Blackpool Renaissance trans support group
A long-running trans peer support group meeting twice a month at a Dickson Road guesthouse, open to trans people, partners and allies.
Straight trans people
Being trans is about gender, not attraction: meaning, myths, and support for you and your partner.
Being trans is about gender. Being straight is about attraction. They are separate, so many trans people are straight:
- a straight trans man is a man attracted to women;
- a straight trans woman is a woman attracted to men.
Straight trans people are part of the T in LGBTQ+ because of their gender, not their orientation.
Common myths
- "Trans people transition to be in a straight relationship." No. People transition because of who they are. Trans people are gay, lesbian, bi, ace and straight in roughly the same mix of ways as everyone else.
- "If you were with women before transition and still are, you must be a lesbian." Not if you're a man. A trans man with a girlfriend is in a straight relationship.
- "Straight trans people don't need LGBTQ+ spaces." Many find the trans groups and clinics below essential, wherever their attraction lies.
Support in Blackpool
All of Blackpool's trans groups welcome you, whatever your orientation:
Lancashire Lads
A monthly peer support evening exclusively for trans men, held at the Horizon centre on Dickson Road.
TransInclusion
A free, monthly peer-led group in Blackpool for trans women and feminine gender-diverse people.
Gender Outreach drop-in, Blackpool
A free monthly lunchtime drop-in at Blackpool Central Library for people on, waiting for or considering the gender identity clinic pathway.
Renaissance also welcomes partners, which matters to many straight trans people whose husbands, wives, boyfriends or girlfriends want support of their own.
Health
The Phoenix Clinic
A monthly NHS sexual and reproductive health clinic just for trans and gender-diverse people, held in Blackpool and Preston.
The Phoenix Clinic offers contraception, STI testing and cervical screening for trans and gender-diverse people, which can matter a great deal to trans men in straight relationships. Its records are kept separately from your GP record.
Nights out and stays
Straight trans people are welcome across the mixed venues of the quarter and in the town's mainstream bars and hotels. If you want somewhere you know will be relaxed:
Mardi Gras
An LGBTQ+ public bar and hotel on Lord Street with three areas, cabaret, hot food, Sunday roasts and keen drink prices.
Funny Girls
Blackpool's best-known drag cabaret, staging big themed revues in a restored 1939 art deco cinema two minutes from Blackpool North.
The Flying Handbag
A big, purpose-built LGBTQ+ bar and club on Queen Street, open from noon every day with drag hosts, karaoke, food and a sun terrace.
See trans people in Blackpool for trans-friendly stays.
Families
If you're a parent, or your partner has children, these groups support families:
Transparent
A free monthly support meet-up in Blackpool for parents of trans children and trans adults.
Mermaids
A national charity supporting trans, non-binary and gender-diverse young people and their families by phone and web chat.
The law
Since 2014, married people in England and Wales can get a full Gender Recognition Certificate and stay married, if their spouse agrees. For more on UK law, including the 2025 Supreme Court ruling, see UK law.
More
Sources
Straight people in the community: more pages
Straight peoplePart of the quarter like everyone else: how equality law applies to all, what research says about bias, and where to get advice.AlliesYou're welcome here. How to be a good guest, groups for family and friends, and allies at work.Straight intersex peopleIntersex is about the body, not attraction: what that means, health questions and where to get support.Every identityThe full list, the long acronyms and UK law.