TRANS PRIDE 2016
Trans Day of Visibility
Rory Finn on why 2020 will go down in his books as the year when transphobia in the UK reached fever pitch ) Trans Day of Visibility is celebrated on
March 31 every year. It may feel these days that trans people are everywhere. It’s true, we are. We always were. This year we will be officially counted in the census for the first time. For the past decade we’ve been relying on best guesses to figure out how many trans people are in the UK. In 2015, Brighton & Hove City Council estimated that there were 2,700 trans people living in the city, or about 1% of residents. Compare that to the Office for National Statistics claiming that only 2% of the population identify as lesbian, gay or bi. I invite you to draw your own conclusions.
“Visibility is vital to advancing our interests as trans people. We have a government which is openly hostile towards us and quite content in playing politics with our rights” Regardless of numbers, trans rights are very much on the agenda, of both our allies and our foes alike. 2020 will go down in my books as not just the year of Covid but also the year when transphobia in the UK reached a new fever pitch. With front page stories on the likes of The Times declaring that the PM himself, no less, was planning to shelve plans that would allow trans people to amend their birth certificates. The Gender Recognition Act is a red herring of trans rights. The one-time radical bit of law has now faded into being behind the times and not fit for purpose. The consultation exercise for how
best to amend this legislation has unleashed a toxic load of transphobic sludge from which endless smears and hate have arisen. Enter a certain influential children’s author
who publicly trolls the trans community, regurgitating transphobic tropes, much to the disdain and horror of her previously adoring fans and the actors who brought her books
