A new support service is being offered to those who have certain LGBTQ+ community members in their families.
CMAGIC, which offers gender dysphoria services throughout Merseyside and Cheshire, is launching a new pilot scheme which aims to help families of transgender, non-binary and intersex people.
The group’s latest initiative was one the collaborative “felt strongly needed to be launched” following their research into what local people across the gender spectrum and their families urgently needed.
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Chair of CMAGIC, Anthony Griffin, told the ECHO: “Often the biggest challenge for families is they find themselves grieving for their child - even though they support them, it is still hard to accept. So it’s important for parents and carers to be able to talk about those feelings in a non-judgmental environment.
“These services are becoming increasingly important as the lives of anyone who identifies other than their birth gender becomes a focus of a society that isn’t aware of the barriers we face with health, social and economic issues.
“The growing gulf of life expectancy between transgender people compared to other minority groups in our society is increasing and we know that health inequalities in particular are at unprecedented levels.
“Services such as ours are unique in that they are informed by people from across the gender spectrum and also designed by people with lived experience.”
Initially, the pilot will operate in the Wirral and then be rolled out in other areas across Merseyside and Cheshire.
The service will provide peer-led support and will be "fully informed by well-trained volunteers". Each family will be assessed and together it will be decided exactly what they need from the service.
CMAGIC began over twenty years ago with the coming together of local gender spectrum groups and supportive allies. Their intention was to develop a new approach to gender transition under the NHS care pathway.
The collaborative now has a framework of services that support gender spectrum people as “they start their unique individual journey which takes enormous amounts of courage because for many it means the loss of everything”.
With this in mind, The CMAGIC Trans Mission Wirral: Families, Allies and Friends service will “demonstrate what can be done to improve the outcome for not just the gender spectrum individual but also those who want to support them”.
One parent - who wished not to be named because of fear of transphobia - benefitted from a similar scheme which was run years previously by Anthony Griffin. Their child came out as transgender when they were 16.
The 50-year-old healthcare worker, who lives in the city centre, said: “It helped my family to be with other families who were going through a similar situation. It helped me with the terminology of language and how I could best support my trans child.
"It also helped my child to feel less lonely in their situation and helped them to engage with others by being their true self. It felt scary to have my child come out as trans as, particularly back then, it was not something that we as a family were familiar with.
"My child assumed that they were grappling with their sexuality, however, they felt that this wasn't quite the issue. It was sadly left to my child to do their research and then bring their findings of discovery to us as a family.
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“Once we knew what they were going through, we endeavoured to do our best to learn as much about it as possible and to seek support from others who were more familiar with this territory.
“Transphobia of course does not only affect the trans individual. It has a huge effect on their family and friends and also on society as a whole. As, usually, transphobia brings harm and devastation to the people that we love. It has been an interesting ride since but my child lives a fulfilled, loved life and is thriving in his true gender.“
Families wishing to use or learn more about the service can do so online.
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