10 May 2022
We are delighted to announce that our member, Katie Neeves has been nominated (for the third year running) as a Positive Role Model for LGBT in the National Diversity Awards!
Katie Neeves is a woman on a mission – but not just any woman and not just any mission! She lived for 48 years as a man while struggling with her gender and hiding her big secret to the World. She was thrown into turmoil when her gender dysphoria increased dramatically, causing her to go on a voyage of discovery before finally admitting to her self that she is a transgender woman and that she needed to change her body. She then came out very publicly via a coming-out video which she posted on her social media and sent to all the clients of her photography and video business, risking her livelihood and reputation in the process.
Katie formed Cool2BTrans in 2019 to support and inspire other trans people by demonstrating that it really is OK to be trans, as so many trans people don’t know that at the start of their journey. She is also on a mission to educate everyone else on trans issues by showing them that trans people are just ordinary people who want to be happy – just like everyone else. She helps organisations globally with diversity and inclusion by providing trans awareness training and inspirational speaking in an entertaining way by using humour to break down barriers. Recent participants of Katie’s sessions said it was “a masterclass in storytelling!” and “the most interesting webinar so far and definitely the funniest”. Her ethos is to change minds in a positive way, rather than dwelling on the negativity that so often comes to the fore in the media.
Katie appears regularly in the media and she is on both ITV’s and the BBC’s lists of experts. Also, she was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in 2021.
Katie regularly gives support to both trans people and also to parents of trans people who contact her following her media appearances and public speaking engagements.
For more information about Katie, please visit her website at www.cool2btrans.co.uk .
