Filmed over the course of two years, the RTÉ 2 documentary My Trans Life will offer an intimate portrait of the lives of five young (18-25), trans people on their journey to transition. The young people featured in the show, highlighted in the photo accompanying this article, are Harry Matthews, Luke O’Reilly Kane, Jamie O’Herlihy, Chloe O’Herlihy and Dylan Clarke.

The show comes almost 4 years after TV3’s documentary, Irish Lives: My Transgender Journey, which included amongst others, Sam, a 19 year old UCD student in the process of transitioning. At the time TENI (Trans Equality Network Ireland) spoke about how important visibility was for the community. While there has been sizeable progress since then in positive visibility of trans people in media and on television, a programme dedicated to highlighting the lives of young trans people could not come at a better time.

 The recent LGBT+ Youth Strategy, organised by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs published findings where half of the young people surveyed identified ongoing discrimination with 1 in 5 identifiying bullying & harassment. It was also reported that Intersex, Transgender and Bisexual young people had the highest scores for anxiety, depression and stress.

Also included in the RTÉ 2 slate of documentaries will be Mary McAleese’s Modern Family, where the former President and champion of LGBT+ rights will use the two papal visits to Ireland (in 1979 and the upcoming visit by the Pope this year), to chart what has changed, or what hasn’t, for Irish families since then. In the show McAleese meets with different Irish families and talks about her own, infusing the film with insights about diversity, economics, faith, gender politics, sexuality and the role of women.

While there is no screening date as yet for the McAleese programme, make sure to catch My Trans Life on 17 May on RTÉ 2 to support more visibility for the trans community.