Content warning: racism, transgender and LGBTQIA+ discrimination.
Author: Merry Fowler
One week until her debut book ‘Transitional’ is released we wanted to celebrate the icon that is Munroe Bergdorf for LGBTQIA+ History Month. Munroe is an internationally renowned activist, model, writer and broadcaster. Munroe was the first trans woman to be on the cover of Cosmopolitan UK in its 50 year history, became British Vogue Contributing Editor in 2022, UN Women Changemaker since 2019 and is a proud ambassador for gender variant and transgender youth charity Mermaids, a founding consultant of L’Oreal Paris’ UK Diversity and Inclusion Board. Munroe who identifies as a Black, trans woman has always spoken against discrimination, including in 2017, when she was wrongfully sacked by L’Oreal (and rehired in 2020 as above) for making this statement against white supremacy
“most of ya’ll don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour. Your entire existence is drenched in racism. From micro-aggressions to terrorism, you guys built the blueprint for this s—.”.
Munroe has spoken out about the unique challenges faced by being a Black, trans woman; “year on year the number of murdered Black transgender women increases. Whilst the average life expectancy of an American woman may be 80 years old, the life expectancy for a Black transgender women is just 35… So when we say ALL Black lives matter, it is in recognition of the fact that when a Black person of the LGBTQ+ experience is killed, we need to shout ten times as loud to be heard and to receive justice.”
Munroe also talks on her book about how “none of us stays the same forever. We all transition, be it through moving from childhood into adolescence, our sexuality, our gender, in our relationship with love, our racial identity or individual purpose. Every aspect of our lives is in transition and if we can apply transitional thinking we can begin to deconstruct both the internal barriers within ourselves and the external barriers between each other.”.
Munroe has also spoken out about the UK government blocking the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill from becoming law through Section 35 of the Scotland Act. Munroe writes that “6 years in the making this bill would have removed the need for trans people to be medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria, while simultaneously lowering the age requirement for a Gender Recognition Certificate (which can be used to amend a birth certificate) from 18 to 16 years of age. The requirement of living in an acquired gender would also have been reduced from two years to three months for those over the age of 18, and six months for those who are 16 and 17.
Over the past decade, the trans community has gained significant ground with regards to visibility and media representation, but alongside this change, a loud and influential anti-trans movement has found its voice within the mainstream British press, echoed by influential public figures and those in the highest positions of government. This has created a culture war in which trans people are spoken about as an “issue”, rather than an already marginalised community facing social issues that need urgently addressing and remedying. We have found ourselves weaponised as pawns in political power scuffles, a community visible enough to exploit despite making up just 0.5 per cent of the population in England and Wales.”
Munroe is an inspiration to us in her work against discrimination to all trans people with a loud and strong voice for Black trans people too. Munroe’s book is certain to be a phenomenal read and she hopes it will “inspire others to venture into their own journey of self-examination, to grow on their own terms beyond the boundaries of fear or shame.”
You can read more on Munroe’s article on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, how to support the trans community in the UK and pre order her book ‘Transitional’ here.
Sources: DivingBellGroup.com, Vogue.co.uk, GQ Magazine
