Category: Uncategorised

Social Media Posts

March 2020

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April 2020:

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Planning: Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility in self isolation.

Sourcing the story:

I saw a post on Instagram about the virtual event that Jecca Blac were planning for Transgender Day of Visibility, I thought it would make a good news story as it fitted with my project brief of positive LGBTQ+ stories, and related to the current major news story of COVID-19.

Getting quotes:

I sent a message to Jecca Blac on Instagram requesting a quote that could accompany the piece.

Production:

I used the information about the event from the Jecca Blac social media and website, and my quote to write up the news story.

Planning and Evaluation: An insight into non-binary life in Britain.

Sourcing the story:

After seeing the massively negative response on Twitter to a video posted by the BBC which featured a non-binary person reading a poem they wrote about the difficulties of getting a haircut, I decided that I wanted to interview a non-binary person about their experiences living as a non-binary person in Britain, as I felt it would make a current and relevant feature article.

Setting up interviews:

I had heard about Kiran Evans through through related activism circles, and knew they were heavily involved in activism within the LGBTQ+ community as well as being a non-binary person which made them an ideal candidate for interviewing, so I messaged them on Twitter to ask if they’d be interested in being interviewed. They responded yes and so we set up a date and time.

Problem Solving:

The first problem I encountered was that Kiran had some issues come up in their personal life which meant that we could not conduct the interview over the phone as I had originally planned, so we organised for them to send me their responses to my questions via email instead.

The second problem I encountered when I was writing up the article, I realised that I had not got any images of Kiran to accompany my piece, so I sent them another message requesting some photographs, and they sent me a selection to chose from.

Research:

I began my research for this piece by reading through content produced by LGBTQ+ charities and publications on the non-binary experience to give myself a better understanding before I began to write my questions for Kiran. The pieces of content I used for this part of my research were from: Stonewall UK, All About Trans, and OutLife.

I then went and looked into articles on the topics of non-binary issues from mainstream newspapers that are known for being LGBTQ+ friendly such as The Independent and The Guardian, to get an idea of the ways in which non-binary issues were making the news. The articles I read were on Sam Smith, legal recognition, and education laws.

Finally, I watched the poem that was published on Twitter by BBC The Sounds, and read through as many of the replies as I could, to give myself an idea of the opinions that are directed towards non-binary people.

Production:

Once I had completed all this reading and research, I felt I had a good enough understanding of the issues faced by non-binary people to write up my interview questions, so I wrote them up, ensuring they were all open questions, and emailed them to Kiran.

Once I had received Kiran’s responses to my questions, I copied them all into a word document and read through them, highlighting the quotes I thought were most relevant, it was during this process that I had the idea to create my infographic. Once I had all my quotes, and the research I had collected, I set out writing my article; using the tweet from BBC The Sounds and the photographs that Kiran had sent me of themselves to break up the writing.

Once the article was written and edited, I published it, and hared the links onto Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram Stories as I had already posted a picture that day and didn’t want to mess up the algorithm by double posting.

You can read the completed article: here

You can see the original tweet: here

You can see the original Facebook post: here

The Instagram story can be viewed as part of the ‘our stories’ moment on the @awildeplace Instagram profile.

Evaluation:

I am really happy with how this article was received both by Kiran and by the wider LGBTQ+ community, the article itself received 64 views, and on Twitter it received four retweets, nine likes, two quoted retweets (one from Kiran, and one from Trans Pride Leeds) and a response from a reader who thanked me for writing the article and sharing Kiran’s experience.

If I was to do this article again in future, I would push more for a compromise that still included a phone call as then I could have gone into even more detail about their experiences. however, I am pleased with how much detail I was able to go into with this article, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to write a feature that included more in depth quotations from my interviewee.

Planning: Trans solidarity is more important now than ever.

Sourcing the story:

I found this story through a tweet from the activism group London Bi Pandas, they tweeted about a protest that was happening on Monday (9th March).

Setting up interviews:

On Tuesday I messaged both London Bi Pandas, and LwiththeT (another group involved in the protest) with an interview request.

Problem Solving:

After waiting a day, on Wednesday (11th March) I wrote a second message to both groups re-requesting information and emphasising the fact that I wanted to get the article written and published as soon as possible.

I did not get a response from London Bi Pandas, however I was sent a press release by LwiththeT that meant I was able to write up my article.

While I was writing the article, I realised that I had not been sent any photographs of the protest, but I had been sent a link of another article on the same issue, so I sourced my images from there.

Production:

Using the information from the press release I was sent, I wrote up my article, and shared it on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I sourced images from another article on the protest.

You can view the article: here

The Instagram post: here

The Facebook post: here

The Tweet: here

Planning and Evaluation: What’s in a name?

Sourcing the story:

In February, it was announced that the charity Mermaids, whose work supports transgender and gender diverse young people, had formed a partnership and created a campaign with Starbucks UK and that Starbucks would be selling a limited edition Mermaid cookie, and 50p from each cookie sold would go to Marmaids to expand their services. I watched the reaction on social media, and tuned into the premier of the advert, and thought that it would make a good feature article.

Setting up interviews:

If possible, I wanted interviews with a representative of both Starbucks and Mermaids, so I sent an email to Mermaids’ press coordinator, and to the Instagram account of one of my local Starbucks branches.

Research:

Mermaids =

  • A charity that has been supporting trans and gender-diverse children, young people, and families since 1995.
  • One of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities.
  • They seek to educate and inform wider society on gender identity by helping professionals accommodate and reassure gender-variant young people.
  • Supports gender-diverse children and young people until their 20th birthday.

#whatsyourname campaign:

  • Mermaids partnered with Starbucks UK for the campaign.
  • The James’ story advert premiered on Channel 4 on Sunday 2nd February 2020, the advert was awarded Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising Award.
  • Inspired by the discovery that many of Mermaids transgender service users were trialling their chosen names at Starbucks.
  • Throughout the campaign, Starbucks will sell a limited edition Mermaids cookie, 50p from each cookie goes towards funding Mermaids helpline services, Starbucks have also committed to a contribution of £100,000.
  • Mermaids worked with Starbucks on developing their transgender inclusion policies in the UK.
  • As well as the James advert, Starbucks asked four people to tell their story of choosing their names, these people are Cairo, Eliza, Nicole, and Otto, and there was a poster and a video created for each story.
  • The tagline for the campaign is:

Every name’s a story.

  • Every Starbucks store has a sticker in the window that reads:

Welcome.

Whoever you are, or want to be, this is your Starbucks.

Research links: Mermaids , Starbucks

Problem Solving:

After a week, I had not received a second response from either Starbucks or Mermaids, so I sent out another message to both.

The second message worked for Mermaids, and I got a response to my questions, but Starbucks read my message and sent no response, so I tried to get in contact with the national Starbucks account.

However, once again my message was read and ignored. So I decided to write my feature article using just my interview from Mermaids.

Production:

I set out writing my article using the research I had conducted, and my interview. Once the written elements were complete I sourced visuals (photographs and gifs) to break up the piece, and credited them to their original sources.

I then created a post for Instagram, using a photograph of me with one of the cookies, and edited it on top of the transgender flag, using the Canva editing software.

I shared the story on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

You can view the story: here.

Evaluation:

My article was published on Monday 2nd March 2020, and to go with the article I published a post on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to promote it. A week later, Monday 9th March 2020, the article had achieved 64 views, the Instagram post had 32 likes, 6 shares and 2 saves, the Facebook post reached 238 reached, 2 likes and 3 shares, and the Tweet had 175 impressions and 24 engagements.

As first articles go, I am really rather pleased with how this one turned out, I got an interview from a relevant source, and managed to write up a high-quality article that was visually pleasing and got a fairly high number of views. However, I was disappointed with myself that I did not get a second interview for this piece, as I think it would have given the story much more depth.

Going forward, if I feel a piece would benefit from multiple interviews, I will expand my list of potential interviewees, so I’m not focusing all my energy on getting an interview from one entity.

Bibliography

The Centre (2020), Defining LGBTQ [online], last accessed on 9th March 2020 at: https://gaycenter.org/about/lgbtq/

Meka Beresford (2017), What is a TERF and why should you be worried? [online], last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/04/16/what-is-a-terf-and-why-should-you-be-worried/

The National Centre for Transgender Equality (2018),
Understanding Non-Binary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive [online], last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-non-binary-people-how-to-be-respectful-and-supportive

Amy Ashenden and Vic Parsons (2019), 15 rights LGBT people in the UK still don’t have [online], last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/06/13/15-rights-lgbt-uk-still-dont-have-pride/

Merriam-Webster (2020), Definition of Cisgender, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cisgender

Suzanne Moore (2020), Women must have the right to organise. We will not be silenced, last accessed on 9th March 2020 at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/women-must-have-the-right-to-organise-we-will-not-be-silenced

LITTLEJOHN, Richard (2012), He’s not only in the wrong body…he’s in the wrong job, The Daily Mail, 21st December

Lily Wakefield (2020), Local councils are asking young people kicked out of their homes for being LGBT+ for ‘proof’ of their homelessness, last accessed on 9th March 2020 at: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/03/09/councils-england-lgbt-homelessness-youth-albert-kennedy-trust-bbc-three-investigation/

Steve Brown (2020), TRANSGENDER MAN FIGHTING TO BE NAMED FATHER ON CHILD’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE LAUNCHES APPEAL, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://attitude.co.uk/article/transgender-man-fighting-to-be-named-father-on-childs-birth-certificate-launches-appeal/22983/

Positive News (2020), home, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://www.positive.news/

The Happy Newspaper (2020), home, last accessed 9th March 202 at: https://thehappynewspaper.com/

Mermaids (2020), Contact Us-Media Enquiries, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/contact-us/media-enquiries/

Mermaids (2020), About Us, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/about-us/

Mermaids (2020), #WhatsYourName, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/whats-your-name/

Starbucks (2020), #whatsyourname, last accessed 9th March 2020 at: https://stories.starbucks.com/emea/stories/2020/whatsyourname/

BBC The Social (2020), The struggles of getting a haircut as a non-binary person., last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://twitter.com/bbcthesocial/status/1224664146257620994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1224664146257620994&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finawildeplace.wordpress.com%2F

Amy Silverman (2019), Changing more than pronouns: a non-binary teen fights education laws, last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/27/changing-more-than-pronouns-a-non-binary-teen-fights-education-laws

Jamie Windust (2019), Non-binary people deserve to have their identities legally recognised – but the government is standing in the way, last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/non-binary-gender-lgbt-male-female-passports-home-office-petition-gina-martin-a8795736.html

Sarah Young (2019), WHAT DOES NON-BINARY MEAN? DEFINITION AFTER SAM SMITH COMES OUT AS GENDERQUEER, last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/non-binary-meaning-gender-definition-genderqueer-sam-smith-a8829261.html

OutLife (2020), Being Non-Binary, last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://www.outlife.org.uk/being-non-binary

All About Trans (2020), Non-binary gender fact sheet, last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://www.allabouttrans.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/non-binary-gender-factsheet.pdf

Stonewall UK (2019), 10 ways to step up as an ally to non-binary people, last accessed 16th April 2020 at: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/blog/10-ways-step-ally-non-binary-people

GLSEN (2020), Tips for Allies of Transgender People, last accessed 27th April 2020 at: https://www.glaad.org/transgender/allies

Kai Isaiah-Jamal (2018), How To Be a Trans Ally, last accessed 27th April 2020 at: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzjnjm/how-to-be-trans-ally-tips

GLSEN (2020), What Does Allyship with Non-binary Students Look Like?, last accessed 27th April 2020 at: https://www.glsen.org/blog/what-does-allyship-non-binary-students-look

Initial Research

Before this Final Major Project (FMP) with the topic of ‘LGBTQ+ issues’ begins, some abbreviations, words and terms need defining:

LGBTQ

LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. These terms are used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

(The Centre 2020, online)

TERF

TERF is an acronym for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, in other words – a transphobic bigot. 

(Beresford 2017, online)

Non-binary

People whose gender is not male or female use many different terms to describe themselves, with non-binary being one of the most common. Other terms include genderqueer, agender, bigender, and more. None of these terms mean exactly the same thing – but all speak to an experience of gender that is not simply male or female.

(The National Centre for Transgender Equality 2020, online)

Cisgender

of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth.

(Merriam-Webster 2020, online)

Heterosexual

a: of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward the opposite sex

b: of, relating to, or involving sexual intercourse between individuals of opposite sex

(Merriam-Webester 2020, online)

LGBTQ+ issues

LGBTQ+ issues is an umberella term for anything that is related to the the fight for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, examples of these issues in the United Kingsdom can be found here.

(Amy Ashenden and Vic Parsons 2019, online)

The decision to focus the topic of the FMP on LGBTQ+ issues, and to attempt to frame the content in as positive a manner as possible, was decided after looking at how both the mainstream British media outlets and media outlets that specialise in covering LGBTQ+ news treat LGBTQ+ related stories.

The mainstream British media has a habit of getting cisgender or heterosexual people to report on LGBTQ+ issues, which can result in content that is inaccurate, and often offensive.

Examples of that are:

The Guardian

The Daily Mail

Whereas, media outlets that specialise in reporting on LGBTQ+ issues tend to lay out the problems in content that is much more accurate, but doesn’t propose any solutions , so readers are left angry, with nowhere to channel it.

Examples of this are:

Pink News

Attitude

So, there is space for a website on LGBTQ+ issues that creates content through a positive lens, in a similar style to the likes of Positive News and The Happy Newspaper.