Please be aware that the following blog mentions homophobia, transphobia and suicide ideation…

Recently, Liverpool has been in the news for the wrong reasons. A spate of attacks against LGBTQIA+ people left people living in fear. Fortunately, Liverpool being the place it is, this wasn’t going to be tolerated and so a march was held on Tuesday to leave no one in any doubt that hate was not welcome here. However, I was not able to attend the march. Organisers had warned people not to attend on their own in case they became a target. So, afraid of being attacked, I stayed at home.

Being Trans, this was not the first time I’ve stayed home for fear of being attacked. I grew up in fear and I didn’t have the courage to publicly come out as Trans until I was 38. I hope few will be debilitated by fear like I was. It’s caused huge problems with my confidence and self-worth. At times, I’ve been so despairing that I’ve considered suicide.

This trauma started when I was a child. I can recall no single “aha!” moment but I do recall it gradually dawning on me from when I was about eight years old that I wasn’t the boy others thought I was. By the time I was thirteen, the thought that I would never be female and be able to live as the person I knew I was, was prompting me to consider suicide. It wasn’t even that I believed I could challenge this presumption. I believed if I ever let people knew the real me, my life wouldn’t be worth living.

It wasn’t until I saw an article in The Daily Mail, of all places, that I learned the life I wanted was possible. Then, with the advent of the internet, I discovered ‘my community’ and from there my confidence grew. It was in learning that there were others willing to support me that I blossomed and became my true, full, self. That is why I wanted to support the march on Tuesday and that was why I was heartened by it being so well attended.

When you leave people isolated in fear, like me, they lose hope, their mental health is affected and they may begin to consider suicide and, worse still, act upon it. No one should have to live like that. No matter what their age, religion, sexuality, gender, race, (dis)ability, class… nothing is an excuse to attack another person. We all deserve to live in safety and prosperity and we all should work towards making that a reality. That is why I support The Human Rights Act (which also helped expose the truth about Hillsborough) and why I’m so proud to volunteer for WHISC.

Everything WHISC does is aimed to support women live their best lives. They offer crisis and financial support, physical and mental health support, and also are a Hate Crime Reporting Centre. Information about this and everything else they do can be found on the What’s On page. They also continue to offer their Listening Ear service and are ready to hear from you about whatever it is you’re going through. If you want to speak to someone, please call 0151 707 1826 or leave a message on the WHISC Facebook page with your phone number and they’ll ring you back.

Please never forget that we’re always stronger when we unite together and, as I wrote last week, whatever you want to achieve in life, there really is no need to go it alone.

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this blog and need further support, please contact:

• 999 in an emergency
• Samaritans of Liverpool: 116 123 ​free from any p​hone
• Papyrus: For the prevention of suicide under 35 years 0800 068 4141
• Stop Hate UK: Report a hate crime, 24 hour service 0800 138 1625
• Gyro Liverpool (YPAS): Support for young people aged 12 – 25 and a parents / carers support group
• Mermaids: 0808 801 0400
• Trans Support Service: 0151 247 6555
• Sahir House: 0151 237 3989