As we approach LGBT History Month in February I have stepped up my campaign to Ban Conversion Therapy in the UK but very importantly had some time to reflect on my involvement and how this campaign has grown. This is not just a story of a personal campaign, this is a story of what happens when you empower an activist on every step of their stride.
At the start of 2022, I attended a protest in Derby led by Derbyshire LGBT in light of Boris Johnson's refusal to ban conversion therapy for transgender people. I was only 18 years old - I barely understood what was happening, I just knew it was wrong. I did all my research into how to act at protests to be ready for this one and it was nothing like what I expected; they weren't angry, they were scared. The fear was contagious and I was afraid too but due to my upbringing this fear very quickly became a burning passion, our family was never scared, they were always ready for a fight. So, at the age of 18 with likely undiagnosed social anxiety and no prior experience in public speaking, I put my hand up, was called up and spoke to the crowd.
I was wearing a pink jacket, one I had bought in an act of defiance when the people around me told me not to buy gender-affirming clothing because my identity "might just be a phase". Legs shaking and my breath unsteady, I spoke about the defiance of authority and used this jacket as an example of a personal act and was interrupted by applause, I did it, I said a good thing. I was shaking and I was overwhelmed but I finished off, got down and finally took a breath. The people in the crowd nearby came up to me and told me I spoke well, it didn't feel like it but I took their word - I was happy, I should let myself be happy.
In the second half of 2022, I came to university, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Full of determination to do something for my community I took whatever role I could at the Students' Union in their first by-election and within my first month I became the Political and Campaign Societies Representative for the Societies Development Committee with no opposition and most likely a total vote count of one (myself). It wasn't much but it was my step, the committee remained inactive for the year but I could contribute to the Students' Council which was an incredible opportunity. I met Micky, the LGB Representative at the time who ran a campaign to normalise the use of preferred names on campus and only fell short by 3 votes. I congratulated them on the effort and wished them luck for the future (Micky remains a close ally to my campaigns to this day and is doing some amazing work breaking down barriers at UCLan). This campaign stuck with me, how come UCLan didn't have a policy? This became incredibly important for my activist years ahead.
In 2023 I ran for Representative of Trans* Students at the Students' Union and had one opponent who stopped campaigning after seeing my name on the ballot, an act of kindness I will continue to appreciate to this day. I won - I had done it, I was finally a representative for my community.
The United Kingdom was in an unfortunate position at the time, switching leaders over and over but with all turmoil and struggle, an opportunity emerged. That summer I submitted a petition to ban conversion therapy, not an original petition but the coming-in of a new government allowed for a new petition on an old issue. After only being in the conversion therapy activist space for a year I was now a piece of a national campaign, this was an incredibly exciting opportunity. We began my term as Trans* rep with awareness for the campaign, gaining a couple thousand signatures on our petition but after getting countless students at UCLan to sign, we hit a wall.
In late 2023 going into 2024 we re-evaluated the direction of the campaign and came up with the idea of sending postcards to members of parliament, this was a turning point. We printed a couple hundred of these and they were an immediate hit with the students who very quickly exhausted our supply of postcards. I decided to test the waters for a national campaign by emailing out to Student Unions across the North of England and the Midlands, ready to send them some postcards. Some unions took us up on the offer and in total, we got 900 of our postcards signed!
In 2024 we submitted a policy suggestion to the National Union of Students (NUS), suggesting that we ban conversion therapy of course. This policy was accepted into a motion for True Trans Liberation alongside other unions' suggestions for improved healthcare, widening participation in sports and an independent review of the Cass Report. At the NUS Liberation Conference 2024 I co-presented the motion to the conference floor in a speech beginning with "I am here in front of you all today because I am scared." - a simple sentence reflecting my very starting point, that young activist with no idea of the world of pain and of opportunity she was about to enter. Throughout this conference I became an integral part of the student push for trans liberation; hosting the policy workshop, leading discussions around our experiences and ending the conference with a speech explaining the position I was in and how someone of my background would never usually be in my position. This speech was personal and important for me, my first speech with firmly planted legs and controlled breathing - I hope 18-year-old Avery is proud.
Now in 2025, I have committed myself to the biggest push of this campaign yet, a postcard campaign that is open to all universities in the UK. I have contacted every single UK Students' Union I could get in touch with and at the time of writing we are ready to send out another 1300 postcards to Students' Unions already with more coming soon. The pride I feel in how far we've come is immeasurable but there is still one thing left to do - fix the mistakes of the past and ensure that the anguish of past and present generations becomes a distant memory for the next one.
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