Fox Fisher

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Fox Fisher is an English artist, filmmaker, author and trans campaigner.

Contents

Early life

Fisher was born in England on 5 November 1980. At a very young age, their [lower-alpha 1] family moved to Saudi Arabia, where Fisher spent the majority of their childhood, until their family returned to England during their teenage years. [1] Fox is half-Indian, with their mother immigrating from India to the UK at a young age. [2]

Fox graduated from Brighton University with an MA in Sequential Design and Illustration in 2007. [3]

Activism and career

LGBTQIA+ activism

Fisher first appeared on the mainstream television documentary My Transsexual Summer in 2011. The show centred around the lives of six transgender people in the UK, where they talked about some of the challenges and struggles transgender people faced in the UK. [4]

Since their appearance on My Transsexual Summer, Fisher has become a vocal advocate for transgender rights in the UK and beyond. Following on from the show, Fisher, alongside fellow cast member Lewis Hancox, set up the film project My Genderation, as they both felt that trans people's stories weren't being represented authentically by the mainstream media. [5] They were one of the founders of the first pride event dedicated to transgender people specifically, Trans Pride Brighton. [6]

Fisher is one of the founding members of the project All About Trans, ran by On Road Media, that centres around creating positive portrayals of transgender people in the media.

Fisher co-authored and illustrated the book Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl? [7] with fellow cast member Sarah Savage, and co-authored the book Trans Teen Survival Guide with their partner, Owl Fisher.

In 2018, Fisher appeared on the morning television show Good Morning Britain along with their partner to talk about non-binary issues. The interview was conducted by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, and caused deep controversy in the UK press. [8] In Fisher's documentary, I Am They, it was remarked that a planned 4 minute segment became "a fifteen minute feature" and one of the first mainstream media conversations about non-binary issues in the UK. [9]

In June 2020, Fisher and three other authors resigned in protest from the Blair Partnership literary agency also representing J.K. Rowling, when the company refused to issue a public statement of support for transgender rights, saying that "freedom of speech can only be upheld if the structural inequalities that hinder equal opportunities for underrepresented groups are challenged and changed." [10]

Recognition

In 2018, Fisher was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Brighton for their contribution to raising awareness of transgender issues in the UK and beyond, and their contribution to arts and media. [11]

In 2018, Fisher was awarded an award by the British LGBT awards for Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life.

Notes

  1. ↑ Fisher is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.

Related Research Articles

The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transgender individuals face discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and other areas of life.

Cisgender is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word cisgender is the antonym of transgender. The prefix cis- is Latin and means on this side of. The term cisgender was coined in 1994 and entered into dictionaries starting in 2015 as a result of changes in social discourse about gender. The term has been and continues to be controversial and subject to critique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transphobia</span> Anti-transgender prejudice

Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social gender roles. Transphobia is a type of prejudice and discrimination, similar to racism, sexism, or ableism, and it is closely associated with homophobia. Transgender people of color can experience many different forms of discrimination simultaneously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-binary gender</span> Gender identities other than male or female

Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or female. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is different from the sex assigned to them at birth, though some non-binary people do not consider themselves transgender.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to transgender topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender rights in Iran</span>

Transgender rights in Iran are limited, with a narrow degree of official recognition of transgender identities by the government, but with trans individuals facing very high levels of discrimination, from the law, the state, and from the wider society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender</span> Gender identity other than sex assigned at birth

A transgender person is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual. Transgender, often shortened as trans, is also an umbrella term; in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex, it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. The term may also include cross-dressers or drag kings and drag queens in some contexts. The term transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender rights movement</span>

The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote the legal status of transgender people and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health care. A major goal of transgender activism is to allow changes to identification documents to conform with a person's current gender identity without the need for gender-affirming surgery or any medical requirements, which is known as gender self-identification. It is part of the broader LGBT rights movements.

Discrimination against non-binary people, or people who do not identify exclusively as male or female, may occur in social, legal, or medical contexts.

Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely. Third- and fourth-wave feminists tend to view the struggle for trans rights as an integral part of intersectional feminism. Former president of the American National Organization for Women (NOW) Terry O'Neill has stated that the struggle against transphobia is a feminist issue, with NOW affirming that "trans women are women, trans girls are girls." Several studies have found that people who identify as feminists tend to be more accepting of trans people than those who do not.

<i>My Transsexual Summer</i> British reality TV series

My Transsexual Summer is a British documentary-style reality series about seven transgender people in different stages of transition. For five weekends in the summer of 2011, they stay together in a large holiday home in Bedfordshire, where they meet and help each other with some of the struggles that transgender people face. Between these weekend retreats, they go back to their lives and real-world challenges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of LGBT topics</span> Overview of and topical guide to LGBT topics

The following outline offers an overview and guide to LGBT topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political views of J. K. Rowling</span>

British author J. K. Rowling, writer of Harry Potter and other Wizarding World works, has garnered attention for her support of the Labour Party under Gordon Brown and her criticism of the party under Jeremy Corbyn, as well as her opposition to the Republican Party under Donald Trump. She opposed Scottish independence in a 2014 referendum and Brexit during the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender rights in the United Kingdom</span>

Transgender rights in the United Kingdom have varied significantly over time, with the British transgender community facing ongoing challenges not experienced by cisgender (cis) Britons. These include various laws and public attitudes in regards to identity documents, as well as anti-discrimination measures used by or pertaining to transgender people, in the areas of employment, education, housing and social services, amongst others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Russell-Moyle</span> British Labour Co-op politician

Lloyd Cameron Russell-Moyle is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Kemptown in the 2017 general election. He retained his seat in the 2019 general election. He is a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.

Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir, also known as Owl Fisher, is an Icelandic journalist, filmmaker, author and non-binary trans activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender history in the United Kingdom</span>

This article addresses the history of transgender people across the British Isles in the United Kingdom, the British colonies and the Kingdom of England until the present day. Transgender people were historically recognised in the UK by varying titles and cultural gender indicators, such as dress. People dressing and living differently from their sex assignment at birth and contributing to various aspects of British history and culture have been documented from the 14th century to the present day. In the 20th century, advances in medicine, social and biological sciences and transgender activism have influenced transgender life in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">For Women Scotland</span> Scottish feminist advocacy group

For Women Scotland (FWS) is a Scottish campaign group that opposes proposed reforms allowing individuals to change their recorded sex in legal documents by means of self-declaration. The group campaigns against changes to transgender rights and has been described as anti-trans, as trans-exclusionary radical feminist, and as a "gender-critical feminist group".

Gender-critical feminism, also known as trans-exclusionary radical feminism or TERFism, is an ideology or movement that opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology": the concept of gender identity and transgender rights, especially gender self-identification. Gender-critical feminists believe that sex is biological and immutable, while believing gender, including both gender identity and gender roles, to be inherently oppressive. They reject the concept of transgender identities. These views have been described as transphobic by feminist and scholarly critics, and are opposed by many feminist and LGBT rights organizations.

References

  1. ↑ "Transforming Media". University of Brighton College of Arts and Humanities. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "7 talks on the transgender experience". TED Blog. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Fox Fisher Receives Honorary Doctorate" . Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "4Press | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "My Genderation". My Genderation. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "FOX FISHER – Fox Fisher". foxfisher.com. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "This book lets young readers decide the gender of the main character". The Independent. 26 July 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "WATCH: Piers Morgan asks non-binary trans couple if he can identify as a black woman, says their gender is a 'fad'". independent. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "I Am They is the non-binary representation we've been waiting for". PinkNews. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Waterson, Jim (22 June 2020). "Authors quit JK Rowling agency over transgender rights". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  11. ↑ ""It's time to celebrate trans people for who they are" – Fox Fisher | Gscene Gay Magazine - What's on in Gay / LGBT Brighton". 18 August 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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