Standing in Solidarity: Our Unwavering Support for Trans and Non-Binary Communities

Anyone who knows us, as an organisation or personally, will know that the well-being and sense of belonging of our entire PACT community, including our valued trans and non-binary students, and members, are of paramount importance to us.

We wish this statement didn’t have to be made and, more than that, we feel all our amazing trans and non-binary members deserve some escape from the, frankly, horrific discussion around whether they deserve basic human rights or not under the bizarre and misguided view that giving rights to trans people somehow infringes on the rights of cis women.

Before we go on, it is worth mentioning that there is an abundance of great resources on the details of the Supreme Court’s ruling created by the very people most affected by the ruling and legal experts who are both challenging the ruling and figuring out the implications and how best to mitigate those implications.

We’ve also seen many eloquent men women and non-binary people who have written and spoken on this issue (much better than we can) while experiencing (what can only feel like) a direct attack on their humanity.

So far in our work at PACT we've tried to demonstrate our inclusivity by simply being inclusive. We are an “open arms” kinda gang and welcome every human who has a true love for dogs and learning. We have scholarships, are part of the ABTC DEI initiative, are a proud B-Corp, think long and hard about how our inclusive ethics are reflected in how we book our shows and our conferences and do our best to use inclusive language wherever we can.

To be honest, we hope most of our community don't notice it because it's intended to blend in naturally as an unspoken position but, we know that some of our trans and non-binary community notice and hopefully feel a little more recognised.

When it comes to discussing the evidence of “transness”, the position that we've held, so far, is that we choose not to talk about the evidence around that topic, or biological sex, because we genuinely believe it should not matter!

Trans and non-binary people exist! We don't need evidence to prove that to us. There are an entire group of amazing humans who are telling us their experience and how it impacts them. This is a case where we don’t actually need science in order to respect another human being.

We don't need science to prove someone's experience AND, just as importantly, a person’s right to their human rights DOES NOT depend on the science of their experience and whether that science backs up their experience.

As far as we’re concerned, over here on the good ship PACT, peoples human rights ARE NOT up for debate. As I type this it seems incredibly bizarre that this should even need to be said but, these are the times we find ourselves in and, this is the position we take.

There is something challenging about even having to make statements like these. As we mentioned we know that we have trans and non-binary students, members and listeners but we know that when people talk about these topics it can be the trans and non-binary people who become exposed to harmful backlash. We might get some but, any we receive will not be attempting to pull apart everything we know to be true whilst simultaneously attacking our personhood.

So to make it very clear to all who listen and read this PACT are trans inclusionary, DOGx is trans inclusionary. At the very least that means that we respect and care about our trans and non-binary audience and community in all of those places. Of course, we try to go beyond just care and respect (because good intentions are never enough) but that's our absolute minimum.

And while we’re all here, and although it should go without saying, we're inclusive of other groups too, including all women. One groups rights should NEVER come at the expense of another groups rights.

Within the dog training and behaviour industry, we like to think we champion rigorous, ethically grounded dialogues to ensure the safety, welfare, and well-being of all involved. While we deeply value evidence-based discussions, and often draw upon scientific research to inform our perspectives, the current discourse surrounding transgender rights appears to be  fundamentally different. It presents, not a debate informed by evidence, but rather a situation where an incredibly marginalised group is being put at further risk of harm by decisions being made without them even having a seat at the table.

In these strange days we need to speak out, show up and come together to show the solidarity of our amazing community.