Sharon Haworth - PFC campaigner

Local Activist

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Name	Sharon Haworth
Age	Low 30’s
Occupation	Analyst/Programmer
Joined PFC	1997-ish (she thinks!)
Campaign Responsibilities	NTN Secretary and generally anything that comes to hand, liaison with local GLBT Forum and Metropolitan Community Church, was formerly the secretary of Nottingham’s Gay Festival - Pink Lace and now an advisor to the new committee. Always working on new projects to get the groups teeth into.
Email	shaz@themail.co.uk

 

Sharon Haworth

SHARON HAWORTH IS A VERY CONFUSED INDIVIDUAL about many things — but not her gender. I was positive very early on my life that I was a little bit different from the more common or garden variety of boy. Very quickly into my teens I started to attach the right sounding words to my predicament, unfortunately my mothers dictionary didn’t contain the word transsexual, so it took a few more years to learn the more accurate term.

After several expensive false starts and a doomed relationship, 17 years later after first coming out to my mother, I inevitably came to terms with my true gender. Pity there wasn’t NHS treatment available when I first sought help with my mother when I was 13, my story may have be very different. GP Quote at the time “It’s just a phase, ignore it and he will grow out of it”.

I qualified as an electronics technician and a computer programmer and began a low paid career in computing until 1997 when I was made redundant for financial reasons just one month after beginning RLT. Since then, other than propping up the unemployment queue, I have worked as a Care Assistant and currently studying to be a counsellor.

I moved to Nottingham in 1996 and founded the Nottingham Transgender Network with my good friends Cherrie Button and Pat Moores. The reason for the formation of the group was the obvious number of TS in the locale including myself without any treatment available. That had to be put to right, so we formed the group and set about this task and several others including M-F TS access to the local Nottingham Women’s Centre (Women Only Space).

We found (I say WE as I could have not done it alone) by talking and by representation to both the local NHS and the Women Centre that with a little bit of honest argument and explanation of the real facts about transsexuality and our real needs, but most importantly without being dominant or being oppressive we gained a lot of respect.

This eventually resulted in the setting up of a local NHS Gender Clinic that would treat not palm people off (We hope) and admission as equals into the Nottingham Women’s Centre.

Nottingham Transgender Network and myself will continue this local level pursuit of rights issues which in-turn will benefit people at a national level too. But equally continue to support all who cross our paths hether in need of advice or support.

From NTN and myself a grateful thanks go to the vice-presidents and members of PFC for whom without there support and advice, NTN may not have had such successes and also thanks for putting up with this local bunch of all knowing upstarts. Guilty as charged!