London, UK: 00:01 Monday 5th May 2025 - Images
Trans+ History Week returns for its second year with a striking nationwide campaign designed to surface the overlooked, erased and often untold histories of transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and intersex people. Running from May 5–11, and anchored by Trans+ History Day on May 6, the campaign marks a cultural flashpoint in the UK calendar to challenge harmful narratives and honour a powerful lineage of Trans+ presence and resistance.
Live from this week, the UK-wide advertising campaign ‘Always Been Here’ was developed by a team of volunteers and allies through an inclusive, collaborative creative process led by Smarty Pants Consultancy and Uncharted Studio. The Diversity Standards Collective was the community research partner on the campaign, where they conducted qual-research with over 100 of the Trans+ community from across the UK to help steer the creative development and refine the messaging. The resulting work reminds millions that Trans+ people have always been here, and always will be.
A series of visually arresting posters will appear in major UK cities across the week, including Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry, Newcastle and London, including location specific posters and placements in press – with standout placements including Boxpark Wembley and Westfield. The campaign boldly and unapologetically brings Trans+ history into the public domain and showcases Trans+ people have been important innovators and world-changers throughout history.
Media space for the campaign has been contributed by JCDecaux, Clear Channel, Ocean, Open Media UK, Financial Times, Metro, The Guardian and Reach titles, coordinated by Havas Media Network UK, Talon and Publicis Groupe UK. The team has also been supported by the design teams at Prodigeous and Open Media UK. The campaign has also been supported by sponsorship from Clifford Chance, Verizon Business, Publicis Groupe UK and Diageo.
“Making our history visible is a radical act,” said Marty Davies (she/they), Founder & CEO of Trans+ History Week CIC and founder of Smarty Pants Consultancy. “For so long, our stories have been hidden or distorted. This campaign changes that. It puts our truth in the spotlight – on billboards, in print, and in spaces that have historically excluded us. It’s a reminder that Trans+ people are not a trend. We are a fact of human history.”
Laura Jordan Bambach (she/her), Chief Creative Officer of Uncharted Studio, added: “The creative campaign cements trans history as something which is as old as time. This wasn’t about rainbow-washing, but honouring stories that span millennia, using bold visuals and confident, declarative language to give these histories the platform they deserve. The creative treatment had to match the depth and dignity of the stories being told.”
Rich Miles (he/him), CEO, The Diversity Standards Collective, said: “This campaign showed real care in getting it right, and we were proud to support that through UK-wide input from our Trans+ community. Our Community Creative Check gave the team clear, nuanced guidance and the confidence that their work was backed by the very people it aimed to represent. It’s been a privilege to support Marty and Trans+ History Week with insight that truly reflects the wider community.”
This campaign complements Trans+ History Week’s wider programme of events, podcasts, features, and the Trans+ History Workbook – downloaded by over 1,000 people across corporate, government and nonprofit sectors. The week aims not only to educate, but to empower Trans+ people to reclaim a legacy that has too often been denied.
Team Credits
Marty Davies - Founder, Trans+ History Week CIC & Smarty Pants Consultancy
Jamie Wareham - Founder, QueerAF CIC
Laura Jordan Bamabach - Chief Creative Officer, Uncharted Studio
Sebastian Hendra - Strategy
Alice Rotelli - Creative/Art Direction
Lex Di Benedetto - Creative/Copy
Ant Jackson - Creative/Copy
Aidan Lee - Design
Giulia Boccali - Design
The Diversity Standards Collective - Community Creative Testing
For more information, programme details and downloadable resources, visit wearequeeraf.com/transhistoryweek/
More about Trans+ History Week 2025
Following the success of its inaugural year, Trans+ History Week returns from 5 to 11 May 2025, offering a vital moment of remembrance, celebration and empowerment for transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and intersex communities. Set against a challenging backdrop, including the recent divisive UK Supreme Court ruling on trans rights, the week-long programme reaffirms that Trans+ people have always been here – and always will be.
An independent Trans+ led non-profit, originally incubated through QueerAF’s Launchpad Programme, Trans+ History Week uses storytelling, education and creativity to make visible the histories that have too often been erased or forgotten. Working with QueerAF for new events and resources for its second year, the initiative continues to challenge harmful narratives and inspire a more hopeful and truthful future for all.
Trans+ History Day is on 6 May, commemorating the 92nd anniversary of the Nazi raid on the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft – the world’s first trans clinic. While the infamous book burnings that followed are widely shown in British schools, the queer and Trans+ history at the heart of that moment is rarely taught. Trans+ History Week aims to correct this silence by reconnecting with a powerful legacy of resistance, innovation and community care.
Throughout the week this year, cities across the UK, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Coventry and Edinburgh, will host striking public installations celebrating Trans+ lives and stories. A specially commissioned series of features and a podcast series will amplify Trans+ histories from around the world, highlighting figures and communities from the UK to US and South Africa and Italy, from the political landscape in Japan through to the trans woman who made mobile phones possible and to the history of gender diversity in Shakespeare's work. With QueerAF, twenty emerging Trans+ creatives have been commissioned to tell these stories, having been supported through mentoring schemes to ensure Trans+ people are the authors of their own narratives.
Trans+ History Week is also proud to continue sharing its educational resources, including the Trans+ History Week Workbook, researched and written under academic principles by Gray Burke-Stowe. Since its release earlier this year, the workbook has been downloaded by over 1,000 individuals across nonprofit, government and corporate sectors, demonstrating a growing appetite for deeper, more honest engagement with Trans+ history.
Speaking about the week, Marty Davies (she/they), Founder of Trans+ History Week CIC, said: “Too many conversations are still being had about us, without us and in ignorance of both our history and the issues that shape our lives today, like healthcare, housing, and safety in public space. Trans+ History Week exists to change that. By centering Trans+ stories and storytellers, we’re not just reclaiming our past, we’re building the power and visibility our community needs to shape the future.”
Jamie Wareham (he/him), Founder of QueerAF CIC, added: “Seeing the way the creative’s Trans+ history stories have been shared in this acute time is a testament to their power. They’ve become not only a source to shut down lies about Trans+ people but a source of hope and well-being. The community is devastated and worried about the way the judiciary, parliament and media are vilifying them - but they’re finding hope, and lessons for the fight ahead by learning from Trans+ history. They also speak to the power of trusting people with lived experience to shape stories and having them in the newsroom. We’re humbled to have powered the launch of Trans+ History Week into a Trans+ led and owned social enterprise as our first-ever launchpad initiative as part of our mission to model the change we want to see in the industry, as the UK’s only regulated, non-profit LGBTQIA+ publisher. And we’re also proud to continue working very closely with them on the project.”
To mark the start of the week, a live event will take place in London on 6 May featuring a special podcast recording with Star Wars actress Abigail Thorn and Sex Education’s Anthony Lexa. On 9 May, the week will close with a comedy fundraiser, This Cisn’t Funny!, bringing together an all-Trans+ line-up of comedians including Charlie Craggs, Shivani Dave, Dee Allum and Don One.
Support for the initiative continues to grow. This year’s events are sponsored by Clifford Chance, Verizon Business, Publicis Groupe UK and Diageo, with support from some of the UK's leading LGBTQIA+ and Trans+ organisations, including Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence, UK Black Pride, LGBT+ History Month, Not A Phase, Queer Britain, London Trans+ Pride, Trans Pride Manchester, Brighton Trans Pride, Just Like Us, LGBT Foundation, My Genderation, DIVA, PinkNews, and more.
Kate Osborne MP (Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East) has again led an Early Day Motion in Parliament (Wed 30th April) recognising Trans+ History Week and urging MPs across all parties to show their support for the initiative.
Kate Osborne MP (she/her), Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East said: “Trans+ History is too often invisible or ignored. I am pleased to be part of initiatives to reverse that and want to applaud Marty and all involved with Trans+ History week for the work they are doing. I am proud to have ensured Trans+ History Week is acknowledged in Parliament for the second year running and will do all I can to ensure our Trans+ community know that there are a significant number of politicians that will defend their rights, champion their history and the significant role they have always and will always play in our society. I want to particularly highlight the wonderful graphics this year”Marty Davies (she/they), Founder of Trans+ History Week CIC, added: “Political engagement is crucial for the Trans+ community to prevent a regression of rights. So it is heartening to see our political leaders beginning to recognise the rich, millennia-old history of gender-diverse people. We’ve always been here. We always will be. Trans+ History Week is about remembering that truth and demanding a better future.”Trans+ History Week invites everyone – Trans+ people, allies, and wider society – to join in learning about, celebrating and honouring these powerful legacies - and strengthening the fight for a future rooted in truth, dignity and joy.For more information, programme details and downloadable resources, visit wearequeeraf.com/transhistoryweek/
ABOUT TRANS+ HISTORY WEEK CIC
Trans+ History Week 05–11 May 2025
Trans+ History Week CIC is a Trans+ led nonprofit, social enterprise and QueerAF launchpad project. It exists to popularise the newly created global awareness week: Trans+ History Week – taking place 05–11 May 2025 and Trans+ History Day which takes place on 06 May. It is a week-long reflective period to learn and celebrate the momentous and millennia-old history of transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and Intersex people. The organisation creates content and hosts events and exhibitions that reflect on history and surface learnings for our present to secure a better future. Since formation the organisation has invested in over 60 Trans+ creatives: writers, illustrators, audio producers, musicians, photographers, journalists, poets and comedians to surface Trans+ stories.
ABOUT QUEERAF CIC
QueerAF CIC is an award-winning independent publisher launching the careers of emerging and underrepresented LGBTQIA+ creatives with mentoring and commissioning schemes. It is the only both regulated and non-profit LGBTIQA+ publisher in the UK. QueerAF launchpad projects facilitate, mentor and support LGBTQIA+ creatives to create their own original projects as part of a broader mission to improve media and creative industries' representation of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Notes to editors:
What do we mean by the term ‘Trans+’
We’ve used the term ‘Trans+’ to be inclusive of the many ways people describe and define their relationship to their own gender or absence of gender. This term is inclusive of transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, bigender, gender non-conforming and agender people - or indeed inclusive of any of the other ways people define their gender. This term is also inclusive of intersex people who have natural diversity in sex characteristics.
What official content will be available with QueerAF during Trans+ History Week 05–11?
Trans+ History Week ran an open commissioning scheme in January and February to find and champion emerging Trans+ writers, illustrators and audio producers.Throughout the week, twenty emerging Trans+ creatives - who’ve been supported, given audio equipment to keep, and mentored by the founder of QueerAF, Jamie Wareham, across multiple commissioning schemes. They will share their stories as they spotlight global Trans+ history stories and will be available by signing up for the QueerAF newsletter.
Clifford Chance, Verizon Business are headline sponsors for a second year.
Publicis Groupe UK is our Creative Talent Sponsor. Diageo are a Sponsor.
The initiative has also been supported since launch by some of the largest LGBTQIA+ and Trans+ organisations and media since its launch including: Gendered Intelligence, UK Black Pride, LGBT+ History Month, Not A Phase, Trans Pride Manchester, London Trans+ Pride, Trans Pride Brighton, Hidayah LGBT, Just Like Us, LGBT Foundation, Trans Actual UK, DIVA, Queer Britain, Switchboard LGBT+, My Genderation, myGwork and LGBT Consortium.
About Marty Davies (she/they), Founder of Trans+ History Week:
Marty is a writer, campaigner and changemaker in the space where LGBTQIA+ culture collides with the creative industries and attention economy. She founded creative strategy consultancy Smarty Pants Consultancy, which helps brands connect meaningfully with queer culture. In 2024, she was shortlisted for PPA Columnist of the Year. Her column for global business magazine Campaign is noted for its provocative and refreshingly honest look at the advertising industry.
As a social entrepreneur and founder of Trans+ History Week, she demonstrates how to build movements that deliver good for both community and business. Her globally recognized nonprofit initiative invests in the creative talent of the future to tell history stories that challenge misconceptions. She is highly regarded as a leading voice in both LGBTQIA+ advocacy and the creative industries – appearing on both Campaign’s A List and the DIVA Power List 2025.Marty Davies is available for interviews and media about the initiative, Pride Campaigns and why learning about Trans+ history is so important
Our sponsors said:
Kate Williams (she/her), Director of DEI at Publicis Groupe UK says:“Partnering with Trans+ History Week is a powerful step in supporting future generations of LGBTQIA+ talent in our industry. By amplifying their voices, we not only foster cognitive diversity and equity of opportunity, but also counter misinformation, driving a more inclusive and informed industry. At a time when standing our ground with marginalised communities is more important than ever, this partnership reaffirms our commitment to equity, representation, and driving meaningful change.”
Jen Longstaff, Arcus UK Co-Chair the Clifford Chance LGBTQ+ network says: “We are honoured to support Trans+ History Week as it aligns with our commitment to fostering an inclusive environment that respects and celebrates diversity. We are honoured to be part of this event as we recognise the importance of acknowledging and understanding the rich history and contributions of the trans and non-binary community. This support is a testament to our dedication to promote equality, both within our firm and the wider community. We believe that engaging with and supporting such events can help to educate and inspire, fostering a culture of inclusivity that benefits everyone.”
