Finding community during coronavirus
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
During the coronavirus pandemic, many of the in-person support groups for UK trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people have moved to online platforms like Zoom. If you’ve not been able to go to a local support group - maybe because you don’t have a local group, or haven’t been able to attend it - it’s a great time to try joining in from the comfort of your own home.
We contacted groups from across the UK, and many are really keen for people from outside of their local areas to join in. Each group has a unique community - why not try some of these and see which suits you?
Gendered Intelligence
The many youth groups run by Gendered Intelligence have moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic. They told us:
“We have people from across the UK joining our groups now. We are aiming to return service in-person from June onwards, but are looking to keep some online services running for exactly this reason that we’re now providing a service for people outside our local groups.”
Different groups cater for different age ranges, with some available to people as young as 11, while others are for people up to 20 or even older.
You can find out more about the groups on the Gendered Intelligence website.
Spectra London
Spectra London’s transgender and non-binary social groups are still running online due to the pandemic, and accept people from across the UK.
“When we took the groups online, we realised that there was a huge need across the UK for social groups as there is a lack of support due to groups either closing due to Covid19, or just a lack of support in rural areas… we recently updated our accessibility support so can now offer subtitles and audio description as needed.”
You can find out more about the groups on the Spectra London website.
Hastings & Rother Rainbow Alliance
Hastings & Rother Rainbow Alliance’s Trans Support Group meet on the second and last Wednesdays of the month on Zoom from 19pm to 21pm and are happy to welcome people attending from outside of the local area. To get access, email hrrat@hrra.org.uk - and you can find out more on the HRRA website.
Unique Transgender Network and TransForum Manchester
Unique together with TransForum are running two Support groups - Unique Transgender Network North Wales (Every Thursday evening 8-11pm) and TransForum Manchester (Every Saturday afternoon from 3.30-7.00 pm) as Zoom on-line meetings. These are open to anyone who is over 18 and is gender diverse, a family member or supporting a Trans person in all our groups. People have been attending from the rest of the UK outside of Wales, and even from outside of the UK. They are intending to incorporate Zoom in physical meetings when they are resumed.
“To all TransForum Manchester and Unique North Wales members, allies and friends and all Gender Diverse people.
Unique and TransForum have decided to combine their Zoom meetings, which are open to everyone, not just existing members of these groups. Meetings will continue on Thursday evenings between 8.00 pm (19.00 GMT) and 11.00 pm (22.00 GMT), and on Saturday afternoons between 3.30 pm (14.30 GMT) and 7.00 pm (18.00 GMT). Meeting start and end times will be adhered to as much as possible.
Why not drop in and join us, everyone is most welcome.”
You can join both meetings using this link - the details are Meeting ID: 775 8368 3876, Password: 130237.
There is also the offer of some one-to-one meetings on-line (by Zoom, Facebook Messenger or Skype). For more details please contact Kathy Dear: kathy@uniquetg.org.uk, Jenny-Anne jennyanne@btinternet.com, or phone on 01745-337144.
Other places to consider
If you’re under 25, you could try joining one of the three online communities run by Mermaids which are open to people from across the UK. There’s one for people aged 12-15, one for 16-17, and one for 18-25. You’ll need to complete the online application form on their page for Kids and Young People (look for the section saying Youth Community).
If you’re in Greater Manchester only, you can get in touch with Connect Manchester to join in on their Discord server. In Cambridgeshire only, you can joing in with online events run by Encompass Network, and if you like in Nottingham you can join Trans Space Notts online.
Is your group operating online and you’d like people to join you from elsewhere in the country? Let us know by getting in touch on Facebook or Twitter.