The Trans Agenda #31
[3 June 2024]
Welcome to The Trans Agenda, a newsletter that will arrive in your inbox Monday if you are subscribed. You can also read it on Substack and on Trans Writes.
Apologies for the lack of an edition last week, I took advantage of the UK Bank Holiday to be lazy and just not bother. With an election on the horizon, the campaigns are taking place over the six weeks of the year I get to laze about in my day job, so I seized a chance to do nowt last week.
Nothing good comes without a price these days and, as a result, I’ve a fuck-ton to catch up on. So let’s do that.
So, we finally have an election date. July 4th 2024, the day we know the Tories will be voted out. Of course, there is little to cheer for queer people with the incoming Labour government, particularly trans people, but please do remember to set that aside for a moment and enjoy the end of the current set of fascists we have in charge. It’s the little things, you know?
While things don’t seem like they will improve for trans people specifically under Labour, overall things should show some sign of improvement. We don’t ask for much in the UK anymore. As long as the government isn’t actively trying to kill us, we are satisfied. Wary, but satisfied.
I joke, of course. The whole thing is a shit show. Labour have shown themselves to be to the right of David Cameron’s Conservatives and they are the ones who started digging the canyon of despair we now find ourselves languishing at the bottom of.
Ahead of the election, we all expected the attacks on trans people to increase exponentially and we were not wrong with the Tories misusing emergency powers to ban private puberty blockers prescriptions before declaring they will rewrite the Equality Act if they are re-elected, something they could have tried to do when in power but didn’t because they know they won’t be able to.
The Trans Agenda
NEWS & POLITICS
UK uses emergency powers to criminalise puberty blockers
- On 31 May, NHS England sent letters to parents of trans youth stating they must immediately stop taking puberty blockers, as possession will now be considered a crime without a UK prescription. This follows an edict by Health Secretary Victoria Atkins using emergency powers to ban these medications without parliamentary approval. The prohibition targets not only providers but also families, potentially criminalising them. Jo Maugham from the Good Law Project announced plans for a legal challenge against these regulations.As you can see from the letter below, this policy clearly and deliberately discriminates against trans kids.
Tories announce change to Equality Act as part of their manifesto
- The Conservatives, with a policy led by Kemi Badenoch, plans to amend the Equality Act to define sex strictly as biological sex, allowing organisations to exclude trans women from single-sex spaces like hospital wards and sports events. This change, pushed by Badenoch and endorsed by Rishi Sunak, aims to resolve imagined legal ambiguities and protect women’s safety from imagined threats. It is, of course, unworkable as it undermines gender recognition certificates, fosters discrimination (that’s the point) and ignores the lived realities of trans people, in particular trans men. The move is seen as a key part of the Tories’ election strategy against Labour and is predicated on nothing more than the Cult’s insistence that they can ‘always tell’.
Labour will not change the Equality Act
- At the time of writing, Labour have not responded to the Tories’ plans to change the Equality Act but are expected to confirm they will not change it. Instead, they believe the problems lie in the guidance that’s been issued, which is true, but not for the reasons Labour are going to claim.
Anti-trans MPs at risk of losing their seats
- I recently compiled a spreadsheet looking at the margins of some of the most anti-trans MPs to see who is most at risk of losing their seats. Despite having a massive margin, Kemi Badenoch is also believed to be at risk.
Suzy Izzard suggests being trans affected her chance of becoming an MP [Pink News]
- Suzy Izzard has faced significant challenges in her bid to become a Labour MP, particularly due to her identity as a trans woman. In a recent interview, she suggested that her chances of securing a parliamentary seat have been negatively impacted by widespread anti-trans sentiment. Despite these obstacles, Izzard remains committed to her political ambitions, aiming to represent Brighton Pavilion.
New paper on Gender-inclusive language in midwifery and perinatal services released [Sally Pezaro PhD, John Pendleton MSc, Rodante van der Waal MA, Sarah LaChance Adams PhD, Mario J. D. S. Santos PhD, Ash Bainbridge MA, Krishna Istha BA, Zan Maeder MSc, John Gilmore PhD, Jeannine Webster MSc, Bunty Lai-Boyd MSc, Anne Marie Brennan RM, Elizabeth Newnham PhD]
- The paper addresses the importance of inclusive language in midwifery and perinatal care, arguing that the use of “sexed language”—language that reinforces a binary understanding of gender—causes harm and is unethical. This practice marginalises not only trans, gender-diverse, and non-binary people but also cisgender women by upholding colonialist, heteropatriarchal values.
President of American Academy of Paediatrics responds to Cass mispresenting AAP’s position [source]
Waterstones promote GC book at the start of Pride [Waterstones]
- With Pride barely underway, a branch of Waterstones posted out a selection of books, including the latest GC nonsense, The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht.A collection of ramblings from people who are obsessed with trans people, it’s fun to note that this book is named after a hashtag that emerged in support of Marion Millar. Millar was subsequently arrested at the end of last year on charges of fraud allegedly spanning four years. They don’t talk about that part as much.
Keep an eye out for –
- What else the Tories can come up with to target trans people. With just over 30 days left until the election, they have 30 more chances to show how bad they really are. Again.
READ The Trans Agenda: The papers: 27 May – 2 June
- Despite threatening to use trans people as a battering ram ahead of the upcoming election, and with the caveat that there is still a long way to go, in the 11 days since the election was called, there has not been an uptick in anti-trans content in the publications I check. Over the past 11 days there were 37 articles whereas in the 11 prior there were 41. The 11 before that saw 44.
AROUND THE WORLD
10 police officers charged in connection with killing of trans woman in Argentina [Pink News]
- 10 police officers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, have been charged in connection with the death of Sofia Fernández, a 39-year-old transgender woman. Fernández was found dead in custody in April 2023 after being arrested on robbery accusations. Her family, who were not allowed to communicate with her during detention, claimed she had no criminal record. Initially reported as a sudden death, an autopsy revealed signs of torture and suffocation. The charges include murder, cover-up, and document falsification.
Federal authorities are investigating attacks on transgender and Latino students in Virginia [Advocate]
- The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into incidents of violence inVirginia against both transgender and Latino students at Norview High School in Norfolk. The investigation follows reports of harassment and physical assaults that school officials allegedly failed to address adequately.
‘Emilia Pérez’ star sues far-right politician for transphobic comment after her Cannes win [Advocate]
- Karla Sofía Gascón, who recently made history by becoming the first trans woman to win the Best Actress award at Cannes for her role in Emilia Pérez, has filed a lawsuit against Marion Maréchal. The far-right French politician referred to Gascón’s performance as a “female interpretation”.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
NI law that would have outlawed reporting Savile allegations struck down [Press Gazette]
- A Northern Ireland law granting anonymity to people suspected of sexual assault allegations before charge, even for 25 years after they die, has been struck down after a successful challenge by the media.
Get your Ferrets for trans rights stuff here
TRANSWRITES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
- Trans people are the greatest assault on women in JK Rowling’s life time, apparently, by Gemma Stone
- Cowardly bully Victoria Atkins MP banned puberty blockers as Parliament dissolves, by Gemma Stone
- RCPsych’s Lenny Cornwall called me toxic and abusive after implying a legal threat against me, by Gemma Stone
- The 32 things The Cass Review recommends and why they are concerning, by Gemma Stone.
- NHS & puberty blockers: Former GIDS patients reflect on long wait times, invasive assessments, by Sasha Baker.
- The Cass Review: A government-sanctioned attack on trans lives, by Lee Hurley.
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