by clicking Facebook links by accident which can be very off-putting for some.

Once you’ve found an event or group of interest, trans people need to carefully vet each event to determine whether it is safe. Even events listed as for the “LGBTQ+” community may not actually be trans-friendly.

If you’re trans and disabled, your work is even harder. Disabled people often have to email, call, or visit venues ahead of time due to a lack of public accessibility information.

These barriers prevent trans people from meeting each other and developing friendships, and in turn prevent us from building the strong, supportive trans communities we need.

How will we make a difference?

The Trans Dimension will be a shared, community-owned system which many providers can contribute to—removing the need for cross-checking. It will help people find trans-friendly events and build a wider sense of community. The Trans Dimension will enable even the smallest community groups to have an equal online presence & advertise events alongside larger groups.

We’ve worked with both GI staff and Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People to create a care-based guide to inclusion and accessibility for trans and disabled people and we’ll be sharing the results in the coming months.

Listings will be moderated centrally by a dedicated staff member at Gendered Intelligence, meaning listings will be relevant and up-to-date. Putting on events is hard and often thankless, and there’s very little support for you out there. We hope that we can use The Trans Dimension to support all these groups and create a network of people working together on trans liberation.

We hope that The Trans Dimension will help create a world where trans people of every age and ability can safely access the potentially life saving support of community networks, and where all trans people feel welcome.

To get notified when we launch, you can sign up for GFSC’s newsletter below, for just Trans Dimension updates on our hastily constructed holding page, or follow GFSC or Gendered Intelligence on social media!