These are the memoirs of Christine Burns MBE, one of the leading figures in that campaign until 2007. In this second volume Christine describes how Press for Change moved up a gear and challenged Britain’s Labour Government, starting in 1998. She describes how employment protections and the right for trans people to be treated on the NHS were won — culminating in the successful passage of the Gender Recognition Act."
In 2014, I talked with Christine about the book and this is what she told me: "“Pressing Matters” is a history of trans activism in the United Kingdom. It is a history that I was initially reluctant to write, as I wasn’t sure whether I was the right person to write such a thing. I was very close to the action during a phenomenal period of advancement in trans rights around the world. As such, I thought I might have been too close to tell such an important story.
My ideal scenario is that such a history ought to be written by others - with the perspective that comes from both physical distance and the passage of time.
However, in spite of efforts to encourage that over the last few years I could see that such a history wasn’t going to get written unless someone took the first step.
At the same time, I think such a history is absolutely crucial - especially as a majority of those leading on trans activism in the UK now are quite young and would not otherwise understand how the circumstances they find themselves in came about."
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