| Discrete Collections | Hall-Carpenter Archives |
| Title | The Press for Change Archive |
| Ref No | HCA/PFC |
| Level | Collection |
| Date | [1970s]-2022 |
| Extent | 37 boxes |
| Admin Biographical History | Press for Change was formed in 1992 to "seek respect and equality for all trans people in the UK, through case law, legislation, and social change".
By 2009, PFC was providing legal advice, training, and research to trans people, their representatives, and public and private bodies.
PFC regularly worked with government, for example on the Employment Regulations (1999), the Interdepartmental Working Group on Transsexual People (1999-2000), and the Gender Recognition Act 2004. |
| Custodial History | Mostly papers donated by Stephen Whittle in 2022.
A few of the papers were donated by Christine Burns and Mark Rees, and have been added to this HCA/PFC collection as core items relating to that organisation (i.e. print).
In addition, PFC/D was donated by Christine Burns in 2012. |
| Description | Papers of the trans campaign group, Press for Change (PFC).
Arranged in the following series:
A: Organisational papers, including: information about PFC; statement of aims and objectives; papers of AGMs; activists' reports; members' registration forms
B: Print for members and/or supporters: newsletters; campaign pack; pamphlet, "The hitch-hiker's guide to trans-activism" (2002)
C: Publicity: leaflets; posters; press releases; briefing papers; stickers; ephemera; press cuttings relating to trans issues generally
D: Christine Burns papers: lobbying correspondence with MPs and ministers; correspondence re Alex Carlile's Gender Identity (Registration and Civil Status) Bill (1995-96); correspondence re media coverage of trans people; papers re events she participated in
E: Campaigns, including papers on: Parliamentary Forum on Transsexualism; Gender Identity (Registration and Civil Status) Bill (1995-96); Department for Education and Employment's (DfEE) consultation paper, "Legislation regarding discrimination on grounds of transsexualism in employment" (1998); Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999; Interdepartmental Working Group on Transsexual People, 1999-2000; Gender Recognition Act 2004; Equality Act 2010
F: Conferences and training arranged by PFC, including papers on the International Congress on Sex and Gender (1998 and 2004)
G: Activities which PFC were involved with, such as: Council of Europe's XXIIIrd Colloquy on European Law ("Transsexualism, medicine and law"), 1993; Pride 1996 (the first time trans people were included in the Pride title); GIRES; International Transgender Film and Video Festival, 1997-99; Transgender Europe
H: Correspondence, including: some letters from Mark Rees re PFC origins (1992); letters from MPs and MEPs in response to lobbying letters; correspondence with other organisations
J: Subject files, on various topics such as: access to gender reassignment surgery on the NHS; immigration; policing; prisons; sport
L: Legal papers, including: papers comparing trans-related laws in various countries; papers on specific cases
For some papers on the formation of PFC see HCA/REES/20. The Mark Rees collection also contains other material re PFC, including on:
- Letters to all MPs sent after the 1992 general election (HCA/REES/42)
- The letter published in The Times on 8 October 1993 (HCA/REES/21)
- Alex Carlile's Gender Identity (Registration and Civil Status) Bill, 1995-96 (HCA/REES/22)
- Several badges with PFC logos, nd (HCA/REES/41) |
| Related Material | Other trans-related papers donated by Stephen Whittle are in the WHITTLE collection, including material from the FTM Network and many printed documents/ephemera.
Papers of Mark Rees are in HCA/REES.
For snapshots of the Press for Change website since 1998 see https://web.archive.org/web/*/www.pfc.org.uk
Papers of Nicky Stones (activist involved with Press for Change) are held at the Bishopsgate Institute: https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/collections/stones-nicky |
| Access Status | Mainly open; some items closed |