Leeds agency This Is Distorted has created an hour-long audio documentary busting the myths and misconceptions surrounding the trans community.
Living Authentically: Trans Truths is narrated by award-winning radio and TV presenter Stephanie Hirst and will air on Virgin Radio Pride on Tuesday August 16 at 6pm.
41 per cent of trans men and women responding to a recent Stonewall survey said they had experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the past 12 months, and recorded transgender hate crimes have increased by an astonishing 650 per cent. This documentary aims to educate listeners whilst also providing a resource for people who would like to learn more about the lived experiences of those in the trans community.
Living Authentically: Trans Truths promises to take listeners on an educational journey. And will feature contributions from radio presenter Paris Munro, Cleo Madeleine from Gendered Intelligence, Virgin Radio Pride’s Shivani Dave and Grey Marlow from Queer Lit book shop in Manchester. Guests will talk about the most common and harmful misconceptions they’ve encountered while exploring their gender identity. The makers also chat to members of the public during a live discussion hosted by Mermaids, a children’s trans charity based in Leeds and London.
Mike Cass, content director at Virgin Radio UK said: “Virgin Radio Pride UK’s mission is to share the biggest stories from the LGBTQ+ community with our listeners and Living Authentically: Trans Truths does just that. With the brilliant Stephanie Hirst narrating this fascinating documentary, it is a must listen this summer.”
Hirst added: “It’s a true honour to host this documentary for Virgin Radio Pride. It’s vitally important that we all try to educate ourselves from those who have a lived experience, in all walks of live, especially those from the Trans & Non Binary community. It is an incredibly educational listen”
Following its broadcast on Tuesday August 16, the documentary will be available to listen again on Spotify.