As part of our Trans Voices project, the Healthwatch Cumberland team recently launched a comic at Carlisle Zine Fest in Tullie on Saturday 18th April.
The comic, co-created with two incredible local artists, Eden and J, contains comic versions of four case studies from trans and gender diverse people living in Cumberland.
Throughout our Trans Voices project, we asked local trans and gender diverse people about their experiences of living in Cumberland, and what they think about health and social care services.
Comms and Admin Coordinator Suzannah believes the comic can help make services more inclusive:
“The stories included in the comic are powerful and we hope that through the comic, trans people’s voices can be heard and listened to by both members of the public and health and care professionals. Health and care services have a long way to go in terms of their inclusivity for trans and gender diverse people. A lot of assumptions can be made, and often it seems that being gender inclusive is not considered at all. From unisex toilets, to asking people what their preferred pronouns are, or even taking the time to understand more about what being trans means can make a huge difference to many people’s lives. We should all be able to be ourselves in life and when this option is not available to us, or when we feel like we have to hide who we really are, our mental and physical health can be greatly impacted.”
Tullie’s Zine Fest was well attended, and there were lots of wonderful zines, prints and other artworks on display. The HWC team enjoyed seeing what everyone had produced:
“I love art, so the Zine Fest was a great opportunity to see what is happening in the world of local creatives. Our stand was a bit different as we were not selling artwork, but I think our zine was a big hit and it was lovely to chat to people and explain more about our project.”
The team also had the chance to screen the ‘I, Me, Us’ film created by Pride in North Cumbria (PiNC). The film explores the lives of local trans and gender diverse people living in Cumbria and was recently included in Keswick Film Festival.
Engagement Manager Chloe was pleased with the opportunity to share our work in a new format, and excited to see the result of the hard work of the artists involved:
“There is such satisfaction in seeing the hard work pay off. Having the opportunity to share people’s stories and experiences in such a creative, layered way has been great for opening up our minds to what could be done with our reports and how we reach people. The highlight for me has been seeing the confidence of the artists grow as they received positive feedback on their work and how they have been empowered to have creative freedom with their designs. Massive thanks to Tullie for having us, they did a fab job of hosting a safe and inclusive space that assured that the launch of the comic book was seamless as well as fun. Extra thanks to PINC who kindly allowed us to share their amazing film alongside our comic book. As always, working in partnership with our local communities is key!”
Thank you to everyone who was involved in the creation of our comic, including the wonderful artists and incredible project participants.
We will shortly be releasing a full Trans Voices report, containing more case studies and key recommendations.
To view a digital version of our comic, click here.