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Activist Spotlight: Rachel Reese

Rachel Reese is a trans and non-binary diversity and inclusion expert. After 16 years working in legal education, Rachel left her role as Production Director at the University of Law to pursue a career in promoting trans and non-binary diversity. She is the founder of Global Butterflies, a consultancy that helps firms develop trans and non-binary inclusive work environments. Rachel is Vice Chair of the Law Society’s LGBT Lawyers Division Committee. She is a Trustee of GiveOut and donates part of Global Butterflies’ profits to GiveOut and other LGBTQI charities. 

GiveOut’s Lee Dibben spoke with Rachel during Trans Awareness Week about her activism, creating change through corporates, and the importance of trans awareness year-round. 

You founded Global Butterflies in 2015 to bring awareness of trans and non-binary issues to the business sector. What was your journey into activism? 

I transitioned twice. The first time was in the mid-nineties when I came out of Law School and tried to get a job in law. I couldn’t as a trans women, so I reverted back to male expression and got a job at the University of Law. Back then, the legal profession certainly had no representation, no rainbow flags outside law firms. It was a difficult place, and I wanted to get a job as a trans woman. Once I felt comfortable and safe at the University of Law, I transitioned for the second time.

So, in a way, my first step in activism was suddenly educating 850 people who thought they had never come across a trans person before. There weren’t a lot of role models out in the 1990s and early 2000s. I suppose that we didn’t have Facebook and Twitter, so they were very hard to find. There wasn’t a lot of activism then because there wasn’t a lot of visibility. People came across it, but they didn’t really understand.

How has your experience in the legal profession influenced your work with Global Butterflies?

I left the University of Law over four years ago and came across organisations that felt very unwelcoming. I also went through a process for selection as a magistrate that felt very hostile to me as a trans women. And I thought, “wow, the legal sector really needs education”. I formed Global Butterflies the same year, initially to provide trans and non-binary inclusion training in the legal sector. Emma Cusdin, who is my fiancé and partner, joined the company two years ago and persuaded me that banking and insurance really needed that too because they were lagging way behind the legal sector. We thought we could apply our models in those sectors, so we started doing keynotes, panels, speeches, and training. And the company grew, we took on two associates and we are busy doing so many panels and talks for companies, which we really enjoy. We now provide support in all corporate sectors. 

Rachel established Global Butterflies in 2015 and has since worked with hundreds of clients worldwide. Through working closely with companies, Global Butterflies helps organisations foster an inclusive culture through adopting a zero-tolerance approach to transphobic behaviour and attitudes. Global Butterflies also collaborates with other individuals and organisations to highlight trans issues and raise awareness.

Global Butterflies works primarily with corporates. What role does business have in supporting the trans and non-binary movement?

I believe that governments disappear and change, but corporates don’t. And most of the organisations I work with are global. If you can change a company’s internal structure, then they can change the minds of government through their influence. I’m a big believer in corporate power. That’s why Global Butterflies was set up as a corporate company, because it needed to work with corporate companies. Our staff all have corporate backgrounds. We have a core training aspect with workshops, but we do lots of panels and speeches beyond these. This pays for my activism so that I can do more panels and keynotes among other things, and we’ve started to donate profit to other organisations, including GiveOut. 

You focus a lot on visibility and education. Why are role models so important?

We don’t have good representation of trans and non-binary people in the legal profession. Around two per cent of solicitors are on the gender identity spectrum, but we don’t see that in law firms. As a result, the Law Society formed the LGBT Lawyers Division, and I have been Vice Chair for over two years now. A large part of what we do is encouraging people to be role models and visible so that more people feel able to come out. 

I tell corporate organisations to use sector role models, not trans celebrities. If you’re living privately and want to transition but you’re worried, seeing another person from your sector doing it may help you realise that it’s possible. But if you see a trans celebrity, it may give you awareness but they’re not relatable. That’s not going to inspire you because they’re not like you. A sector role model is really powerful. And there are a lot of visible trans sector role models, so use them. I think that visibility is so important as it does bring awareness and hope, but I also understand the challenges that visibility can bring.

Last month many LGBTQI organisations celebrated Trans Awareness Month, with Trans Awareness Week and the Trans Day of Remembrance falling within this. How do occasions like this fit into your activism?

Trans Awareness Week is comparatively new in the UK, and I think it’s really good that organisations are having awareness events, panels, talks, and trainings. I think that it’s great for doing that because at least it’s a marker. However, my biggest piece of advice to organisations would be to not just follow the diversity calendar. You can do trans inclusion training and awareness at any time of the year! 

I also think that having all-trans panels is interesting and good if you’re starting on your first steps, but you should be working towards making those intersectional. For me “I’m a trans woman, I’m a lesbian, I’m dyslexic, and I’m Irish”. You could have me on a lot of other panels! I am more than just being trans.  

However, Trans Day of Remembrance is an important day for remembrance. Most of us have lost people in the past, especially older trans people. I have personally lost friends. That’s a day when I’ll be remembering, not celebrating. I ask corporates to consider that when scheduling events.

You mentioned the importance of trans awareness throughout the year, is there anything that you would like people to learn today?  

I have this thing called death by a thousand cuts which trans and non-binary people go through. You go into a coffee shop and someone laughs at you. One cut. You pick up the phone and someone assumes the wrong gender. Second cut. You walk into reception and security laughs at you. Third cut. A lot of us go through a thousand cuts a day and have a big glass of wine at the end of it because it’s very hard. I want people to know that every day some of us go through this. “Passing” isn’t important for a lot of people, and it isn’t for me, but because I don’t pass people know and so I pick up a lot of cuts every day. It’s exhausting. So know that a lot of us face these challenges all the time. 

Around the world trans and non-binary people are disproportionately subject to violence. In the past twelve months, 331 trans and gender diverse people were reported killed. And this figure does not account for unreported deaths or lives lost to suicide. Despite this, activists around the world are working to defend the human rights of trans and non-binary people. GiveOut stands in solidarity with our trans and non-binary siblings and is committed to supporting trans activists worldwide, including through the Antonia & Andrea Belcher Trans Fund. 

You are also one of GiveOut’s trustees. Why is supporting the global trans and non-binary movement important?

I was approached by GiveOut because of my activism and knowledge of UK law. My belief is that if you are helping activists in other jurisdictions to forward trans and non-binary inclusion and support in those countries, then you’re lifting everybody. That can only be symbiotic back to us, and therefore we all rise together. That’s why I’m passionate about GiveOut’s work. 

And in the UK, what are the major challenges facing trans and non-binary people? 

2015 was the year to be trans. I think transgender was the word of the year. But being trans and non-binary in the UK has been very difficult since then. That’s because of two main things. One was the administration in the US changing. They are obviously anti-LGB, but are also very anti-trans and non-binary. So that washes across to the UK and influences attitudes here. 

Secondly, within the UK, the government initiated the Gender Recognition Act review. There was a big hoorah about trans inclusion after the 2016 report, so it felt like change was coming. But then there was a delay, and it feels like the questions they were originally going to ask got watered down. This allowed a lot of anti-trans groups that were very critical of the trans and non-binary movement to form and get access to UK press. Suddenly articles were hitting newspapers, and by the time the government released the consultation it felt like there was a lot of negativity out there. Anti-trans groups were making templates for anti-trans people to fill in so they could submit them to the government.  

That has generated a lot of hatred. It feels very oppressive over the past three years to be trans and non-binary, in particular to be a trans woman. We’ve been criticised about being on hospital wards, in prison, taking part in sport, and being in “women-only” places that trans women apparently shouldn’t have access too because we put “biological women”, or whatever term they’re using, at risk. That’s ridiculous. You’ve seen the bias on television, in the newspapers, and online. It’s vitriolic, and it’s really scary being a trans woman. In 20 years I’ve never worried about using a public loo, but now I do.

With backlash against trans and non-binary people both in the UK and worldwide, what can we do?

Being a transand non-binary ally, or just a good co-employee is important. To be a good trans and non-binary ally learn about the movement. There is a lot of information online, lots of great organisations where you can find information on the movement, and what it’s like to be trans and non-binary. You can ask a trans/non-binary person if they’re willing to talk about it, but don’t wrestle them to the ground and force them! You can also be a good ally if you’ve got someone in your workplace who is transitioning or starting to express their gender identity. Make sure that you give them time, listen, don’t exclude them from social activity, and stamp out transphobic conversation when you hear it. 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us! Do you have a final message that you would like to share?

I have the same conversation every day: we need the self-declaration act! This will put no women at threat, it will just make the lives of a small number of trans and non-binary people easier. The legislation to protect these women is already there. It doesn’t take anything away from their protections, it just gives us a little bit more. 

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