Trans+ History Week 2026 returns with a powerful message for the UK this May

This year, Trans+ History Day has arrived on the anniversary of the 1933 Nazi raid on the world's first Trans+ clinic in Berlin, Germany and amid a pivotal moment for the transgender community. Despite the For Women Scotland Supreme Court ruling , and upcoming parliamentary scrutiny of the EHRC’s Code of Practice , the trans community are finding ways to live in hope and joy, while learning about and from Trans+ history. Trans+ History Week represents a week-long period of reflection to discover and honour the significant and ancient history of transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and Intersex individuals. Trans+ History Week CIC, a Trans+ led nonprofit, commissions content and hosts events and exhibitions that reflect on history and surface learnings for our present to secure a better future. Trans+ History Week has raised over £100,000 and, with QueerAF, invested in over 100 Trans+ creatives: writers, illustrators, audio producers, musicians, photographers, speakers, journalists, poets and comedians. Trans+ History Week itself was originally incubated as a QueerAF launchpad project. Trans+ History Week runs from 4th May to the 10th May 2026, and is centred around Trans+ History Day on 6th May. This year, Trans+ History Week makes its return at a time when Trans+ people are navigating an increasingly charged media and political landscape, following the Supreme Court's contentious ruling in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers – and just weeks before MPs are set to examine the EHRC's revised Code of Practice. Meanwhile, Trans+ people and their supporters have been intensifying their fight for basic rights. "Trans+ history runs deep, and it runs through everything, " founder and director of Trans+ History Week, Marty Davies (she/they), said in a statement. "In calm waters and rough tides, Trans+ communities have always found a way - and we will keep finding it: fighting for our dignity, our rights, our community, and our right to simply exist. "Trans+ History Week is about telling that story, on our own terms – that matters more now than ever. In the face of erasure, Trans+ people have had to discover and claim our own history, making ourselves visible and refusing to disappear. I've been heartened to see tremendous allyship grow across sectors in response, as more and more people recognise the injustice our community is facing for what it is. "Having championed true representation of Trans+ people in advertising for years, I take a particular pleasure in being a part of bringing this new campaign, Reflections, to communities up and down the country." There are a number of events happening across the UK, starting with a bold new awareness campaign, Reflections, that has taken over Outernet London and beyond. Running throughout the week, the initiative highlights deeply troubling findings: 99% of Trans+ people say UK media coverage of Trans+ lives has damaged their mental health, 96% report it has altered the way strangers treat them, and 91% say it has affected how their own family members behave towards them, according to TransActual's Trans Lives report, released in March 2026. Reflections launches from 30 April to 10 May nationwide across out-of-home locations – including Liverpool Central Station, Manchester's Hotel Football , Brighton's Churchill Square, Newcastle Haymarket, London's Boxpark Wembley, and Edinburgh Towers – alongside UK-wide publications. On Trans+ History Day on May 6th, there will be a community evening with THW's headline sponsor Deloitte UK, which will feature a live recording of the QueerAF podcast. You can buy tickets for the events here and find out more to do this Trans+ History Week here.