 Sparkle logo | |
| Formation | 10 June 2005 |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Charity |
| Purpose | Transgender rights |
Region served | United Kingdom |
Chair of Trustees | Jay Crawford |
| Website | www.sparkle.org.uk |
Sparkle - the national transgender charity [1] based in the United Kingdom that is best known for organising the annual Sparkle Weekend in Manchester, which aims to celebrate the transgender community. The event claims to be the world's largest transgender event. [2]
Sparkle was formed in 2005 by Kimberly Nolan and was granted registered charity status in 2011 by board member Sophie Summers. [3]
Sparkle Weekend occurs in the second weekend every July, with the 18th weekend celebrated in 2023., [4] where over 12,000 people attended [5] It is based around Manchester's Canal Street, with local bars and restaurants sponsoring and advertising the event, and various talks and workshops are run. On the Saturday and Sunday, Sackville Gardens hosts a stage and well-being, family and sober spaces along with a well attended marketplace showcasing the best in trans retail.
Sparkle also hosts the Manchester Transgender Day of Remembrance every November on the Sunday nearest to the 20th to remember victims of transphobic crime as part of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. [6]
In addition to organising the Sparkle Weekend, the charity aims to promote awareness and acceptance of the Transgender community. [7] In November 2022, Sparkle organised a candle-lit vigil to remember victims of transphobic crime as part of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Every year they continue this service to see the growth and change in support for the trans community and to remember those who were ‘known to us’.
Sparkle are also responsible for the National Transgender memorial project, commencing a replacement of the original monument following an incident of vandalism where it was found to be irreparable following fire damage. [6]
Sparkle has a governing body of trustees [8] who are led by Jay Crawford (Chair). Sparkle currently has two patrons Professor Stephen Whittle OBE and Actress Annie Wallace.
Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social gender roles. Transphobia is a type of prejudice and discrimination, similar to racism, sexism, or ableism, and it is closely associated with homophobia. Transgender people of color can experience many different forms of discrimination simultaneously.
Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
Holocaust Memorial Day is a national commemoration day in the United Kingdom dedicated to the remembrance of the Jews and others who suffered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution. It was first held in January 2001 and has been on the same date every year since. The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945, the date also chosen for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and some other national Holocaust Memorial Days.
The Queer Youth Network (QYN) was a national non-profit-making organisation that was run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people and is based in the United Kingdom. It had an aim to represent the needs and views of younger LGBT people by campaigning for greater visibility and equal rights, as well as providing general support and information to those who are just coming out or who are experiencing homophobia.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), also known as the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, has been observed annually from its inception on November 20 to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia. The day was founded to draw attention to the continued violence directed toward transgender people.
Akt is a voluntary organisation based in England, created in 1989 to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ+) young people who are homeless or living in a hostile environment. It started in Greater Manchester in 1989 and opened in London in 1996, and expanded to Newcastle in 2013, Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol.
Manchester Pride is a charity that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on LGBTQ+ rights.
The history of violence against LGBT people in the United Kingdom is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals (LGBTQI), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United Kingdom. Those targeted by such violence are perceived to violate heteronormative rules and religious beliefs and contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBTQI may also be targeted.
Transgender inequality is the unequal protection received by transgender people in work, school, and society in general. Transgender people regularly face transphobic harassment. Ultimately, one of the largest reasons that transgender people face inequality is due to a lack of public understanding of transgender people.
Transgender Awareness Week, observed November 13 to November 19, is a one-week celebration leading up to the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which memorializes victims of transphobic violence. TDoR occurs annually on November 20, when transgender advocates raise awareness of the transgender community through education and advocacy activities.
LGBT Foundation is a national charity based in Manchester with a wide portfolio of services. With a history dating back to 1975, it campaigns for a fair and equal society where all lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people are able to reach their full potential. They support over 40,000 people directly every year, and a further 600,000 online. They provide direct services and resources to more LGBT people than any other charity of its kind in the UK.
Transgender rights in the United Kingdom have varied significantly over time, with transgender Britons facing facing certain social challenges not experienced by non-trans individuals. These include various laws and public attitudes in regards to identity documents, as well as anti-discrimination measures used by or pertaining to transgender people, in the areas of employment, education, housing and social services, amongst others.
Pride Cymru is an LGBT pride festival held annually in Cardiff, Wales.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community in Manchester.
Mermaids is a British charity and advocacy organisation that supports gender variant and transgender youth. It also provides inclusion and diversity training. Mermaids was founded in 1995 by a group of parents of gender nonconforming children and became a charitable incorporated organisation in 2015.
The murder of Canadian transgender rights activist Julie Berman occurred in downtown Toronto. Berman was found in a home with severe head injuries on 22 December 2019; she was brought to a hospital and pronounced dead. Colin Harnack was charged with second-degree murder, and he was convicted in December 2022. The murder of Berman was cited as a prominent example of violence against trans people in Canada.
Rest in power is an expression used to mourn, remember or celebrate a deceased person, especially someone who is thought to have struggled against systemic prejudice such as homophobia, transphobia, racism or suffered because of it, particularly in black and LGBTQ communities in the United States. It has been used to eulogize victims of hate crimes while protesting the social inequality and institutionalised discrimination that may have led to their deaths. It is a common phrase to use to honor someone's legacy, though as an activist.
The LGB Alliance is a British nonprofit advocacy group founded in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders are Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malcolm Clark and Ann Sinnott. The organisation has said that lesbians are facing "extinction" because of the "disproportionate" focus on transgender identities in schools.
FiLiA is a British gender-critical feminist charity founded in 2015 that describes itself as part of the women's liberation movement. FiLiA organizes a conference, held first in 2008 as Feminism in London, in different cities, which it now describes as the "largest annual grassroots feminist conference in Europe". FiLiA is gender-critical, and states that it supports "sex-based rights" and opposes what they refer to as "gender ideology." It has lobbied against gender recognition reform and considers gender self-identification a threat to "women's protected rights." Critics describe it as anti-transgender and transphobic. FiLiA is critical of the sex industry and considers pornography harmful. It has campaigned on behalf of women internationally, including in Iran, Cyprus, and Kenya. It has been described as one of "the most important 'gender critical' groups" alongside Women's Declaration International. FiLiA has faced protests and attempted cancellations, notably in 2023 when the venue Platform attempted to cancel the conference due to alleged transphobia.
