Over the last few years, politicians and conservative figures have consistently attacked the trans and non-binary community by spewing hateful rhetoric and introducing legislation targeting their rights or access to healthcare. From the 47th president of the United States issuing anti-trans executive orders to the UK Supreme Court’s ruling excluding trans women from the legal definition of womanhood, the conservative agenda has stopped at nothing to undermine the dignity, rights and existence of trans and non-binary people.
While the current political landscape is steadily chipping away at the community’s livelihoods and well-being, there are a handful of organisations fighting back against the rise of anti-trans hate, such as Mermaids.
For over 30 years, Mermaids has worked tirelessly to support trans and non-binary youth in the UK by offering life-saving services and resources. They have also used their platform to raise money for the community through special events, including Miles for Mermaids, and the sale of merchandise.
Recently, the charity teamed up with LGBTQIA+ activist and award-winning artist Joseph Harwood to create the ‘Don’t Be Mad, Be A Mermaid’ shirt. Blending mermaid fantasy with gripping street style, the bold, eye-catching design offers fashion enthusiasts and LGBTQIA+ advocates an opportunity to make an important statement in style.
We were able to chat with Joseph and the Mermaids crew about their powerful and iconic collaboration, creative process and more.
Congratulations on your recent merchandise collaboration. How did this Mermaids x Joseph Harwood partnership come to be?
Joseph: Firstly, I want to say how grateful I am to be chatting to Gay Times after being able to do makeup for many of the queens you’ve interviewed over the years. To reintroduce my work, I was one of the first trans people to brand themselves online, and I modelled my look and merchandise on the image of a mermaid.
During my career, I faced a lot of discrimination and a lack of coverage when it came to my projects, most notably when I won a reality show with Simon Cowell called the You Generation in 2014. A lot of people remember Little Mix doing the accent challenge instead of [me] being the first trans person to accomplish that milestone [of winning You Generation], and that really isn’t cool when my work has been so widely repeated. The artist that created celebrity transformation tutorials and gender transformation tutorials was a trans person – and we consistently see cultural erasure when it comes to telling trans people’s stories to a wider audience. I wanted to give back after building such a successful career for myself and Mermaids was the perfect alignment.
Can you take us through the creative process? What were some of the initial ideas you all explored at the start of this partnership?
Joseph: The original story of a mermaid was told to me from an older person’s perspective, and they said the narrative was similar to a gay person falling in love with a straight person, and being unable to share their authenticity. I think there’s something in that, and the original tale is a bit darker than the Disney movie. I was playing with imagery and did a look with long pink hair.
I shared the visuals, and everyone told me they saw it as a mermaid. It basically blew up on Facebook and was shared tens of thousands of times repeatedly, it was a magical moment because it became a virally shared image without a negative connotation. I said to Mermaids, ‘You’ve gotta do something with this as I own the picture, and it’ll be a fab concept to support back!’
For the final product, the ‘Don’t Mad, Be a Mermaid’ t-shirt/sleeveless shirt was born. Was there anything in particular that inspired this bold and eye-catching design?
Joseph: I think people are getting so mad when discussing the trans community because there has been this social compression since the pandemic, when everyone was stuck in the house. People were joining TikTok and other social media, and probably for the first time, seeing a world of people they had absolutely no opinion about before. The other ingredient is the exploitation of unresolved trauma by public figures, who have been conjuring up a figure of a Boogie-Man specifically about trans women. The outcome of that is people then start to believe that there is a potential risk if we co-exist. To me, that is not only maddening but completely irresponsible. The outcome is this recent change in law. We’re smart people and we need to look at evidence on a wider scale with multiple examples before we start creating pandemonium. To have people grab me when I’m walking into a venue and quiz me about my use of bathrooms is really mad, when women’s rights to body autonomy are being eroded on a global scale. So do not be mad, be a mermaid!
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This collaboration was also in conjunction with your MAC collection. What was it like to partner with such an influential makeup brand for this great cause?
Joseph: I grew up using MAC and when I started, I looked at MAC like an apothecary. I thought it was amazing to see how they had such inclusive attitudes to different kinds of people, so when I got the opportunity to create with them, I wanted to celebrate for Trans Week of Remembrance. We discussed what we could do, and we agreed to donate £50,000 to Mermaids from Viva Glam. It was amazing!
What does this partnership with Mermaids mean to you?
Joseph: There are so many layers to this because it was my visuals. Mermaids is such an awesome charity and have gone through an ordeal to get things in order, and the fundamental thing that I believe in is we need to humanise trans people. I identified as myself in school, I then saw that the minute we started to chat about pronouns and non-binary, the tolerance went down. That was a real pivotal moment which could have been handled differently if we had some strategy and collaboration. Mermaids does an excellent job of education and highlighting different people’s stories and bringing it back to the heart of things. I also worked recently on a campaign called Trans is Human by Jake Graf, and it did the same thing. We need more humanity. We’re all people and we’ve got more in common than differences. We all have to pay the same bills, we all experience family issues and bereavements, and we could be more compassionate.
For the Mermaids team, what has the impact of the collection been on the organisation?
Mermaids: It’s been a joy to reconnect with Joe on this exciting project, who has been a great friend and supporter of Mermaids over the years. We’re proud of the bold pieces we’ve created together using Joe’s original and iconic artwork. The feedback has been lovely, with staff and volunteers repping the merch at recent events we’ve hosted. ‘Don’t Be Mad, Be a Mermaid’ is a light-hearted yet powerful message that our community and allies need to hear at this moment in time.
In 2024, we relaunched our merch collection with fresh new ranges, including pastel tones and an adorable shark character, as well as Joe’s mer-mazing range. Our merch has been developed in collaboration with trans youth, who told us that merch being sustainably and ethically sourced was really important to them. We only create merch to order, so there’s no waste. And all our products are made from organic cotton or recycled materials and use vegan friendly inks.
Joseph, you’ve been making waves and changing the industry as an artist, beauty expert, LGBTQIA+ activist, DEI consultant and more. What advice would you give to the younger LGBTQIA+ folk struggling to find their place, especially with the current state of the world and the rise of anti-trans rhetoric?
I think we’ve got to work on queer-driven businesses and projects as an LGBTQIA+ community and get back to basics. I don’t know when we started profiting off of reprimanding people and making such divisive digital content, but I truly think this needs to evolve and people need to think up more creative ways of working together. I created a collaboration channel with over 100 trans and LGBTQIA+ people when I was in my early 20s that blew up and launched the careers of loads of people who are now superstar drag performers and activists. We did that alongside the wider community, and it was a lot more rewarding than the approach that we’ve seen in recent years. So my advice to younger people is: form communities, defend each other from bigotry by working smarter, and create opportunities to win.
Mermaids has had such an incredible impact on the trans, non-binary and gender diverse communities nonconforming communities since 1995. Looking back, how have you evolved as a charity, and what goals would you like to achieve in the future?
Mermaids: Since a group of parents founded Mermaids 30 years ago to share experiences, find answers and look for ways to keep their children safe and happy, Mermaids has changed, and so has the world. In 2025, we want to celebrate our birthday as a strong, resilient and professional organisation which centres youth voice in everything that we do and stands up for the rights of trans children and young people. Our vision is a safe, inclusive society where trans children and young people are empowered to live their best lives.
In the last year alone, our support line has helped over 2,400 people, with 78% of young people who contacted us having greater confidence and ability to cope after getting in touch with us. We’ve also campaigned on the key issues that impact trans youth, including mobilising over nine thousand people to write to their MPs, asking them to stand up for inclusive schools for all students. Now, we’re encouraging allies and supporters of Mermaids to write to their MPs to demand trans health now, which you can do using our tool on our website.
Every single child and young person should be able to get the care that they need to grow up happy and healthy. But right now, trans youth are being failed. We’re demanding a future for trans young people where they can access the healthcare they need, without having to wait for years or fear their experiences will be dismissed.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Joseph Harwood and Mermaids? Can we expect a new collaboration down the line?
Joseph: I would absolutely love to continue collaborating, and I have some amazing ideas for media opportunities. I really believe in mentorship and working with young people on creating their own lanes, so what I would love to do next is create something where we could do some features on young LGBTQIA+ artists and have Mermaids involved in some capacity! Other than that, I have some exciting branding opportunities coming out this year and new products, so find all my work at www.josephharwood.com and check out Mermaids to support.
