Culture

Meet the Trans Storytellers Fighting British Transphobia


Trans Radio UK might be the only trans radio station in the world. Four years ago, it had one presenter, Clark, and one listener, her co-founder and wife, Avril. Today, the couple has a team of more than 60 people, with tens of thousands of listeners from more than 100 countries, and offshoots including TRUK Listens, a support helpline, and a football team, which recently made history with an all-trans women’s squad.

Clark explains that Trans Radio UK does “try to be positive, but we also cover what’s going on.”

“We’re in the eye of the storm at the moment,” she tells Them over the phone. “A lot of the discussions in the media about trans people don’t involve trans people. Or if they do, it’s the same faces. With independent trans media, you’re getting the actual voice from the community. We tell it how it is and we’ll give the view of what the majority of trans people think, not what people like Caitlyn Jenner think.”

The station, which is entirely self-funded, doesn’t solely cater to a trans audience. It broadcasts 24/7, has ex-club DJs among its presenters, and airs regular ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s music shows. “It is literally for anyone,” Clark says. “But the discussion content is more for the trans community, because we’ll talk about trans-specific topics from a trans point of view.”

Importantly, Clark notes that although antagonism against trans people in the U.K. is dire, it is far from the kind of coherent movement that the mainstream press often makes it out to be. “The haters don’t have the numbers that the media portrays them to,” she says. “Look at a lot of the events where [‘gender-critical’ activist] Posie Parker and her crew turn up, you know? I generally see more people waiting for a bus.”

Around the same time that Clark made her 4 a.m. decision, Michelle Snow and Ashleigh Talbot started making What The Trans, a “DIY trans news podcast by pissed off trans folks for pissed off trans folks.”

“We’re not the first to do trans media for trans people,” Snow says, “but in the podcasting space, I couldn’t find anything like that.” With a loyal, devoted audience and more than 20,000 Twitter followers, the podcast is an important source of trans news. The duo deliver serious and often depressing news with an irreverent humor. “The tone is furious without leaving listeners in despair,” Talbot explains.

“From very early on, our principle was: what will benefit our listeners?” Snow adds. “We have turned down advertisers entirely because we don’t think it would be a benefit to our audience to send the message that our words can be bought. I may be high-minded, but I think that’s really important.”





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