Reesha Dyer-Evans interviewed by Christopher Nairne

Interview with Reesha Dyer-Evans recorded by Christopher Nairne on 19 May 2025 at a public library in Buckinghamshire. Duration: 2 hours 32 minutes 37 seconds. [Start of interview, track 01] Childhood in Rugby and Kilsby; family, religious and political influences; love of maths and music; their mother’s feminism, their father’s acceptance of transgender people, and changing family attitudes to gay people. [00:21:42] Reflecting on toxic childhood friendships; lack of queer education at school and home, legacy of Section 28; faith and religion growing up. [00:33:00] Importance of music in their life and family. Education, Grammar School 6th form, choice of subjects, more diversity at school, finding queer friends, LGBTQIA+ students, compared to comprehensive school; family holidays as a child; school trips to Uganda, later finding out scandal of conversation therapy at the place where they went in Uganda; how UK LGBTQIA+ students were advised to hide their sexuality in Uganda, how impactful the debates they had with Ugandan students were on them, in relation to death penalty, Christian faith and value and family life. [00:56:20] Reasons for choosing to study engineering, Durham University engineering degree; LARPing (Live Action Role Play) with Treasure Trap Society; meeting transgender people, discovering pansexuality and queer politics; meeting their future husband. [01:03:02] Hobbies, Folk Society, Morris dancing and rapper sword dancing, co-founding Dancing Spires queer rapper side in Oxford; joining Transport for London (TfL) graduate scheme, rotating through placements, gaining front-line insight. [01:10:02] TfL’s support for London Pride and LGBTQIA+ staff; Mental Health Ambassador role; permanent Systems and Control post, pivot into software development and simulations. [01:21:56] Mental health issues and recovery, including later understanding some experiences as autistic burnout; being a mental health ambassador, TfL ‘Time to Talk’ Ambassador, work on widening mental health discussion at TfL. [01:34:01] Comparing software engineering roles in different companies, at start-up WND, then City Fiber; becoming involved with the internal LGBTQIA+ network after City Fiber left Stonewall’s diversity scheme, concerns over limited visible queer staff and representation. [01:41:36] Non-binary identity, describing themself as “politically female” because of others’ perceptions; realising they are agender; questioning why society treats gender as central. [01:47:06] How they realised their pansexuality, how they realised they were agender; LARP as a space for exploring sexuality and gender; preference for clear labels; coming out to husband and family, their reactions; choosing to come out publicly on social medial following scandal of conversion therapy in Uganda. [02:01:56] Parenthood as a non-binary person; heteronormative assumptions around families; lack of choice for non-cis-het (cis-gender, heterosexual) couples on official forms; phrase “culturally queer” for cis-het people raised by queer parents. [end of track 01] [Track 02] Engagement with local MP over transgender rights, attending protests and encouraging cis-gender allies to wear trans pride badges; exhaustion at transphobic rhetoric and explaining queer rights, alongside duty to stand up for less safe trans people. [00:10:22] Social media hostility and friends experiencing worse prejudice. [00:13:54] Discovery of their own neurodivergence; reflections on links between neurodivergence, gender and sexuality. [00:18:24] Future hopes, relying on To Do lists, possible return to music, political hope, support for Good Law Project’s trans-rights work and the importance of trade unions. [00:25:42] Positive start in new Oxford-based job; the advice they would give their younger self; conclusion. [end of interview]

This interview was made as part of People Pride and Progress (PPP) project. The project was initiated in 2023 to record the stories and memories of the LGBTQIA+ community in a new oral history archive over two years. It aimed to connect past, present and future through intergenerational interviews, offering opportunities for colleagues across all parts of the rail industry to connect, reflect on and learn from each other’s lived experiences while creating an archive of oral history interviews.