Aylesbury transgender activist gets double nomination at National Diversity Awards

Marteene Pringle, who works with charities and community leaders to support transgender rights movements, is up for Role Model of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement award.

Her portrait is also set to be featured at the Discover Bucks Museum as part of its new Journey Through Bucks exhibition starting this weekend.

She has managed to capture the imagination of people within the transgender community and beyond in her work promoting equal rights.

Previously she was up for the same role model award in the past two years.

Marteene told The Bucks Herald: “I was thrilled to be nominated again.

“Getting nominated still means a lot as I'm trying to promote transgender rights and everyone's right to be themselves and feel comfortable in themselves.

“Receiving the nomination for the lifetime achievement award did come as a shock, as I haven't been able to do this for most of my life.”

As previously chronicled in Bucks Herald articles, Marteene didn't make the step of transitioning to become a woman until she was 51.

Her life experiences up until that point, had made even the thought of doing that hard to comprehend.

As detailed in previous features in her strict childhood and experiences in hyper-masculine environments like the military had made the idea of transitioning appear alien to the way she'd been taught to live her life.

Speaking to The Bucks Herald in 2019 Marteene confessed that her parents used to beat her and ask her to act more manly, rather than help her find her true identity.

Now she takes pride as acting as a spokesperson for her community, she works for Trans Radio UK which champions positive representation.

Marteene states that in previous years Buckinghamshire has been voted the worst place for trans people to live in the UK.

She argues, “that’s simply not the case”, with pro trans rights events regularly taking place in Milton Keynes.

Ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility, which is this Thursday (31 March).

Marteene says that progress is slowly but surely being made when it comes to acceptance both locally and nationally.

She says she’s a prominent figure in Aylesbury, who is always about, and yet never runs into trouble, or hears the hateful transphobic language she has been exposed to in the past.

Marteene is also involved with the two groups hoping to bring the biggest Pride event Aylesbury’s ever seen to the town this summer.

The National Diversity Awards champions charities, role models and community heroes.

It hopes to showcase people and organisations that enhance equality, diversity and inclusion; thus embracing the excellence of all our citizens irrespective of race, faith, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability and culture.

You can register a vote for Marteene on the official awards page here.

Once the nomination process is complete, a panel of judges will assess he nominations, and announce the shortlists by 16 June.

On 27 June Marteene will discover whether she made the final cut in either category.

Overall winners will be announced at an event at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral on Friday 16 September.