A Legacy of Kindness - Telling the Story of Trans Charity GIRES

Foundations for a Path Forward

History describes the past, informs the present, and shapes the future. In this final episode, we focus on the impact of GIRES, its future, and the future of trans activism more broadly. Hope and optimism, fear and pessimism punctuate the interviews, sometimes in the same breath. Contributors reflected on GIRES’ history through the lens of the present, with the current backlash against trans rights in the UK and elsewhere influencing how individuals told their stories. Reflections were also mediated by another factor: the change in GIRES itself as Terry’s passing and Bernard’s decreased involvement redefine GIRES as a charity.    These intersections of key moments of change mark the A Legacy of Kindness project as an account of progress, and, perhaps, a manifesto for the future.

A Legacy of Kindness

When asked what the legacy of the charity was, co-founder Terry Reed responded that she hoped the legacy was one of kindness. Terry sadly passed away in 2021, but her memory lives on in the connections formed throughout her decades of activism. Bernard Reed remains involved as a trustee with GIRES, watching the charity evolve. Throughout the interviews, compassion, community, and care consistently shone through. This episode aims to capture this atmosphere: that legacy of kindness.

Policy Over Politics

This episode explores the political work done by GIRES throughout its history. Niki Reed’s employment tribunal case against Chessington World of Adventures in 1997 was a significant court case for trans rights, but it was not the first. In 1996, the landmark case of P vs S and Cornwall County Council was tried in the European Court of Justice.These employment discrimination cases laid the groundwork for future trans justice. The nineties also saw the movement towards trans-inclusive policy. Lynne Jones MP and Dr Jane Playdon established the Parliamentary Forum on Transsexualism in 1994, which Terry Reed became involved in soon after meeting Jones. The name later changed to the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity, reflecting the changing language of trans at the time. These end-of-century developments created space for the work of charities like GIRES, and paved the way for the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. However, this episode makes clear the extent of progress in trans rights ebbs and flows.

Education and Action

As suggested in the charity’s name, education has remained a key component of GIRES’ work, from employer training to health advocacy to research funding. This episode, ‘Education for Action’, explores this educational work done by GIRES.    Catering for an increasingly online world, the charity created numerous e-learning resources. In 2010 TranzWiki was set up, creating a directory of trans and gender diverse groups throughout the UK. GIRES also worked with the Tavistock and Portman clinics, and in 2004 was asked to organise an international symposium on hormone treatments for young people, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. Whether in the children’s books produced on trans identity, or the Legacy of Kindness project itself, education remained a central principle of the charity’s work, as it does today.

Trans at Work

This episode, ‘Trans at Work’, looks at trans people in employment, and how the charity’s efforts have sought to change patterns of discrimination.    Being trans at work has historically been difficult, sometimes even impossible. The extent of discrimination brought up in the interviews might be surprising, but this stemmed from a lack of employment rights. Over time, employment rights for trans people were gradually acquired and confirmed through a number of court cases. GIRES itself was in large part born out of Bernard and Terry Reed’s involvement with their own daughter’s employment discrimination case against Chessington World of Adventures in 1997. Within this difficult environment of job insecurity, GIRES worked to combat workplace ignorance, producing training resources for employers. Trans employment research was funded by the charity including Professor Stephen Whittle’s report on a 2000 survey on trans employment discrimination.    Yet, in spite of the work done, continued efforts to combat workplace discrimination remain vital.