September in the Channel Islands has seen three firsts: the first pan-island Pride, the first Equality & Diversity Awards and the first award by a tribunal of compensation for hurt and distress from discriminatory behaviour in the workplace.

Pride was a truly pan-island event this year with a whole week of celebrations in both the Bailiwick of Jersey and Guernsey. Jersey held the first ever Pride in the Channel Islands last year and this year Guernsey joined the party by holding the opening Pride parade of Pride week…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-from-a-small-island-united-through-pride/

In 1990, the crime of sodomy between two consenting adult males in private still existed in Jersey. In light of the number of HIV and AIDS related deaths that had been rising at an alarming rate throughout the 1980s, the States of Jersey led by the uninformed, prejudiced and fearful Health and Legislation Ministers resisted calls to remove this crime from the statute books…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-small-island-brexit-blues/

So, this week, the trans toilet argument hit the press in Jersey, the Channel Island where I live and work. Using our new discrimination laws, a trans woman brought a case against our local ferry company for discrimination. When she asked which toilet she should use, she was directed to the disabled cubicle. She was also misgendered and called “Mr”…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-from-a-small-island-talking-toilets/

Tonight is the Oscars. Criticised this year for its lack of racial diversity, it has however diversified in the category of gender and sexuality. It would have been impossible not to with “The Danish Girl” and “Carol” in the mix, lush period movies with half an eye on an award if ever there were. “The Danish Girl” is up for Best Actor in a Leading Role with Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander is up for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and it has a nod for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-small-island-danish-experience/

On 1 September 2015, the second plank of Jersey’s discrimination legislation came into force. As a trans person on the island you are protected under the characteristic of gender reassignment. Now if you experience less favourable treatment in the workplace, as either an employee or a client of a provider of goods and services, you have the ability within law to take the case to the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal. If they find for you, it may result in compensation of up to £10,000 for a single claim. (Jersey has set a limit for compensation unlike other jurisdictions.)…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-small-island-customer-service-two-way-street/

The Channel Islands held their first ever Pride event last weekend. It was held in my home island, Jersey, and I was part of the organising committee, with responsibility for delivering the parade safely from its starting point to its end. This meant that I saw very little of the parade and my enjoyment of the day was filtered through the lens of having to think two paces ahead of what was actually happening at that moment!..

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-small-island-everyone-deserves-pride/

The States of Jersey lodged a proposal this week regarding introducing same-sex marriage in Jersey. This is a document that outlines the issues for debate and where the proposer, our Chief Minister Senator Ian Gorst, stands on the issue. You can read the whole proposal here.

The proposal is wide ranging as Senator Gorst and his team have looked at all aspects of marriage from what spouses are called in a marriage, to how couples get divorced and how the state can ease this process to make it less painful, to what constitutes grounds for divorce, to parental responsibility, to what to do with civil partnerships now same-sex marriage is on its way, to improving the rights of co-habiting couples, to revising our archaic taxation laws where a wife is still viewed as an adjunct of her husband…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-small-island-smooth-transitioning-within-marriage/

The States of Jersey have passed regulations this week that expand the island’s anti-discrimination legislation to encompass sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and pregnancy and maternity (together called the “(Sex and Related Characteristics) (Jersey) Regulations”). The new regulations, due to come into force on 1 September 2015, provide protection for the island’s LGBTQ citizens…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-from-a-small-island-jersey-equality-takes-a-stride-forward/

When I tell people from other countries where I come from, they always ask what it’s like to be a trans man in such a small place. There is an assumption that the more cosmopolitan a place is, the more cultural influences it absorbs, the more tolerant it is. I’m not sure this is true. Our LGBTQ police liaison officers tell me that our hate crime figures are so low as to be almost zero and that’s not because incidents have gone unreported. It simply doesn’t happen here. The LGBTQ population are “out” and part of the business community, the political establishment and our charitable and cultural sectors, seamlessly integrated into our society. We haven’t had a gay bar for over ten years – perhaps, because we no longer need a meeting place separate from everyone else – and we had our first pride march last year, purely to show support for equal marriage legislation, which is now being drawn up…

https://planettransgender.com/trans-notes-from-a-small-island-the-benefits-of-being-a-follower-not-a-leader/