The last couple of weeks have been awful for transgender (inc. non-binary and intersex) people in the UK. If you live here, you can’t fail to be aware of that; if you need to find out more, do please read my earlier posts (links below). It feels horribly self-serving to be writing this, but the trans community need our allies’ help.
Things have
hit us hard, and we have all been feeling a mixture of despair, horror, fear, and
anger and what is being done to us, and the speed with which it has happened. We are appalled by the conflation of the
judgement with access to facilities and to medical treatment of gender
dysphoria.
Please be
assured that we are not simply allowing it to happen to us: People who are much more educated legally
than I am (I’m a scientist, not a lawyer) are doing their thing and at
grassroots level, we have been protesting about the Supreme Court judgement and
the interim guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). We are
also disgusted to learn that the BBC are reportedly planning to refer to Trans
people by the pronouns of the sex we were assigned at birth. We are disgusted by what we can only describe
as the online anti-trans radicalisation of people, by the social media bin fire,
and by the fact that social media platform moderators are actively refusing to
remove transphobic content.
Dr Victoria
McCloud is a former judge who resigned last year because she “reached the
conclusion that in 2024 the national situation and present judicial framework
is no longer such that it is possible in a dignified way to be both 'trans' and
a salaried, fairly prominent judge in the UK." She was the UK’s first and – so far - only
transgender judge. She is going to the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to seek a judgement ruling that the
current situation and advice in the UK violates her – and our – fundamental
human rights. I’m told that Dr McCloud is
formidable.
The Good Law
Project are also considering challenging the ruling on grounds including:
(i)
The
implications of the fact that the Supreme Court did not consider the effects of
the ruling on trans people’s lives under the Human Rights Act (1998)
(ii)
The
historical context of both the Gender Recognition Act (2004) and the Equalities
Act (2010), and what Parliament intended those Acts to bring about, and
(iii)
The
legal framework on providing single-sex and separate sex services, noting that the
judgment places trans people in a worse position than they were before the
Gender Recognition Act. If the ruling
stands, trans people are a worse position,
with fewer rights, than we were before the GRA was passed.
The trans
community and our allies have been demonstrating against the judgement and interim
guidance; protests have taken place on the last two Saturdays, and a friend who
lives in Manchester has told me that she saw a major demonstration there again
today. There is strength in numbers, and
at least 20,000 people took part in the first demo in London. Please be there if you can! Not just trans people, but our families, our
friends, and our allies have turned out in huge numbers – and just saying
‘Thank you’ feels so inadequate. There
seems to have been precious little press coverage of the demos; either there is
bias involved, or the papers are afraid of being on the receiving end of
anti-Trans campaigns.
Speaking of demonstrations,
please demonstrate peacefully, and I don’t mean quietly! Sing, chant and shout loudly but not with the
sort of hate that is thrown at us. Let’s show the haters up for what they are.
No abusive placards, please. the British
sense of humour is a wonderful thing.
I’d love to see a placard that says “My AGAB? Assigned Gorgeous at Birth”.
I’ve got
comment, as well, that there seems to be remarkably little media coverage of
the protests. Why? Are the media cowed? Is the subject ‘too hot to handle’? Journalists who are worth their salt should
be able to cover the protest without breaching anyone’s privacy and whilst respecting
both trans rights and the law. Please
let your local media know of any protests you know of.
Allies, I’m
hearing tell of ‘Toilet Angels,’ who are walking to the loos with trans people
to help us feel safe. Is anyone doing that in your workplace? Also, allies, if you hear people discussing
trans people – or the current situation – in negative terms, and if it’s safe
for you to jump in, please do so!!
Please email
(or write on actual paper to) your MP! There
are templates online; it’s well worth adapting one so that it doesn’t stand out
as one from an organised campaign – correspondence from individuals carries
much more weight than ‘form letters.’ An
email/a letter could say that you are shocked/appalled/unhappy at the
judgement, and at how it has been interpreted; you are shocked/appalled/unhappy
at the speed of very negative change for the trans community and our/their families
and friends; you are disgusted (or any similar adjective of your choice!) at
how the judgement has been used to restrict the lives of transgender people etc
by e.g. denying access to the toilet facilities of a transgender person’s
acquired gender. Please ask the MP to
vote against anything that would enshrine the restrictions in law, and if you
are not transgender, please stress that; Government need to know that people in
the wider population support trans lives and rights.
If you
belong to a Professional Body, please contact them and ask them to confirm that
they are fully supportive of their Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex members
and that the members in question will be able to use the facilities of their
affirmed gender. There is a wonderful letter to the Royal Geographic Society’s
President and Director/Secretary about the RGS’s response to the Supreme Court
ruling and EHRC interim update. Signed
by 533 geographers, it looks to be a letter that will be impossible to ignore.
Through your Trade Unions, Staff Groups, or individually if you feel able, please ask the same of your employers - and please do the same for sports, social etc clubs that you belong to.
Do you were
badges and/or lanyards that demonstrate support for trans people? That is something that means a great deal to
us, knowing that we can relax around you, and you are showing the world in
general just how many people support trans people and rights.
Have you put
your pronouns in your email signature?
That is helpful for several reasons!
If you’ve got an ambiguous name, it helps other when they are forwarding
your email as they know how to refer to you.
Pronouns also help you with the gender of someone who has an unfamiliar name
of a different ethnic origin than your own – or vice versa, it may help
the recipient of your email to know how to refer to you! For transgender people, allies adding their
pronouns helps us to be able to add ours without standing out because of it,
especially for someone who has recently transitioned. Incidentally, I have huge respect for
non-binary people who put he/they, she/they or they/them pronouns in their
signature – they out themselves every time they press ‘send.’
There are
probably many other things you can do to protest and/or to help; if there’s
something I haven’t thought of, please reply in the comments below.
Trans fam: We have been here before, and we will overcome this. It will take time, and energy, but we will not be supine. We will fight for our rights and we will regain them. Courage, mes amis!!
Relevant
earlier posts:
If readers are in the UK and feeling helpless, remember that you have things other people want - your vote and your money.
ReplyDeleteIf those people are unsure where the "silent majority" sit, be assured that others are media-ready, spoon feeding politicians misinformation and lies, telling them what the silent majority think, feel and want. If you say nothing, they speak for you.
You can write to your MP, tell them what you think, feel and want. Write to companies you trade with to say what you think, feel and want, tell them what would make you leave. If you quit trading with a company because of their hateful actions, let them know, explain to them why.
If you are in a union tell them what you think, feel and want. Thank businesses and employers who are supportive, tell them you appreciate it. Your voice is important, it is your power, and it does count.
Well said!!
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