Activism

Present

I've been involved in activism since my undergraduate days. Currently I'm focusing on community-building, solidarity, visibility and inclusion. I'm:

• the founder of Non-binary London, which exists to create and enable spaces both online and in person for non-binary people in London to connect with each other;
• part of Everyday Cissexism, a Twitter-based campaign inspired by Everyday Sexism which highlights instances of cissexism and challenges organisations in particular to better support and include binary and non-binary trans people;
• founder, former lead coordinator and now assitant coordinator (from a distance) of York LGBT History Month, a charity that seeks to promote local LGBT history and LGBT history locally, primarily through a large collaborative festival of events throughout February (typically comprised of around 50 events).

Past

Other organisations with which I’ve had substantial activist involvement in the past include:

• York St John University LGBT Staff Network as co-founder and secretary for the first few years (more detail on the professional experience page);
• York Vegans/York VegFest as vice chair for a short period, preparing a simple website ready for development and gathering best practice guidance from similar organisations across the country;
• York Pride, first as secretary in its first few years as an independent entity, then later for a short period as a support officer;
• York LGBT Forum as secretary for a little over a year;
• University of York Graduate Students’ Association - a students’ union specifically serving postgraduates at the University of York - as a student trustee;
• York St John Students' Union, in various roles including volunteering officer/union councillor;
• York Mind, producing videos on mental health;
• Rogue Frame Productions [now defunct], supporting the production of music videos and a short film.

I also stood as a local election candidate in York’s Guildhall ward for the Green Party in the 2015 local elections and came scarily close to election! I'd been involved in York Green Party since 2012, previously helping out with work including canvassing and leaflet design. I remained involved in the national LGBTIQ Greens committee as a non-portfolio member until August 2016. These days I’m more of a non-partisan radical/far-left socialist, aware of flaws in all major political parties and in (the reality of) party politics itself.