Waking up on the morning after the landslide victory for Labour was bittersweet.
While I could not be more pleased about the decimation of the Conservative Party, I am also not feeling optimistic about what this new government will do for trans people or the wider LGBTQ+ community.
Looking at their manifesto, it is clear the party lacks any true commitment to bettering my community.
While they vow to fully ban conversion therapy and make hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people an aggravated offence, they don’t seem to actually address some of the biggest barriers trans people face in the UK.
On top of that, their proposals on reforming the Gender Recognition Act are lacklustre and don’t seem to address the parts of it that are most outdated – removing the need for a medical diagnosis in order to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
They don’t address the unacceptably long waiting lists specifically for trans-related medical care for adults, or the current ban on puberty blockers for young people in England. They don’t address the rampant transphobia that festers in our media landscape and politics that we suffer every single day.
Even Theresa May’s Tory government in 2017 was more forward thinking than Labour is currently. She said that ‘being trans is not an illness and should not be treated as such’, as she proposed to remove the need for a medical diagnosis altogether.
But sadly instead of her proposals becoming a catalyst for change in the UK, it became a vehicle for anti-trans sentiments that have become increasingly toxic, dehumanising and hostile – and Labour appears to have fully jumped on that bandwagon.
In the meantime, many countries in Europe have moved ahead with legal gender recognition that does not require a medical diagnosis – often referred to as self-ID or self declaration – with great success.
So instead of Labour looking to the future, and taking note of countries that have made progress in this area, they seem to be set on being stuck in the past.
To make matters worse, some of the Labour Party’s MPs have been criticised throughout the years for their comments on trans people, such as Rosie Duffield. She has consistently positioned herself as someone with ‘gender critical beliefs’, calling trans women ‘male-bodied biological men’.
And despite calls over the years to remove the whip from her – including by LGBT+ Labour – she has remained as an MP for the party. She was just re-elected as the MP for Canterbury too.
Similarly, Wes Streeting has previously said in his role as Shadow Health Secretary that ‘gender critical’ people should not be ‘written off as bigots’, as well as suggesting he doesn’t fully believe trans women are women, or that trans men are men.
Starmer himself leaves a lot to be desired in this area too, and some of his comments on trans rights have been downright offensive and cruel.
As an example, he has backed proposals that would ban trans women from women’s hospital wards, sports or prisons, citing ‘common sense’.
Most recently, he also said he didn’t believe trans women had the right to use women’s spaces – even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate. This is in complete contradiction to existing law, and his party’s thinning ‘commitment’ to trans rights.
As a trans person who came out at 17 and has lived the majority of my life as myself, I find the Labour Party’s comments and positions utterly degrading and dehumanising.
I have been using these spaces all my adult life without any issue, and the prospect of them forcing me to use male spaces again would not only be ridiculous, but completely unsafe and would put me at risk of violence and abuse.
It is therefore hard to remain hopeful that Labour will actually make any meaningful change for trans people in the next few years. It appears they are far too entrenched in dehumanising anti-trans sentiments, and are unable to see the forest for the trees.
The most depressing part is that it doesn’t have to be like this. They have the opportunity to make change – they just have to take it.
If Labour wants to truly make a difference for my community, they need to start actually listening to us and our lived experiences. They need to stop entertaining and repeating gender critical rhetoric, and start denouncing the rampant transphobia that has been allowed to ravage our society for far too long.
We don’t need you to debate on the definition of womanhood or whether or not we should be allowed to pee in peace. We need better and improved health care, better legal protections, and a commitment to eradicating prejudice and discrimination altogether.
We need real change. We also need to be respected and supported for who we are – and not berated, debated and constantly questioned.
Labour has a choice now.
They can either have a conversation with the trans community and really listen to us – or they can continue to do more of the same, and continue making the same mistakes that previous governments have done.
And if they don’t listen, they will be remembered as a party that did little to protect the most vulnerable. Only time will tell what their legacy will be.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk.
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