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The Importance of Community Support at Pride Events
The Portsmouth Pride parade featured a giant trans pride flag carried by a diverse group of supporters. Amidst challenging weather, the author felt emotional, appreciating their PhD supervisor Steven’s support despite not being trans. This moment served as a reminder of the love and solidarity present for the trans community.
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Improving Cancer Care for Trans+ Individuals
Trans Aware Cancer Care is concluding its initial phase, focusing on the experiences of trans+ individuals with cancer services. Participants created expressive squares to form a large trans flag, which will be showcased in hospitals. The project emphasizes the need for inclusivity, sensitivity, and normalizing pronoun sharing in healthcare practices to enhance trans+ patient experiences.
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Trans and Autistic: Power at the intersection
Gender expression and identity, under colonialism, is considered as binary, either masculine or feminine, but some people fall somewhere along – or outside of – the spectrum of gender. Trans and gender diverse identities (as well as cultural ‘third genders’ such as two-spirit) exist more frequently in Autistic communities than in non-Autistic communities. Many Autistic…
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Asexual, aromantic and Autistic: “I don’t need fixing”
This content addresses the misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding Autistic individuals’ capacity for love and intimacy, particularly the erasure and phobia faced by those who identify as asexual or aromantic. It emphasizes the need for understanding and respecting diverse identities and urges for education and advocacy to empower and support Autistic individuals.
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Mental health crisis: Reaching out and checking in
Content warning: mental health struggles, mention of incarceration, death and estrangement. It is consistently suggested that people who are in mental health crisis need to ‘reach out’ for support. This is problematic as the onus of support and help is put on the person who is struggling, this individual must be able to have the…
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Are Mental health groups accessible to Autistic people?
Content warning: mention of abuse, neglect, suicide, hospitalisation, food, body image, mental health. Autistic communities exist on and offline, some of them are based in charities, some of them are less formal, and some are Autistic led. They may not suit everyone but there is a choice for most Autistic people, if you have the…
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Trans and Autistic: supporting gender diverse Autistic students
Living at the intersection of trans and Autistic identities is a unique and insightful experience, however many of us who occupy this space have difficulty in gaining support within educational settings. Many of us find it difficult to find teaching staff who are both knowledgeable about, and affirming to, Autistic and transgender experiences. Those who…