About Persist

What is Persist?

Persist is a grassroots network that believes that, when a trans person is subjected to intense public vitriol and scrutiny for living as themselves, it is our collective responsibility to ensure they do not stand alone.

We believe that everyone has a role to play in pushing back against transphobic public narratives and the ways they are formed. Persist creates national campaigns that invite everyone to take part in respectful awareness raising and outreach; this helps us challenge misinformation and demonstrate the simple truth that the people we help matter.

Solidarity

Solidarity is a principle we live by, not a buzzword.

People who have the misfortune of being called into an employment tribunal are presented, to as great an extent as lawyers can muster, as unreliable or untrustworthy narrators of their own experience. We do not hold the people we support to impossible standards and do not expect them to respond perfectly to difficult situations. There is a difference between having your private life made public and choosing to become a public figure.

We will not add injustice to indignity by putting the people we support on a pedestal. Persist instead aims to treat them like the people they are - offering peaceful solidarity without an expectation of public engagement or performative gratitude. They are our family and we take care of them because they deserve care, not as a transaction.

The visibility of the support we all show is vital to communicate to our government, and the world at large, how many people within the British Isles stand with the trans community. We will not stand on the sidelines and watch people's rights and ability to live comfortably as themselves be dismantled.

We will not let bad actors attempt to silence us and lie saying we don’t love our trans siblings. We do - and our long standing history of working class solidarity demonstrates that we can achieve more together than alone.

Network building

We seek to connect like minded groups from across Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland with one another.

This can look like groups more typically associated with activism, such as trade unions, advocacy organisations and action networks, but we also have a place for just about anyone who is troubled by the rising trend of transphobia in our media and government and wants to do something about it.

If you belong to a social group like a sports team, choir or gaming society - we would love for you to join us in raising awareness and spreading a calm message of acceptance.