Your say / LGBTQ+ rights
‘Leave trans women alone’
I am not a trans woman. And yet I owe them so much. We as a society owe them so much.
Trans women were instrumental in establishing rights for LGBTQ+ people. Women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were key figures in early queer rights movements.
On a personal level, it is these women’s resilience and joy in the face of discrimination and oppression that inspires me most. Bristol has a thriving trans community and I’ve been lucky to be friends with many of them.
is needed now More than ever
If you do not know any trans women, let me introduce you to them.
According to the 2021 census, they represent around 0.55 per cent of the population of England and Wales.
Some of the best performers, event-organisers and DJs I’ve ever experienced have been trans women.
They are creators of culture. They are activists and politicians pushing for progress. But, above all else, they are just living their lives as their authentic selves.
As a city we have been at the forefront of political progress.
We saw a huge turnout for a rally at College Green showing solidarity with our city’s trans community. There was also a large counter-protest to Kelly Jay Keen’s gender-critical ‘Let Women Speak’ event on College Green.
Hundreds showed up in solidarity for a pro-trans rally on April 19 – photo: Elliott Hingston
Escalation of anti-trans legislation
Last week, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. In other words, they decided the definition does not include trans women.
The decision came after gender critical campaigners, partly funded by author JK Rowling, brought a legal case against the Scottish government.
The court’s decision will mean trans women lose many of the equalities they so badly need.
For example, trans women will now likely be searched by male police officers, could be disallowed from using female bathrooms and could be placed in the wrong hospital wards and prisons.
Keir Starmer doubled down on the Supreme Court decision, saying trans women are not women. This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court only interprets and applies legislation: they are not a law-making body.
Bristol has repeatedly been at the forefront of political progress – photo: Valentina Huxley
As a prime minister whose government has a majority, Starmer could have taken another stance.
Instead, he chose to emphasise the court’s decision.
Culture Wars as a distraction tactic
All around the world we are seeing movements against the queer community, with particular attention to the trans community. From Turkey to the USA and now to the UK. We are seeing an imported culture war, spearheaded by Trump’s administration.
Meanwhile, the UK economy is failing.
In 2024, it was estimated 9 million UK households were in fuel poverty.
Throughout the current cost of living crisis, people have had to make sacrifices to put food on the table.
In Bristol we have higher than average child poverty, with 47.8 per cent of children in low income families living in Central and 54.2 per cent living in Lawrence Hill.
We saw during the last Conservative administration that when our government fails us, they look for scapegoats.
“Stop the Boats” saw the focus fall on migrants. Ministers threatened to send migrants to Rwanda. The Bibby Stockholm barge housed asylum seekers on a boat off the coast of Dorset.
The media plays a role in this too. Headlines designed to cause outrage and infighting distract people from the government’s shortcomings.
It is important to show support for Bristol’s trans residents as they become targets in culture wars – photo: Elliot Hingston
The Conservatives anti-trans stance
There is a long history of movements against the trans community. For me, the most obvious indicator of an escalation of anti-trans sentiment was the 2023 Conservative Party conference.
The party was desperate to hold onto power and wanted to prevent voters from swinging to Reform. The then prime minister, Rishi Sunak, took to the stage and declared the public should not “get bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t. A man is a man and a woman is a woman.”
Sharing queer and trans joy is a strong show of power in the face of divisive politics – photo: Elliot Hingston
Multiple other Conservative party members used the opportunity to disregard trans identities. Suella Braverman encouraged ministers to challenge the “poison” of “gender ideology and white privilege”.
London Assembly member Andrew Boff was escorted from the premises by police for saying, “There’s no such thing as gender ideology”.
This sent a clear message: the Conservative party had a new scapegoat for their failing government.
You’re angry at the wrong 1%
Gender-critical campaigns, led by figures like JK Rowling and Kelly Jay Keen, have preyed on women’s fears of cisgendered men and weaponised it to cause further infighting and conflict.
The trans women I know are not interested in invading your privacy. They just want to live as themselves.
British Transport Police have said trans people held in custody will now be searched by an officer in line with their birth sex.
Police officers having the ability to search who they believe to be a trans woman will cause so many problems for cisgendered women too. How will they prove whether or not you are trans? Will we see male officers strip searching women under the excuse they believe the women are trans?
You can support Bristol’s trans community by supporting gender-affirming care – photo: Valentina Huxley
This extends to the NHS, with trans female patients no longer being guaranteed spaces in women’s wards. Trans women could be forced to use male changing rooms. The risk increases when looking at the prison system, where trans women may be put in wards with cisgendered men.
All of these new policies are horrific and put trans women at a significantly increased risk of danger. It pushes up the risk of violence against a community already oppressed and discriminated against. And it does not protect cisgendered women.
The issue is not trans women, the issue is men. There is an implication here that women-only spaces are a safe haven for women, away from harm. So, we should be asking, why is that? Why is it that women feel the safest in places where men cannot be?
Maybe the focus needs to be on educating our young men on how not to assault and harass women? Instead of blaming an already marginalized group of women for the behaviour of cisgendered men.
Attending rallies and advocating for trans women is a great way to show support – photo: Elliot Hingston
How did we get here?
I remember one of my friends saying that if a trans woman can walk home from an area safely at night, then that area is a safe place for all women. They are one of the most targeted and oppressed women.
Bristol’s trans community always needs your support. From attending rallies, to donating funds to trans individual’s gender-affirming surgery, there are many ways to show it.
When the men leading our countries see they are losing control, they target minorities and disadvantaged people. The economy is spiralling, our government is failing, and they have turned to blame the trans community.
A large counter protest occurred when Kelly Jay Keen’s gender-critical group visited Bristol – photo: Robert Browne
I was at the rally and counter-protest for Kelly Jay Keen’s ‘Let Women Speak’ event recently in Bristol. Running between the two, covering it for an article, I felt increasingly sad. How did we get here?
Two sides of the general public shouting at each other across a police cordon about whether or not people have the right to live as themselves. The ruling class is laughing at us. We are falling for their consistent distraction tactic of creating culture wars.
If you celebrated the Supreme Court ruling, you are angry at the wrong one percent. Trans women represent such a small proportion of our population. They are a beautiful group of people just wanting to live as their authentic selves.
Pushing for progress
Bristol is a political city. We have been at the forefront of progress, from toppling Colston’s statue in the harbour, to the Kill the Bill protests and counter-protests against far-right rallies last summer.
Let’s show immense love to our city’s trans community. Let’s celebrate their joy and uplift them. Sharing joy in the face of oppression is a very strong form of protest. It shows we will not be divided.
Trans women always need your support, but it is important to not be distracted by distraction politics – photo: Elliot Hingston
Trans people are not the enemy.
The government who partied while our relatives died isolated in hospitals is the enemy.
The government that laughed and joked about trans rights while the mother of murdered trans teen Brianna Ghey sat in the public gallery is the enemy.
The Conservatives escalated the anti-trans movement, but it’s clear Starmer’s Labour is picking up the torch and running with it.
Don’t fall for it.
Trans women are not the problem.
Main photo: Valentina Huxley
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