Christine Burns - Pressing Matters (Vol 1)

2013, Christine Burns, English, UK,

"Press for Change (founded in 1992) was a hugely successful campaign for the civil rights of transgender people in the UK -- achieving in the first 12 years a string of legislative successes that included protection against discrimination in employment, the right to NHS treatment and ultimately the process for full legal recognition of transsexual people in their acquired gender in 2004. The organisation continues to this day. 

 These are the memoirs of Christine Burns MBE, one of the leading figures in that campaign until 2007. Christine tells the story of how she personally became involved in campaigning and how that involvement entwined in her home, work, and political life."

In 2014, I interviewed Christine and this is what she said about the 70s and 80s: "Some things are vital to survival - food and shelter are among the most fundamental of human needs. In the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s trans people couldn’t secure those things for themselves. If you didn’t “pass” then people would simply not employ you. And if you did “pass” then the ability to hold on to your job depended in many cases on people not being aware of your past.

There was a culture of impunity though. Trans people lived in a world where they could be “outed” at any time. The consequences of such exposure (which remain serious for many today) could involve immediate loss of your job and hence your ability to pay the gas and electricity bill, the rent, and put food on the table."

Available via Amazon

and The Heroines of My Life