Following the interim Cass report; advice suggested closing Tavistock Gender Identity Clinic for transgender youth and replacing it with regional services. British media have chosen to report on this in the worst way possible and sought comment almost exclusively from anti-trans activists.
During the Allison Bailey tribunal we heard a lot about “The cotton ceiling”. Which is a phrase used primarily by anti-trans activists nowadays to frame transgender women in particular as predatory men. This is a deliberately unfair reading meant to monster transgender women.
Framing, its fun for all the family! The result of the Allison Bailey tribunal is out and transphobes are already claiming a win, with Allison herself having repeatedly posted the hashtag #AllisonBaileyWins.
Stonewall UK have issued a statement regarding a recent and still ongoing transphobic backlash that has seen hashtags like #StonewallOut trending for multiple days.
The Women’s March logo has come under fire from those involved in organising against trans people’s equality. This because they’ve apparently put a man in it, and by which they mean a transgender woman. Hilarity has of course, ensued.
Attempting to manufacture yet more anti-trans panic, The Telegraph ran a story regarding ‘bridging hormones’, which is short for a doctor prescribing you medication for harm reduction purposes. According to The Telegraph this basic harm reduction strategy is bad, because transgender.
After anti-trans groups, some who have notably said some very awful things themselves, complained to the BBC about comments made by former MMA fighter, Fallon Fox; the BBC apologised. Just like that! No protests, months of organising or appealing ECU decisions necessary! Weird!
So yeah, Rachel Reeves, if you have a problem with transgender women using the bathroom or changing areas? Then you can wait outside. As can any other transphobe. I am not asking for permission to use women’s spaces, I am asserting my rights to not be discriminated against for being transgender.
To me, the trans community is like a big bag of pick n’ mix – some are sweet, some are sour, some are soft, some are crunchy. We are strawberry laces and chocolate nougat and caramel buttons. Fruity gummy bears and rainbow Skittles.
On days like Trans Pride London, surrounded by my family of trans candy; I felt as happy as a kid in a sweet shop.
If you are transgender and despaired at reading all this, I can only apologise. However, as a community, we will get through it. We are being made the focus of the tory leadership race to distract from the real societal problems such as the cost of living crisis because they have no solutions. The Conservatives have been in power for over a decade, these issues are of their own making. Transgender people existed long before they were elected, and we’ll be around after they leave government. We will win.