As it’s the beginning of this new and exciting piece of work, we’re moving over to a new website, dedicated to “All About Trans”, to the projects that have funding and those that don’t…yet!

You’ll notice, if you’re a Twitter fan, that we’ve changed our Twitter page too, to fit in with the new project website. The website is very much a work in progress – you’ll see loads of information on how our interactions have gone, what other exciting things are coming up and information and links to other brilliant organisations doing great work in this area.

In the meantime, we’ll keep this blog up until we migrate the posts over to the new site, so nothing will be lost in the changeover.

Check us out at AllAboutTrans.org.uk and on Twitter, @AllAboutTrans.

*From now on, the second phase of Trans Media Action will be called “All About Trans”, in preparation for a new website which will be live at the end of April 2013. All About Trans will showcase the activities of phase 2 like the interactions (underway) and the Patchwork video project (still fundraising for this.)

‘All About Trans’, is the second phase of our work with the trans community, which began with Trans Media Action in October 2011. Over the past two years, we’ve been working closely with the support of broadcasters and funders to engage media professionals (journalists, presenters and editors) with trans issues in creative ways.

From late April to July 2013, we’ll be holding 20 “interactions” (social meetings lasting no longer than 2 hours) between a media professional and one to three young trans people. Supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the BBC, It’s a chance for media professionals to get to know young people in a setting of their choice and at their convenience.

It could involve anything from a trip on the London Eye to coffee at their favourite place around the corner from work, to a black cab home being serenaded with their favourite music.

Why?

Instead of traditional campaigning methods of trying to disseminate key messages about the community, we’re creating chances for empathy to grow through social interaction. Our experience from phase 1 has shown that a media professional that has been moved in some way is a much more powerful ally than one who has been fed lots of facts!

We want to move media professionals by introducing them to some inspirational and talented young trans people who we think may challenge their preconceptions in a really positive and enjoyable way.

When?

Next week we’ll be delivering invitations by hand and from April to July 2013 we’ll be carrying out interactions between lucky media professionals and a carefully chosen pool of volunteers.

Website

A new website (www.allabouttrans.org.uk) will be up towards the end of April 2013.

Piers Bradford, Commissioning Editor, BBC Radio One

I expected to be lectured but this was an opportunity to have an open and honest chat with some trans people. I found it very insightful, and has led to several programme ideas which have made it on air.

Ian Critchley, BBC Controller of Production Talent

The experience gave great promise of a better awareness of the issues facing the trans community. Having spent some time listening to people’s stories we came to the view that the best way to help move things on was to think about some kind of bursary or writing competition which would give the opportunity to explore things further. (On the Trans Comedy Award)

Jane Hill, Presenter, BBC News

I found the most useful aspect to be hearing directly from trans people and I realised that even I, as a gay person, can improve my use of language – therefore the newsroom as a whole could learn a huge amount.

Daniel Fisher, World Affairs News Editor, BBC

I found the most useful part of the interaction; chatting one on one with people and I learnt about the feeling of the invisibility of the community and words that are offensive.

Tuesday 8 January: The New Statesman publishes Suzanne Moore’s piece “Seeing red: The power of female anger”. The line that provoked debate was:

The cliché is that female anger is always turned inwards rather than outwards into despair. We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual. We are angry that men do not do enough…

An article explains why this could have been phrased better and a debate grows on Twitter:

@suzanne_moore calling someone "a transsexual" is like calling someone "a gay" - really creepy. "Trans woman" would've been better but...

—
Jo (@jonanamary) January 08, 2013

@suzanne_moore It's unfortunate, but given the number of Brazilian trans women murdered last year, that line got up people's noses.

—
Roz Kaveney (@RozKaveney) January 09, 2013

Here’s an account of tweets on Storify and another timeline of tweets on Storify.

!) People can just fuck off really. Cut their dicks off and be more feminist than me. Good for them.

—
suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) January 08, 2013

I dont even accept the word transphobia any more than Islamaphobia You are using 'intersectionality' to shut down debate. Its bollocks.

—
suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) January 08, 2013

Wednesday 9 – Thursday 10 January: Moore responds to the Twitter debate in the Guardian, “I don’t care if you were born a woman or became one“.

Some responses online:

• Blog It’s just a hobby posts “Do you have sex like a girl?”
• Kaite Welsh fiction author and journalist writes  “The Master’s Tools: Why Suzanne Moore is stooping to David Cameron’s level”.

Support from journalist Julie Bindel sparks further debate:

.@bindelj @pinknews When did telling people they probably shouldn't make jokes about marginalised groups constitute bullying? Drama queen...

—
Paris Lees (@ParisLees) January 10, 2013

Friday 11 January:

@stavvers It was and is a mob. A particularly vicious group of folk obsessed with identity politics and the hierarchy of oppression.

—
Julie Bindel (@bindelj) January 11, 2013

• Zoe Stavri of Pink News says “I wish The Guardian’s Suzanne Moore would stop digging”.

10.51am: Suzanne Moore leaves Twitter and Pink News reports it here.

Support for Moore grows on Twitter: 

It's very hard to think of a scenario where Suzanne Moore not being on Twitter is much of a win for any progressive cause.

—
Martin Robbins (@mjrobbins) January 11, 2013

For the record, @suzanne_moore is a kind and lovely person who's about as open-minded as a horizon. Not the best target for a Twitter spasm.

—
  (@fleetstreetfox) January 11, 2013

For those who thought they were furthering social progress by abusing Suzanne Moore until she left Twitter: you weren't.

—
Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) January 11, 2013

• Stonewall Writer of the Year 2010, Stella Duffy blogs “head/parapet”.
• Christine Burns, Equality and Diversity Specialist, explains the context behind responses to Moore’s article and the investigation into trans health doctor, Dr. Richard Curtis.
• Chiller blog posts “A different point of view on the Moore thing”.
• Kat’s research blog posts “The gap between experiences and (media) representation”.

Saturday 12 January: Francis Sedgemore, science writer and journalist writes “On Suzanne Moore, gender identity and penis fixation”.

Sunday 13 January: Julie Burchill’s piece in defence of Moore is published in the Observer entitled “Transsexuals Should Cut it Out”. It was removed the following day, (see below for more details); here’s the PDF.

No matter what troubles I face in future, I'm going to tell myself: "This could be worse. Julie Burchill could be leaping to your defence."

—
Deborah Orr (@DeborahJaneOrr) January 13, 2013

"Transexual mob telling Suzanne Moore how to write makes me think of the Black & White Minstrels telling Usain Bolt how to run" J Burchill

—
Nick Cohen (@NickCohen4) January 11, 2013

• Paris Lees publishes article  in DIVA magazine “An Open Letter to Suzanne Moore”
• Juliet Jacques blogs “RE: Julie Burchill. An open letter to The Observer reader’s editor”
• Cheryl Morgan blogs “By Their Words Shall Ye Know Them”
• Roz Kaveney comments in The Guardian, “Julie Burchill has ended up bullying the trans community”
• Dr. Tim Stanley writes in The Telegraph “Feminists versus Transsexuals: Julie Burchill, Suzanne Moore and The Observer spark civil war on the left”.
• Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP and former Equalities Minister, tweets for Burchill to be sacked (and responds later that day to the point that Burchill is a Freelancer; “…I should have said not commission her again…”). 
  

Julie Burchill rant against transgender community is absolutely disgusting - a bigoted vomit for which the Observer should sack her. -lf

—
Lynne Featherstone (@lfeatherstone) January 13, 2013

Shocking @lfeatherstone calls for a columnist to be sacked - a liberal! - but no surprise post-Leveson. Trust @observer ignores her

—
Tony Gallagher (@gallaghereditor) January 13, 2013

Justifiable for Editor to withdraw Burchill Observer piece. But alarm bells ring when a Government Minister tries to get a journalist sacked

—
Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) January 15, 2013

• Independent’s columnist Jane Fae says “Burchill’s attack follows the same pattern – trans stories are only of interest if we star as villains” 
• Quinnae Moongazer blogs “Unguarded and Poorly Observed: A Response to Julie Burchill”
• Sarah Burton, post graduate student in sociology writes on intersectionality, privilege and power
• Musings of Emily Rose writes about feminism and privilege
• In Lesbilicious, Ruth Pearce writes “Transphobia in the Guardian; no excuse for hate speech”
• In So So Gay, CN Lester writes a column on the “Julie Burchill transphobia scandal”
• Leftytgirl blogs “refusing the call: a trans woman rejects internecine war cry from anti-woman faux feminists”
• Catherine Baker writes “On intersectionality, academic language and where to put my big feet”
• The Independent runs a poll showing 87% thought Burchill went too far in her “transphobic” defence of Moore and her words were offensive.

Monday 14 January:

Despite all this there has been much bridge building between me and several trans people who I deeply respect.

—
suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) January 14, 2013

I am sorry to those that I misrepresented and I feel pretty misrepresent myself ( an EDL supporter??)

—
suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) January 14, 2013

Suzanne Moore returns to Twitter, issues an apology and thanks her supporters before subsequently leaving again.

We welcome @suzanne_moore's apology and see this as a positive step forward.

—
Trans Media Watch (@TransMediaWatch) January 14, 2013

Burchill’s article is amended to replace the word “transsexuals” with “transgender people”.

• The Telegraph’s chief leader writer, David Hughes comments “Lynne Featherstone’s call for Julie Burchill to be sacked is a little creepy”.
• Telegraph’s Dr. Brooke Magnanti writes “We don’t need Suzanne Moore and Julie Burchill to police the borders of womanhood”
• Jane Fae comments on Politics.co.uk “The trans community has finally arrived”
• In Gay Star News, Helen Belcher talks about discrimination in the health service and media
• On Index, the Free Speech blog, Padraig Reidy discusses Burchill, Featherstone and Leveson
• On Jezebel, a post entitled  “Transphobia Is a Goddamn Embarrassment to Us All” recounts events
• Dorian Lynskey blogs “The Burchill Ultimatum” for 33 Revolutions per minute
• Hannah shares her opinions on the issue on her blog Flying on the Rainbow
• In The Quietus, John Tatlock writes “‘Nasty Idiotic Tripe’: Stand Against Julie Burchill’s Years Of Transphobia“

5.48pm: “The Observer withdraws Julie Burchill column as editor publishes apology”. The print version remains and only the online article is removed along with over 2,000 comments. John Mulholland editor of the Observer issues a statement:

On this occasion we got it wrong and in light of the hurt and offence caused I apologise and have made the decision to withdraw the piece. The Observer Readers’ Editor will report on these issues at greater length.

Stephen Pritchard, Reader’s Editor continues the inquiry.

Proud of the freedom of the press in this country. Unless you upset anyone of course, then there's no freedom at all. #Burchill #Moore—
Alan McKinlay (@MirrorMacca) January 14, 2013

@portraitinflesh @DPJHodges Last time. We are NOT talking about Burchill’s rights but about whether this is an act of censorship. It is.

—
David Aaronovitch (@DAaronovitch) January 14, 2013

• Toby Young and Telegraph Blogs gets permission from Julie Burchill to republish her “censored Observer article” in The Telegraph and Young blogs “The Observer’s decision to censor Julie Burchil is a disgrace”.
• The Daily Mail reports the story and the Mirror also picks it up.
• William Henderson writes for The Telegraph: “In trying to ‘unpublish’ Julie Burchill, The Observer displays its ignorance of the internet”.

The New Statesman Trans Issues Week (planned previously): Writing for NS Trans Issues Week, Jennie Kermode outlines the facts about trans issues and language: “Everything you’ve always wanted to know about trans issues (but were afraid to ask)”.

Tuesday 15 January:

Re Julie #Burchill & #trans people: Would similar denigration of black, Jewish, Muslim or gay people be acceptable? Of course not. @Guardian—
Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) January 15, 2013

• Independent’s Tom Peck says “Julie Burchill should be free to offend”
• In The Guardian, Dean Burnett writes “Julie Burchill, transphobia and hostility towards the victims of oppression”
• Head of Legal publishes an independent opinion piece “Julie Burchill, free speech and the Lynne Featherstone clause”
• Liberal Democrat City Councillor Sarah Brown blogs “What the Hell is Wrong With You People?”
• Martin Bright writes for The Spectator; “In Defence of Suzanne Moore”
• Heather McNamara blogs “Crass hypocrisy of Julie Burchill”
• Huffington Post publishes Elizabeth Mizon’s piece “Moore, Burchill and those opposed (aka those taking offense)”

Wednesday 16 January:

Writer and trans activist Roz Kaveney, Columnist Toby Young, Laurie Penny Contributing Editor at the New Statesman and former Editor of The Guardian Peter Preston discuss the role of a columnist, free speech and social media on Radio 4′s The Media Show.

• Roy Greenslade’s column in The Guardian says “Burchill’s offensive column should have stayed online” and writes furthermore in The Evening Standard “Why the surprise at transsexual rant by Burchill?”
• Natacha blogs “Putting words into our mouths”
• Harry Giles blogs “Julie Burchill, Newspapers and Freedom of Speech”
• Open letter supports a Protest against Transphobia at The Observer
• An open letter video reaction is shared by @girlsteve

Thursday 17 January: The Guardian publishes Moore’s most recent response “It saddens me that supporting freedom makes me an opponent of equality”.

Rod Liddle writes “How Moore, Burchill and Featherstone all had a lovely bitch fight” in The Spectator.

Channel 4 News hosts a Google+ Hangout with Dr. Sally Hines, Paris Lees, Sarah Savage and Gary Ennis, debating “Transsexual people and the online ‘age of rage’”:

Peaceful Demonstration: 

Over 100 attend a “Transgender rights protest at Guardian and Observer offices over Burchill row”.

• Alison Bancroft blogs “We need some new feminists”.
• Natacha Kennedy writes “An open (hearted) letter to Suzanne Moore”

Guest blogger Hyosho writes for Media Darlings “Please no Moore: A snapshot of transphobia in Britain’s broadsheets”, explaining the issue with Moore’s original statement:

This is a related issue which speaks to a lack of intersectional understanding, but it is not the primary problem. The main issue is that it is dehumanising – it posits a stereotype as the norm, and uses it for a punchline. Moore is relying on the reader’s mental image of a transsexual woman for her joke’s humour and force, assuming that her reader shares her prejudices and preconceptions, mainly that a “Brazilian transsexual” is a) a trans woman, b) of a particular physical appearance, and most importantly c) not a real woman.

Friday 18 January: Roy Greenslade reports in The Guardian “PCC to investigate Julie Burchill column” and “Burchill column ‘a collective failing of editing’ by senior staff”.

The Observer reader’s editor, Stephen Pritchard provides a full explanation for the removal of Burchill’s piece.

• “Why I’m trans…and a feminist” - Comment Is Free hosts ‘The Panel’, interviews with Paris Lees, Jane Fae, CL Minou and Stuart Crawford.
• Editor of Polari magazine asks what happens now, “in the wake of the controversy over Julie Burchill’s unhinged tirade against trans women”
• Dan Solomon wrote for The Frisky “Why a Straight Man Like Cares About Transgender Rights”
• Helen G writes for The F Word blog “Feminism is for everyone – including trans women”.

Saturday 19 January: Deborah Orr writes “Feminism shouldn’t be about telling trans women they’re not female enough”  in The Guardian.  

Sunday 20 January:  The Observer’s ‘The big issue’ publishes “Prejudice: trans people shouldn’t have been subjected to such abuse”.

• Imogen Blake writes for The Student Journals “Julie Burchill’s article should not have been censored”

Monday 21 January:  

• TransBareAll post a video response to transphobic language from trans masculine people and allies
• Hel Gurney blogs “The Burchill/Moore saga continues…”

Tuesday 22 January:  Patrick Barkham writes “Voices from the trans community: There will always be prejudice”, in The Guardian Society.

• NUJ Equality Council issue a statement on Julie Burchill’s article.
• Steepholm blogs “Cabals, Communities and People”.
• Writer and activist Mercedes Allen writes “If Offence is a Virtue” on Burchill’s column for The Montreal Gazette.
• Stephen Wood, researcher, writes for the Institute of Development Studies blog; “Julie Burchill, silo mentalities and international (trans)gender equality”.
• Brynn Tannehill writes for The Huffington Post Gay Voices “Improving Conversations about Transgender Issues”.
• Marko Attila Hoare blogs on Greater Surbiton “Julie Burchill: What is behind her supporters’ talk of the ‘right to offend’?”
• Reubs J. Walsh posts “The Guardian Media Group should apologise with actions, not words” on Protest Transphobia.

Thursday 24 January: Fionola Meredith from The Irish Times writes “It is important to defend the right to offend”.

Friday 25 January: Diane Leigh Shipley posts on the blog Bea “In defence of intersectionality (and ‘priviliege’, and trigger warnings…)”

Monday 28 January:

Response to the Trans Media Action Timeline from Suzanne Moore:

@transmediaact @reubsjw @lgbtlabour @guardian @dailytelegraph a v helpful summary.

— suzanne moore (@suzanne_moore) January 28, 2013

Tuesday 29 January: Stavvers posts in Another angry woman “The value of trigger warnings”.

Wednesday 30 January: Paris Lees comments “Why it’s wrong to defend Burchill’s ‘right to offend’” in response to Fionola Meredith’s piece from Thursday 24th January .

We’re continuing to collect interesting links, articles and stories so please feel free to share any below.  

Fox from ‘My Transsexual Summer’ speaking to journalists at a Phase One workshop with BBC

There has been a lot of community action in the last week or so. Firstly there was the response to the GMC’s investigation into Dr Richard Curtis – Twitter’s #TransDocFail feed (started by Cambridge City Councillor Sarah Brown) came alive with tales from the trans community of mistreatment by NHS and healthcare professionals. Then there was the Suzanne Moore-Julie Burchill furore – Read Paris Lees’ compelling response here.

It’s proof that there are thousands of people out there ready to come forward and have their voices heard and Trans Media Action wants to engage more of you in our next piece of work.

“Interactions”

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that one of our ideas is to carefully plan 20 ‘interactions’ with leading and influential professionals in television, radio and print.

We know that senior people don’t go to diversity workshops and we believe that tick-box diversity training, which focusses solely on labels and “what not to say”, is not the best way to build positive and sustainable engagement.

So instead, we’ll build a tailor-made 1-hour interaction for each professional, carried out with their preferences in mind (working to their schedule, providing their favourite food, meeting in a cafe they like, as examples) and delivered by a handful of trans people with experiences that are relevant to that professional’s area of specialism or interest. Our aim is that each carefully chosen professional goes away thinking not only that they know more about trans people, but about what action they can take, proactively, to help improve portrayals of trans people in the media.

It works…

Trans Media Watch has shown how this works by engaging Channel 4′s Stuart Cosgrove, which led to the signing of the MoU and the commissioning of My Transsexual Summer, amongst many other outcomes. And Trans Media Action has shown how this works in phase one by engaging people like BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra’s Commissioning Editor, which led to a series of appearances on Radio 1, and BBC’s Controller of Production Talent, which led to the creation of the Trans Comedy Award. As we’ve seen from the events this weekend, change doesn’t happen overnight and we need to keep plugging away, targeting individuals with firm and clear messages in a positive way.

When

The interactions will be carried out from April to June 2013 and will be published online, showcasing these new media ‘champions’ of the trans community in the UK.

So, what do we want from you?

1)       Can you think of a media professional (could be a journalist, presenter, editor or actor) who could have a positive influence on the way trans stories are understood by the media? We already have a growing list of people but we’d like to hear as many opinions as possible.

2)      Would you like to be involved in any way? Would you like to take part in an interaction? (Travel and lunch will be paid for.)

If you think ‘yes’ to either or both of these questions, then please take a minute to fill out this form…and if you’re on Twitter, please follow @TransMediaAct!

Paris and Nathalie with Stuart from Channel 4 who has led support for Trans Media Action.  At the CDN awards on 15th November 2012.  Photo by Sarah Lake.

Last week I had the privilege to sit with hundreds of tv professionals and contributors who are helping to promote diversity in the television industry at the Creative Diversity Network (CDN) Awards.

The annual awards took place in Hackney Empire in East London on a cold November evening. Tucked up in the famous East London theatre I sat back with our friends from Trans Media Watch to watch clips of television as it should be – full of diversity, celebrating difference – a true reflection of the world around us.

And what a difference a year makes. At last year’s awards there wasn’t one mention of the word “trans” or transgender. This year, not only were there several mentions, but the opening speech by acting Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, introduced the “Trans Comedy Award”, an initiative cooked up at Trans Camp, organised by On Road earlier this year.

After all our work on Trans Media Action (so far), it is such an amazing feeling to witness a shift in perceptions, an increased awareness in the industry, and an excellent idea coming to fruition through the relationships we’ve helped to forge. We like to think our collective persistence in partnership with the brilliant women at Trans Media Watch, along with fantastic support from volunteers throughout the trans community and a big helping hand from the diversity departments at Channel 4 and the BBC, is starting to bear fruit. There’s a long way to go, but this is an exciting taste of great things to come!

We asked Claire Parker, one of the driving forces behind the project, and a trans comedian herself, to explain a little about the scheme.

So, what is the Trans Comedy Award?

• It’s a development award of up to £5000 for the best comedy script written in a trans theme which is both affirming and new as well as avoiding all the usual stereotypes.  It can be a sketch show or a comedy drama or just a sitcom, all of which should have scope to be made into a series and 30 minutes in length.
• It is being handled by our lovely friends at the BBC Writers room who also are putting up the money and the deadline for scripts is the 28th of February.The goal is to get a pilot made in collaboration with a production company and see where we go from there.
• While that’s it in a nutshell, you can download loads of award information and interact with our blog and forum on www.transcomedyaward.org where you can also talk to the Trans Comedy team who are running and guiding this project.
• Trans representation in the media has not been brilliant, lets face it. Often clumsy and at best mawkish. For a long time now the ownership of the trans community’s identity has been by the media. By being demonstrably involved in change we can partnership with media outlets and guide them in better directions because we have one hand on the diversity tiller.

What does this mean for the trans community?

• People often take their social cues from the media about how to react to minorities and to see trans people being directly involved in programming rather than being talked about sends a powerful signal to the average viewer that the media outlets are serious about representation and this will create better acceptance.
• This will encourage other trans who do not wish to remain hidden to step up and get involved. While we may have right on our side it’s rare for people to come knocking on our door, so we have to be part of the solution.
• Finally, comedy is a great way of sharing an experience as I have found in my stand-up career. Often I am self deprecating and people warm to this and engage me afterwards by asking me to tell them more. It makes us human with all the same foibles and idiosyncrasies and that builds bridges.

Visit www.transcomedyaward.org for more information and keep an eye on On Road’s second phase of work with the trans community here.

So Phase 1 has been wrapped up and we achieved a huge amount in a very short space of time. We built some fantastic relationships with people in the media and came together in January 2012 for Trans Camp (over 10,000 views!), an event that helped us to rethink how we might tackle the problem of trans narratives in the media.

Most importantly, we were able to come up with a series of very good ideas for phase 2 which will have the continuing support of Channel 4 and the BBC. We’re currently applying for funding and will keep you updated about progress. In the meantime, thank you for your support and we hope to have some good news for you soon!

It’s been an exciting few weeks since Trans Camp last month! We wanted to give you an update of what the five groups came up with and what they’ve been up to since.

Trans Camp was about bringing people from different professions and backgrounds together to tackle problems about media coverage and awareness of the trans community.  We want to support all of the good ideas that came out of the camp (not just the winning one!) so we’ll keep you updated as they develop in phase 2 of Trans Media Action.

In case you missed the camp, here’s what happened:

GROUP 1

The children’s Group looked at this problem:

‘There is very little awareness of the existence of trans children. How do we change that?’

The group’s pitch:

An online, support and information resource for parents who are dealing with a gender variant child. The site – “oktobeyou.org.uk” – will be partnered with Mermaids and will launch with a short film portraying the stories and experiences of other children during Anti-Bullying Week.

Actions being taken since Trans Camp:

Jay Stewart is running a Gendered Intelligence Trans Youth Group Session in February which some members of the group will attend and discuss further steps. Mermaids will be approached with the idea.

Amy Whitney wrote a blog about her group’s progress at Trans Camp.

GROUP 2

The media and headlines group looked at this problem:

‘What can we do to help the media create more accurate coverage about trans people? Headlines are appalling – how can we start to change them?’

The group’s pitch:

A website for users to analyse news stories and develop a campaign for contacting journalists and broadcasters to bring awareness to offensive stories or headlines.

Actions being taken since Trans Camp:

Some positive discussions about bringing the idea forward and working with Trans Media Watch.

Paris Lees wrote an article about the day for the Creative Diversity Network: ‘Putting the T into LGBT History Month’.

GROUP 3 (Winner)

The community reporting group looked at this problem:

‘Can we find a constructive way of galvanising the trans community to report on transphobia in the media in a way that can be acted upon?’

The group’s pitch:

‘Trango!’ is a game played online or on a mobile application. Trango! creates a database of media coverage of trans people by players looking at stories and ticking off reoccurring phrases and words that are offensive. Players can comment on scorecards, deconstructing news stories and creating ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ which will then be awarded publicly.

Actions being taken since Trans Camp:

Lots of discussion within the group about bringing the idea forward with meetings scheduled over the coming weeks combined with Basecamp project management. They will submit an application for support from UnLtd. by the end of February.

Nicky Getgood wrote a detailed blog about her experiences at Trans Camp.

GROUP 4

The comedy group looked at this problem:

‘How do we make producers of comedy aware of who they are making comedy about?’

The group’s pitch:

The Trans Comedy Bursary is a scheme that awards UK-based writers or performers in comedy, giving them the opportunity to develop the idea with a production company. An expert panel of judges will choose the winner’s idea to be developed into a taster film and pilot which will then seek broadcast funding.

Actions being taken since Trans Camp:

The group have met and developed a draft scoping paper outlining the idea, its process and the practicalities for each stage of the development. Working towards an August 2012 launch of the website.

GROUP 5

The family and friends group looked at this problem:

‘How can we use the web to help family, friends and partners better accept and support trans people?’

The group’s pitch:

A website campaign where family members upload videos telling their stories about trans issues. The campaign will offer support and information by sharing experiences across all ages and creating the trans vlog-network “Tell Me About It – Trans Family Stories”.

Actions being taken since Trans Camp:

Working towards collecting videos, building the website, finalising the campaign name and marketing.

For photos of the event go to On Road Media on Facebook.

BBC's Controller of Production Talent, Ian Critchley, chats to Karen and Fox from "My Transsexual Summer" during the lunch break at our workshop at the BBC on December 13th 2011

By @natmc

• Are you a news journalist? (Tabloid, broadsheet, internet, TV or radio)
• Are you interested in learning more about the trans community?
• Maybe you’re not that interested…but would you like to come and give us your thoughts anyway?

We’re running our last workshop as part of the seed-funded phase of Trans Media Action at the BBC on the 22nd February. It’s a half-day workshop and times are TBC.

We’re running these workshops for 2 reasons:

1. To find out where the media is in terms of their understanding of trans issues
2. To try out some fun and engaging workshop techniques to inspire journalists to find out more and come up with good programming and story ideas involving trans people

It’s very light hearted and interactive and pacey…

…I appreciated the opportunity to speak openly and honestly with some trans people.

Feedback from previous workshops at Channel 4 and the BBC

We’re especially interested in meeting some tabloid journalists so, if that’s you, please get in touch!

Places are strictly limited to 10 so if you’re interested, please contact alana@onroadmedia.org.uk ASAP telling us what you do and why you’d like to take part.

Thank you!

The winners, "Trango", proposed to build a bingo App with an accompanying website for the trans community to report on transphobic language in the news and track how many times newspapers get it wrong (and right).

By @natmc

A huge thank you to everyone who came to Trans Camp and to all of you who submitted videos, supported us on Twitter and Facebook and sent us your good wishes.

It was a big success and we’ll be writing up what happened and sharing videos of the pitches with you all in the next week or so.

In the meantime, here are some photos of the day which should give you a flavour of all the conversation and innovation that took place!

More soon…

Your videos have been brilliant and really helpful to bring the issues to life. You can see them embedded below each of the 5 problems we’re dealing with at the camp here. We’re still looking for more, so keep them coming! Instructions here.

We’ve also had lots of volunteer applications – thank you – and we’re letting people know today.

Thanks and see some of you on the 13th! We hope others will follow us and take part on Twitter. The hashtag is #transcamp.