The Most Inspiring British LGBT People Of 2016
The Most Inspiring British LGBT People Of 2016
- There aren’t many people, let alone teenagers, who can say they changed banking history. But Kaelin Farnish, 17, did just that after contacting BuzzFeed News to explain that they could not open a bank account because they did not identify as male or female – and every British bank demands customers tick one of two gender boxes. Being nonbinary, Farnish felt alienated by what is, for most people, a mundane administrative process. So they spoke out. When the story broke, internet trolls subjected Farnish to abuse merely for saying that banks should recognise that not everyone is male or female, and that gender is a spectrum. But it wasn’t just trolls who saw the story. An employee of Metro Bank – Britain’s newest high street bank – saw the article and showed it to senior executives. Five months later, Metro made an announcement: It was to become the first bank in history to welcome nonbinary customers, by adding a “nonbinary” option in its application forms and an “Mx” title option, along with Mr/Mrs/Ms. Farnish hailed the move as a “massive step forward”.
- There aren’t many people, let alone teenagers, who can say they changed banking history. But Kaelin Farnish, 17, did just that after contacting BuzzFeed News to explain that they could not open a bank account because they did not identify as male or female – and every British bank demands customers tick one of two gender boxes. Being nonbinary, Farnish felt alienated by what is, for most people, a mundane administrative process. So they spoke out. When the story broke, internet trolls subjected Farnish to abuse merely for saying that banks should recognise that not everyone is male or female, and that gender is a spectrum. But it wasn’t just trolls who saw the story. An employee of Metro Bank – Britain’s newest high street bank – saw the article and showed it to senior executives. Five months later, Metro made an announcement: It was to become the first bank in history to welcome nonbinary customers, by adding a “nonbinary” option in its application forms and an “Mx” title option, along with Mr/Mrs/Ms. Farnish hailed the move as a “massive step forward”.
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