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For more than a quarter of a century, GIRES (the Gender Identity Research & Education Society) has been putting trans rights ‘on the agenda’. GIRES was established in 1997 when Bernard Reed, OBE, and his wife Terry Reed, OBE, helped their transgender daughter Niki win a landmark sex discrimination case. The charity has been instrumental in several positive changes to trans and gender-diverse rights in the UK and beyond.
The ‘A Legacy of Kindness’ project documents and showcases the rich history of GIRES,
uncovering the memories through generations of past, present, and new members, trans activists and pioneers, who helped to establish and shape the charity.
This podcast series of oral histories is part of the exhibition: GIRES, a Legacy of Kindness, a project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is compiled from oral histories and produced as part of a digital exhibition exploring the rich history of the UK’s trans and gender-diverse GIRES, the Gender Identity Research & Education Society. It was produced by Lucia Scazzocchio with sound design and music by Samuel Robinson. The Community Curator sub-team was led by Georgia Marker.
For more information and other resources visit: https://lok.gires.org.uk
Episode 6: 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.
Lynda
I don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for the fact that Bernard and Terry was on the end of the phone. Because they were the only people that actually saw that I was in desperate need of help, but no one was helping.
Hannah Watson
People like GIRES they really helped me find that I actually had a future, that transgender was a thing that even existed and helped me meet people, helped me find other people like me. It's thanks to organisations like GIRES that I was able to live and not just survive.
Coran Foddering
When you kind of move in a direction, it's like going down a maze. Eventually you get to the centre, and GIRES for me was like a maze, it's a journey you take.
Caroline Watson
They were my lifesavers, you know, GIRES were there when I needed them, and I'm sure they're there for a lot of people like me, not just trans people, but, you know, parents like me, who needed that support and help.
Simona Giordano
Being involved in GIRES changed my life, entirely. I'm sure that there are many gender diverse people and families who might say the same, but someone who might not be trans can have their life changed as well. They gave a trajectory to my professional life.
Dee Stuart
I don't regret a single moment of having transitioned, I don't regret a single moment of having helped form GIRES. I don't regret having campaigned for trans rights. And I would do it all over again, probably harder.
Terry Reed OBE
I don't feel changed by it, I feel fulfilled by it. I think what it allowed me to do was realise a capacity for moving beyond oneself, and it wasn't so much changing me as allowing me to be who I am.
The Revd Dr Tina Beardsley
As your average trans person, you can't do this sort of work. You needed an organisation like that that was going to be consolidating, bringing together all this information, not just the science and the medicine, but some of the social stuff, the legal stuff, as well.
Bob Green
Bernard and Terry have changed so many organisations, changed government departments, changed how the health service views trans and non-binary people. Even if young people don't know it, it will have changed their lives.
Bernard Reed OBE
It is a sense of fulfillment, having seen a need and worked really hard to fill it. You know, we've helped a lot of people. And that's what we set out to do.
Hannah Graf MBE
The force that those two were together, their energy, their passion, the time, everything they put into it has really laid the groundwork and a foundation for modern day trans activism. So every trans person, every family of a trans person, anyone who calls themselves an ally to a trans person has a lot to thank GIRES for whether they know it or not.
Reubs Walsh
I want future generations of trans folk to remember the parents of trans kids, not all of them, sadly, but you know, enough in the late 20th and early 21st century, they were going: no, this is not good enough. This is not how we treat people. There were people who weren't trans, at some point, something went click, they got it. And then they were like, right, well, that's what I'm going to do with the rest of my life now. I'm going to start taking apart this oppressive system, one denied treatment, one inappropriate school policy, one inconsiderate employer at a time.
Amelia Lee
GIRES has helped change the discourse. I think for some people, that framework of understanding trans identities is legitimate through biology, even though that's problematic, I think it has helped some people understand that trans people are real.
Octavian Starr
You know, I really do believe that GIRES is staying in the right place. We're going to just continue to do the work that we need to do, we're going to gather the evidence because at the end of the day, history always speaks to the people who are kind and who come from a place of truth.
Jenny-Anne Bishop OBE
The way things in the main have got better, certainly over my life, and remember I first came out in 1971. So a very long time ago, and things have improved.
Natasha
As a middle aged trans person who came out in the 90s, I remember vividly what life was like back then. And within a 15 year period, thanks to the work of organisations, including GIRES, we're in a completely different country now. More and more trans people and young trans people especially feel more comfortable about coming out. That is a really spectacular thing to see.
Shaan Knan
I am now the project manager of this wonderful project, A Legacy of Kindness. It's a great joy to work with so many different people from different backgrounds donating their stories.
Camilla Thrush
I see it as providing access to the history of GIRES, for the work that we're still doing for generations to come. Historically, what it gives is a timeline of change, and it is part of the LGBTQIA history. And it's seen to be an important part of that history. And that is respected as a part of that history.
Di Stiff
I thought that heritage audiences would actually be a good means of support, that they knew what GIRES did, why they were doing it. And also there was that sort of pride that this was a Surrey organisation, these people lived in Surrey, they spent their lives in Surrey.
Professor Stephen Whittle
Learning the lessons of our history is something that we as a community must do. At the moment, we're on shaky ground.
Bob Green
I hope it'll inspire new generations, and new people, not just younger, but older people to get involved in activism. Activism comes in all shapes and sizes and different forms.
Bernard Reed
When we set the charity up there were probably five groups, but now TranzWiki's got 400. So the situation in terms of local and national support has massively transformed, the embedded expertise available within the community is now so huge, it's unstoppable.
Shaan Knan
Maybe this project is coming at the right time, also, this anniversary is a new direction. Ultimately, I think this is about humanity, it's about human rights and GIRES has been there and is right there and will be right there in a perhaps slightly different way.
Emma Cusdin
You know, there are a lot more organisations out there now in trans and non-binary inclusion. How do you keep that legacy of kindness going forward? How do you keep that ethos of Bernard and Terry, around the openness, safe space, the kindness, positivity, the helping the community?
Jake Graf
The change that they have made within so many companies, and to so many people will obviously live on forever. I can't imagine that GIRES will cease to exist. But I think it's a sadder day now that Bernard and Terry aren't still sort of at the helm and at the forefront of it, but time marches on.
The Revd Dr Tina Beardsley
It's very, very difficult to envision a future when it's had such a very personal ethos, such a personal shape and character.
Zoe Playdon
It is a worrying time, but I take hope in two things. I know older people always say this, it's nothing now to what it was. But certainly we have come a long way in 30 years and most of all, we now have a whole bunch of young people who have grown up with a completely different set of expectations, who are able, well qualified, articulate, knitted together in a global community. And I think that if my generation laid the foundation stones, then it's that generation that will build the hall of trans liberty and trans equality.
Octavian Starr
That feeling of authenticity is continuing with the next generation. Everyone that's been brought on as a part of this, it's been made very clear to them what the ethos of this organisation is, and that everybody radiates that same authenticity, and that commitment to research coming from a honest and respectful but firm place. And I think that's the way we really make change because if enough places have that camaraderie and that working together and building each other up, that's how you build that kind of research that's un-refutable.
Hannah Watson
I would like GIRES to continue being real. It's people's stories, it's people's experiences. And GIRES is powerful, and it can keep that momentum, it can continue its power, because with the current political climate we need this more than ever.
Professor Emeritus Sue Sanders
It's absolutely crucial that we have a powerful, strong, trans organisation. And not easy in these circumstances, we are really seriously under attack. And it reminds me so much of the fight that we had against Section 28. That recognition of the diversity of people's identities is crucial and challenging. The work needs to be done with passion and with humour and with knowledge. It's really crucial that we all support each other.
Zoe Johannes
I think the current moment right now is a bit hostile and I don't think that it will be forever. I think that something's got to give at some point. I hope that future generations are not discouraged. I hope that they look back and say, you know, that was a difficult time and a lot of different things were going on, but actually, we've come a long way and that was just sort of a blip.
Reubs Walsh
I can't imagine a world in which gender isn't something that restricts and confines and oppresses people. But at the same time, even just one generation ahead I see people who are just refusing to be boxed in by gender, including a lot of cis people. If things aren't better, person in the future listening to this, they must surely be on their way.
Dee Stuart
I mean, I wouldn't have ever thought that the charity that was supposed to be for educating and research would end up being a political tool in its own entity, but it has, and it's done it incredibly well. We do so much good stuff. And, of course, other people have come along on the back of what we do. One wonders whether they would have been able to do the important work that they're doing if we hadn't been there disseminating all the education and everything like that. That's it, really, isn't it? In a nutshell.
This podcast series of oral histories is part of the exhibition: GIRES, a Legacy of Kindness, a project made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.
It was produced by Lucia Scazzocchio from Social Broadcasts with sound design and original music by Samuel Robinson and narrated by Coran Foddering. The Community Curator sub-team was led by Georgia Marker. With special thanks to all the contributors who agreed to share their stories.
For more information about what you’ve just heard, do visit the project website, lok.gires.org.uk.