Kye Tilley He/they & Sam Dowling They/them

Kye identifies as a trans male and was born in Milton Keynes in 1998. He came out to his mother by letter – she was very accepting. His first involvement with the LGBTQ+ community was Q:youth when he was turning 18. Sam identifies as non-binary and queer and was born in Milton Keynes in 2000 They came out as gender fluid, then trans man and then non-binary. Gender fluidity for them was confusing feeling feminine with feeling female. They both attended adult Q:alliance sessions: Kye’s first was a pamper evening at Lush and Sam’s was a Geek Retreat at Xscape. Both agreed that their favourite was the Trans & Non-Binary Space. Both had noticed the growth of Q:alliance since they’d started. Both agreed that the Engagement Co-ordinator, Jay Virgo, was their most memorable person.  Both attended all the Heritage Project events and learned a lot, especially about Section 28. Both agreed that the Trans/Non-Binary Protest  at the YMCA and then the Library was empowering. Each of them spoke about the importance of trans-healthcare.  Kye described his hormone journey on the NHS and the very long waiting lists. Sam described starting their hormone journey with the London Transgender Clinic but stopping it when they realised they were non-binary. Both of them wanted to state that the trans community is a small percentage of the population and is not dangerous.