Transvox

We are so disappointed to see the recent guidance from the NHS around the treatment of trans+ people. Not only does this seem to go against the idea of personalised care, but we are actually being excluded from services we are paying for. Whilst the NHS leadership may have carefully considered the issues, the decision ranks of moral cowardice and a lack of substantive common sense – rather more of a rush to upset many of the most vulnerable people in society to mitigate perceived risk and placate ‘noisy’ opponents of trans+ people.

The decision does not solve any problems around healthcare settings security and risk – where trans+ people are not (and have never been) the substantive issue and it flies in the face of common sense where staff, volunteers and others are free to access these spaces without gender constraints – the safety of staff and patients remains exactly as it was before this guidance – maybe this is just a performative smoke screen as affecting trans+ people will not affect security at all.

Actually, safety has been put at risk – but only that of trans+ people who now have to access a potentially hostile and unsafe ‘service’.

We encourage the NHS to rethink this decision (without any expectation that they would listen or care!) – we will be joining with other trans+ organisations to see what options we have moving forward.

You can contact us at [email protected]

This week Gillian meets Kestrel Gaian and has a wide-ranging conversation around creativity, writing poetry and books as well as bringing stories and narratives to life where Queerness is the least interesting thing about people. They also discuss the process of choosing names!

Kestral Gaian is an author, poet, playwright, activist, and professional overthinker. Their work spans fiction, poetry, theatre, audio, music, and video games, and they have a particular interest in telling positive stories about queer lives, poking at broken systems, and seeing what people can build together when the rules stop making sense.

They believe kindness is more interesting than cruelty, that stories should leave room for mischief, and that most problems can be solved by eating a good sandwich.

Their books include The Boy From Elsewhere, the first novel in the Reality Quake saga, and acclaimed poetry collection Tubelines. Across their work, Kestral returns to queer lives, memory, grief, community, and systems that have forgotten the people they are supposed to serve. Their characters tend to notice the machinery behind ordinary life and decide, usually at considerable inconvenience to themselves, to interfere with it.

Kestral grew up on a council estate with very few people like them reflected in books or on television. Storytelling became a way to find missing possibilities and create their own role models, which sounds far better than calling them imaginary friends. Their work combines imagination, emotional honesty, and political bite, with a strong thread of kindness being more interesting than cruelty. They like jokes in serious places, tenderness that has earned its place, and stories in which survival means more than reaching the final page. You can find out more at https://kestr.al/

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

Gillian welcomes Debbie Cannon to the Transvox podcast, discussing her background as a Geordie who moved around the UK, served in the Army, worked 21 years in insurance, won “Insurance Leader of the Year” in 2017, and later moved into community and charity work.

Debbie leads Trans Without Abuse, a by-and-for domestic abuse support service for trans and non-binary adults across Cheshire under Cheshire Without Abuse, launched in 2023 after research found marginalised groups didn’t engage because services didn’t feel “for them.”

She explains domestic abuse beyond physical violence, including coercive control and identity-based abuse such as deadnaming, restricting gender expression, isolating from affirming spaces, and threats of outing.

Debbie outlines how the service provides safety planning, holistic support, and options including family-wide interventions, and she created “Live Free,” a free online recovery program through a trans and non-binary lens, accessible via transwithoutabuse.org.uk.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:36 Ukulele Club Festival

02:47 Life Story and Transition

05:48 Trans Inclusion Across Regions

10:09 Breaking the Trans Bubble

13:01 Trans Without Abuse Origins

15:03 What Domestic Abuse Is

16:18 Identity Based Abuse

26:31 Support and Safety Planning

30:30 Stats and Live Free Program

32:48 How to Get Help

33:27 Closing Thanks

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

In this Transvox episode - it’s listeners’ questions, Gillian and Jenny discuss a question from (another) Jenny in Manchester about whether musical tastes change during transition and whether music helps with anxiety and the transition process.

Jenny says her tastes are eclectic and not fundamentally changed, but certain songs resonated differently during transition and she has become more interested in supporting trans and non-binary artists, noting connections in electronic music and film scores.

They mention music that felt meaningful, including the Forrest Gump piano theme and Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill,” and reflect on how personal interpretation matters even when songs aren’t explicitly trans-themed.

They also discuss LGBT figures in music, including Wendy Carlos, Lou Reed references, classical composers Samuel Barber, Gian Carlo Menotti, Tchaikovsky, and Dame Ethel Smyth, plus Labi Siffre, Sylvester, Boy George, Freddie Mercury, and Jimmy Somerville, and conclude that the arts can provide a welcoming, therapeutic space for identity expression.

00:00 Is a ‘mo’ an outfit choice worth discussion?

01:03 Listener Questions Setup

02:47 Music and Transition

05:15 Film Scores and Feelings

09:29 Queer Classical Composers

13:20 Pop Icons and Representation

15:25 Arts as Safe Expression

20:28 Wrap Up and Goodbye

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

On Transvox, Gillian interviews CJ Webb, a neurodivergent, disabled, non-binary person (sometimes describing their gender as gender fluid) and an NHS talking-therapy therapist who is also building a private practice called Quiet Reflections.

CJ explains that their drive to become a therapist came from wanting to understand people and their own place in the world, a perspective shaped by later receiving an autism diagnosis and recognising past masking.

They discuss early experiences of not fitting into “boys” or “girls” lines at school, the distress of early puberty and being perceived, and family expectations such as wearing dresses as a bridesmaid. CJ describes the importance of language and discovering terms like gender fluid and non-binary, clarifies umbrella relationships including agender, and shares how using they/them pronouns can mean constant coming out and varies by context.

They note UK debates and a Supreme Court ruling leaving non-binary people effectively unrecognised, and they outline their person-centered, emotion-focused therapy approach offering counselling, EMDR, and psychosexual therapy via quietreflections.co.uk.

00:00 Welcome to CJ

00:58 Who CJ Is

01:42 Therapist Journey

03:48 Autism And Masking

06:00 Not Belonging

08:28 Puberty And Dysphoria

10:21 Family Expectations

14:16 Finding The Words

17:06 Nonbinary Explained

19:15 Names And Pronouns

23:52 Sexuality And Pressure

28:16 Therapy Style

30:49 Rights And Farewell

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

In an ‘emergency’ solo Transvox episode, Gillian explains the uncertainty created by the UK Supreme Court ruling that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex and by the EHRC statutory Code of Practice laid in Parliament on 21 May 2026 and effective 5 August 2026, noting it is guidance (not primary legislation or criminal law) and may be reshaped through case law and future revisions.

The code affects services, public functions, and associations, especially single-sex spaces and services, while employer guidance has not yet been updated; the host also cites a February 2026 High Court decision requiring workplace facilities to operate on a biological sex basis under health and safety regulations, with lockable rooms as an option.

They stress gender reassignment remains a protected characteristic and outline practical steps for trans people (knowing rights, documenting incidents, challenging blanket exclusions, using complaints routes) and for employers/service providers (avoiding haste, seeking legal advice, conducting impact assessments, applying proportionality, avoiding appearance-policing, communicating transparently, and using case-by-case decisions).

This is not legal advice - but we can support all parties with advice, templates and training to help manage practical solutions to the challenges this poor guidance will raise.

00:00 Emergency Episode Intro

00:38 What Changed Legally

04:34 What It Means for Trans People

10:44 Practical Steps and Self Advocacy

14:15 Collective Action and Wellbeing

16:18 Guidance for Employers

21:13 Advice for Service Providers

26:08 Final Thoughts

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

In this episode, Gillian interviews London-based electronic musician and recording artist Dyvr, who uses dance floors as spaces for processing grief, shame, and abandonment, with a focus on making trans+ people feel seen and accepted.

Dyvr discusses growing up in a multicultural part of London as mixed race (Pakistani mother, Scottish-Irish/Midlands father), the complexities of belonging, racism as erasure, and how queer and trans+ identity intersects with diaspora experience, including not learning their mother’s language.

They describe music as a lifelong emotional conduit, beginning to make music in their early 20s after living independently from 16, and explain their album “Rebuild,” made over three and a half years while learning production and documenting liberation, grief, anger, and family abandonment; it was released July 25 to align with Trans Pride, alongside a Tottenham after-party. Dyvr mentions performances at Glastonbury, Boomtown, multiple Pride events, upcoming Galway shows (Aug 6 and 8), Boomtown’s Naflika space, and developing co-production work; they can be followed on Instagram as deepseaDyver (deepsea D-Y-V-R).

00:00 Curtains and Studio Vibes

00:39 Meet Dyvr

01:15 Music as Activism

03:00 London Roots and Heritage

04:04 Mixed Race Identity

07:02 Racism and Erasure

08:59 Language and Diaspora

11:34 Migration and Culture Shift

13:41 Transness and Intersectionality

15:46 Turning to Music

15:57 Music as Emotional Language

17:15 Finding Songwriting Later

17:40 Survival and Mental Health

20:05 Authenticity on Stage

24:27 Rebuild Album Journey

28:23 Release and Trans Pride

29:26 Festivals and Pride Shows

31:48 Producing for Community

33:38 Where to Follow Next

34:17 Wrap Up and Goodbyes

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

Gillian and Jenny discuss how Pride began after Stonewall as political protest, later became a celebratory, commercialised community event during periods of progress (e.g., repeal of Section 28, equal marriage), and is now facing funding pressures and backlash that may push it back toward protest, especially amid anti-trans legislation.

They compare big-city Prides with smaller-town events, noting Newcastle’s two-day Pride and Gateshead Pride’s success after community support replaced withdrawn council funding.

They describe reduced police and emergency services visibility at Pride, arguing that pulling back is itself political. The conversation covers councils restricting LGBTQ+ library publicity and book access, culture-war reactions to casting choices, a reported vehicle attack on Berlin Pride with at least 16 injured, concerns about wider LGBT rights rollbacks, and upcoming EHRC guidance (5 August) and legal/campaign responses.

00:00 Welcome and Catch Up

00:39 Why Pride Matters Now

01:14 Origins of Pride Protests

03:35 Funding and Local Pride Scenes

04:23 Police Presence and Backlash

07:32 Commercialisation and Community Focus

08:37 Culture Wars and Book Bans

10:54 Berlin Attack and Media Framing

14:14 Rolling Back LGBT Rights

16:53 Wealth and Legal Threats

19:23 EHRC Guidance Coming Up

23:05 World Cup Final and Wrap Up

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

Gillian interviews Chloe Kelly (not that one!) a trans woman who realised she was transgender at 45 after using FaceApp in October 2023, began hormones in January 2024, and went full-time in August 2024 after encouragement from her boss.

Chloe describes early signs like cross-dressing, wishing to wake up as a girl, and lifelong fascination with trans topics, plus the shock of NHS waitlists (Wales) and using private providers (GenderGP, then Harley Street).

She discusses changes in social treatment and loss of male privilege, supportive reactions overall but losing some friends, and finding community at Leeds First Friday.

After leaving a senior national account manager role, she wrote a romance novel with a trans lead, traveled extensively solo across Europe and Asia, recounting a distressing spa incident in Almaty, and now plans to write more, publish articles, create a transitioning-later guide, continue her “Girlavanting” YouTube series, and spend three months in Buenos Aires.

00:00 Meet Chloe Kelly

00:22 Late Realization

02:21 FaceApp Awakening

03:55 NHS And Private Care

05:23 Coming Out At Work

08:49 Relief And Choosing Joy

10:28 Friends Community And Tribe

12:31 Life As A Woman Now

14:58 Breaking Life’s Boxes

15:40 Quitting Work to Live

16:02 Writing and World Travel

18:35 Solo Travel and Confidence

18:58 Turning Trips into a Book

20:17 Marriage and New Attraction

21:23 Dating Men and Desire

23:56 Future Plans and Where to Follow

26:37 Farewell and Reflections

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

Gillian and Jenny discuss politics and what a likely Andy Burnham premiership could mean for trans people. They review Burnham’s history in Labour, note his “normal guy” public persona, and describe his LGBT+ record: marching against Section 28, voting for repeal, civil partnerships, same-sex marriage, IVF rights, opposing discrimination and conversion therapy, and previously backing Gender Recognition Act reform.

They also raise concerns about a past meeting with the LGB Alliance and his cautious response to Supreme Court-related EHRC guidance, questioning whether he would fight publicly for trans rights.

The conversation shifts to how leadership, the NHS, and the choice of Health Secretary could shape implementation of guidance across trusts, and ends with guarded optimism that a new leader might reduce hostility even if change is limited.

00:00 Welcome

00:38 Why Politics Matters Now

01:42 Who Is Andy Burnham?

05:08 LGBT+ Voting Record

07:44 Trans Rights Concerns

10:47 Mamdani Comparison

14:16 Manchester And Hope

15:43 EHRC Guidance Fallout

17:47 NHS Trusts And Risks

25:45 Closing Thoughts

x -n AnBur Burnham

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out more at transvox.co.uk

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