What’s It Like to be Trans in Govanhill?
Mina Baird met with members of Govanhill’s trans community to listen to their perspectives on living in our neighbourhood.
Some names in this article have been changed for anonymity.
Image: Issue 4 of Greater Govanhill with photography by Kate Holford
By Mina Baird
Trans people in the UK live in a hostile environment. Newspapers regularly publish articles using the same attacks that were used against gays and lesbians in the 1980s. Certain wealthy celebrities use their platforms to speak out against trans rights, and a very vocal group of so-called feminists argue for the right to discriminate against trans people.
But what is it like for a trans person to live in the Govanhill area? I got in touch with some local members of the trans community to find out about their experiences – both good and bad.
“I had a lovely interaction with some kids in the park,” says Mallaidh, a 30-year-old non-binary person who uses ‘it’ pronouns*. “They asked if I was a boy or a girl, and I said that I was neither. They then asked if I was gay, and to keep things simple I said yes. They looked at me disgustedly and said ‘gross’ then ran away.”
Harassment from local children was one of the universal experiences reported by the trans people I spoke to. Jo, a 27-year-old genderqueer woman (she/her), recalled how: “some kids tried to run me over in a toy car once, but they crashed into a tree.”
However, sometimes the interactions with local children can be more positive in unexpected ways, as reported by Hayden, a 21-year-old nonbinary lesbian (he/they):
“Once there was a kid who kept coming up to me to ask me if I was a boy or a girl and when I said I was a boy he high-fived me. This happened multiple times.”
Sometimes children’s parents can set an example that can contribute to them believing that harassment is acceptable. Heather, a 30-year-old trans femme (she/they), told me about an instance of this, which took place on Victoria Road in front of heavy pedestrian traffic:
“I was once told by a mother, outside with her two children: ‘You're a fucking disgrace and you should be ashamed of yourself.’ All I did was walk past her. Her two children stared at me with grinning malice as they went.”
Mallaidh shared that adults are not always vocal with their negative reactions: “They stand and stare disapprovingly, often with a disgusted look, or they wait for me to pass before bursting into laughter and suddenly going silent when I turn to look. Others get up in my face and make various comments or simply shout that I'm a man as they walk by, though this is more common mid-evening as opposed to the morning or afternoon.”
Despite all of these incidents of harassment, many of the trans people I spoke to consider the Govanhill area to be a good place to live as a trans person, especially in terms of the diversity of the community.
Mallaidh compared its experience of living in Belfast, which it described as a “very white and Christian place” where people are often “aggressive and violent” with living in Govanhill:
“With its more recent population of hipsters and queers, and the numerous people of various ethnicities and religions that have lived in this area for decades, I feel there's a very good level of tolerance and acceptance and respect for one another; to try and not oppress anyone who is different regardless of what one individual’s or group’s opinions are of one another.”
Heather shared that Muslim women have been especially welcoming to her as a trans woman:
“The day after I came out, a hijab wearing colleague wore a t-shirt to work saying LOVE YOURSELF. And she did her best to let me know I was her colleague and that she respected and enjoyed my company. An older woman with Pakistani parents, told me that she learnt about transgender people when she'd visit her grandparents in Pakistan. She said she was initially confused, but her grandfather told her how they must be treated with utmost respect.”
There’s also a difference in terms of people passing in the street. Heather said that she no longer gets transphobic harassment because she holds herself confidently. And when she does get harassed, it’s on the rare occasions she leaves Govanhill.
As a “six foot eight trans person whose style varies from not wearing much at all and the not too often exposure of tiny breasts” Mallaidh said it would get abuse and harassment wherever it lived, but that “it’s actually pretty chill here.”
Finally, some of the trans and queer supportive businesses in the area have made a big difference to local trans people. Melissa, a 26-year-old genderfluid person (they/them) who has lived in the Southside all their life, said:
“When Category Is Books established in the area, I felt so welcomed by both Fin and Charlotte. Category Is Books does so much for the trans community by just being there, especially as a disabled trans person.”
Trans people face harassment wherever they live, and Govanhill is no exception. However, the diversity of the community makes it a positive place to be trans.
*While most trans people would be offended if you referred to them as ‘it’, feeling it to be dehumanising and insulting, some trans people use ‘it’ as their pronoun, just as others use ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘they’.
The Small Trans Library has created a grocery fund for trans people in Glasgow. If you’re looking to support local trans people by donating, or if you’re a trans person looking to access the fund, you can find the information here: https://smalltranslibrary.org/
If you are a trans person in the Southside and looking to connect with other local queer and trans people, you can join the Facebook group ‘Queers Park’.