Episode 47
A conversation with Helen Belcher
WOMAN WITH A TRANS HISTORY
55 min. Recorded on 25 May 2021.
Helen’s pronouns are she/her, and she is a woman with a trans history. Find out what that means to Helen in this episode.
We also talk about the different faces of conversion therapy, losing your religion, being publicly trans in politics, systemic transphobia and holding the media accountable, how the bathroom argument is really about gender apartheid, voting for what we want rather than against what we don’t want, and how knowing the direction is more important than knowing the destination on the journey towards being more of yourself.
“Being trans is not a walk in the park.”
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TRANSCRIPT [expand to read] – COMING SOON
About Helen
Helen has been working to promote trans inclusion for more than a decade. In 2009 she helped incorporate Trans Media Watch, a charity which works with the UK media to ensure trans and intersex issues are reported with accuracy, dignity and respect. She gave the charity’s evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into Press Standards and Ethics in 2012, and has given evidence to two parliamentary inquiries since then. She was the Lib Dem candidate in the party’s target seat of Chippenham in the last two general elections, and works with a number of MPs and peers. She is currently the chair of TransActual, a community interest company providing insight into trans people’s lives and the issues they face. She lives in Corsham, where she is a town and county councillor, with her wife of more than 25 years. She used to be a computer software entrepreneur and enjoyed singing in choirs.
You can find Helen on Twitter @HelenCBelcher.
What we discussed & useful links
- Trans Media Watch – a charity dedicated to improving media coverage of trans and intersex issues
- TransActual – working to improve trans people’s experiences of healthcare, legal recognition & protections for trans people, and improved media representation of trans people and an end to press transphobia
- Stonewall – a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity
- Mermaids – supporting transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families since 1995
- Gendered Intelligence – a charity that exists to increase understandings of gender diversity and improve trans people’s quality of life
- Spoon theory