We started marching for our own kids, but now we’re marching for everyone’s kids.
want books and knowledge removed from libraries and the schools. We know that there are far more of us who remember than there are of those who want us to forget – so we march to remind people. We march to remind them that a generation ago the things that are now being said about trans people and their mums, and toilets, and changing areas, were being said about gay and lesbian people and their mums, and toilets, and changing areas. We march to remind them that when
And when trans people do speak out you see the enormous abuse, threats, and co-ordinated pile on that is directed at them. We are terrified for our children, and everyone’s children, in the climate of intolerance of difference that we see trying to take hold right now. But we are hopeful. We all remember how Ireland was when we were growing up in the 70s and 80s and the people who fought so hard to bring Ireland
is to give them safety and love and vegetables and lifts and a soft place to land should they need it while they figure things out. We can not provide all the answers, but we can love them fiercely and reassure them while they’re asking their questions. What is important to remember is that no-one knows what they are doing. No-one knows how to get through this weird and difficult time. Everyone is winging it. We’re
all just trying to do the next best thing. As parents of trans people that is what we have tried to do. Keep our kids safe and loved at home, and march like our lives and their lives depend on it, because as things are right now, we think that they do. We started marching because we were worried about our own kids, but now we’re worried about everyone’s kids. What do you do when you are terrified for your child’s safety and well-being? When you don’t
they come for some of our children, they eventually come for all of our children as there will always be people that challenge them or who don’t fit in to the rigid structures they want us all to live in. And every time we march more and more mums, dads, grans, aunties, cousins, friends, colleagues, neighbours and allies join us, and set up groups of their own so that they can also march to remind people. The last few years has shown very clearly that we are a nation of people of kindness and compassion, who understand that life is
for
trans rights Karen Sugrue (she/her) and Claire Flynn (she/her)
Blockers, hormones, and surgery are the choice of some but not all trans people. For some social transition is enough. For others it is the start of an exploration of who they are. Some trans people do not need or want therapeutic interventions, others, depending on their experiences and the systems of support and community in their lives, do. The extremist voices of division and fear demonise and dehumanise the trans community, but to us, they are our beautiful babies grown into vibrant, energetic kids, teenagers, and young adults. We see them learning about the world and testing themselves in it as we all did. Like all of us did they try clothes, and interests, and hobbies until they find where they fit. Our job as parents
for cynical political gain whipping up further uncertainty by spreading misinformation and manufactured faux concerns. History shows that at times like this attention is steered towards the most socially vulnerable groups and so it is the case now with the targeting of the trans community. For a variety of reasons, we don’t have exact numbers, but globally it is estimated that about 2% of the population of every country is transgender. Since the Gender Recognition Act was passed in 2015, only about 130 people a year have applied. That’s a very small number of people and a very tiny community. Within this tiny trans community is a rich diversity of experiences, stories, and ways of being in the world.
The Mammies for Trans Rights started with three mams who wanted to find ways to show support for the people we love who are trans so we got a train to Dublin to join a march and we loved it some much that we just kept marching. We want trans kids, and their parents and families, to know that there are far more of us than there are extremists; that there is love and acceptance out there and people who find a community that live the most honest lives inspiring and joyful. In the last few years, we have all lived through a time of enormous upheaval and uncertainty – housing, climate, cost of living, racism, war, genocide, global pandemic – and people are exhausted and afraid. Bad faith actors are manipulating this fear
know where to go or who to ask for support and guidance or how they’ll react if you do? When you see it being suggested that parents, especially mams, ‘make’ their kids trans? (Even though we can’t even persuade them to wear coats on cold days). When you see how older trans people are treated and spoken about and trans people’s lives and health being discussed and belittled by people who are not trans and referred to as a ‘divisive issue’?
out from under the terrible yoke of conservative and oppressive influences are still here, a lot of them still marching at every Pride, or quietly living lives of freedom that we who remember old Ireland could never have dreamed of growing up. Nobody has forgotten what was done to women and children in the past in the name of ‘family values’. Nobody has forgotten how women and children were treated by those who would now try to tell us how to love our children and keep them safe and well. Nobody has forgotten the veil of secrecy and shame that was imposed on us in the past by those who today
complicated, and who know that all we can do is the next best thing to keep the people we love safe. We wish you all a happy Pride and we hope you will join us as we march around the country in 2024.
Contact us at mammiesfortransrights@gmail.com / @mams4trans
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