If we don’t act now, transgender and non-binary people will be subject to legal segregation in the UK at the end of the month. Here’s what you can do to help the fight against this.
Following guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, new laws enforcing the segregation of transgender and non-binary people will come into effect on the 30th of June. These laws will make gendered spaces change to spaces that exist on the basis of biological sex. This is legal segregation and will exclude trans and non-binary people from much of public life, limiting our ability to navigate an already extremely hostile climate in the UK. This legislation will not only harm its intended victims, people with atypical gender presentation, like butch lesbians, will also be subject to transvestigations in public, damaging their right to a private and peaceful life.
MPs have until the end of the month to consider the guidance before it is written into law – that means now is the time to act. If you, like us, think that this proposed approach to trans rights is nothing short of legal segregation and an active attempt to erase trans and non-binary people from public life, there are several things you can do. It is important to know that many of the things you can do are easy and take little time, but can have an immense impact on shifting the tide of hatred against transgender people in the opposite direction. As someone who is non-binary, I urge you to play your part. As a community, transgender and non-binary people make up less than one percent of the British population. The bottom line is we cannot do this without the support of allies.
Write to your MP
Labour MP Nadia Whittome has penned a motion to reject the EHRC guidance. She has led a fight within Parliament to prevent this guidance from becoming statutory; the only way to do this is if MPs debate it and reject it. You can help out by emailing your MP. This only takes about a minute and, if you’re happy to use the pre-written email that the link below provides, is only as effortful as clicking a link and writing out your email address. If you would like to add a personalised message to the email, this is possible and easy to do as you follow the steps.
You can do so here.
Sign the petition
You can also sign the petition linked below that demands a review of anti-discrimination laws to strengthen protections for trans people in the UK. The petition closes on the 30th of September and currently only has 22,000 of the 100,000 goal. Because it has surpassed 10,000 signatures, it will be responded to by the government, but the more support it can get, the more we can demonstrate that this is not a niche issue. Each signature is another piece of evidence that we are not a country that wants to stand by and watch as human rights are stripped away from a community that only wants to live lives of decency and respect.
You can do so here.
Be educated about the issues, and educate others
The trend of transphobia in this country has been shaped by a number of harmful stereotypes about transgender and non-binary people spread by people who want to harm us. One of the most important things you can do as an ally to the trans and non-binary community is to be clued up on what this misinformation is claiming and be educated about how best to dispel these myths. By having a working knowledge of transgender and non-binary people’s history, reality, and the ways we are at risk, you stand on the front lines of protecting us. This resource from transequality.org is a great place to start.
Check in with your trans and non-binary friends and family
If you have anyone in your life who is transgender or non-binary, now is the time to check in with them. It is pretty scary to be anything but cisgender in the UK right now, and the impact the discourse in the news is having on our community is considerable. Offer your ear; often, transgender and non-binary people do not have people in their life who have first-hand experience of what they’re going through, so being there as someone they can speak to without judgement and with an open heart can make all the difference.
Boycott transphobic people
Yes, that means no more Harry Potter. JK Rowling has shown time and time again that she is willing to put considerable money behind funding legal challenges to trans rights. She is a woman who, with her immense wealth and privilege, is active in degrading human rights in the UK. We cannot support her IPs or the products, attractions, and franchises that continue to line her pockets. Boycotting her and other active transphobic individuals shows that we are not willing to tacitly consent to the abuse of her astronomical wealth to harm trans and non-binary people. Let’s be real. Harry Potter is hardly the masterpiece of literature that we’ve been hoodwinked into thinking it is for years.
Support trans charities
In the past ten years, the number of anti-trans organisations in the UK has risen from three to over 50. While this has been happening, there have been trans rights groups and charities who have continued to work tirelessly to support the transgender and non-binary community, working in an increasingly antagonistic climate to improve the lives of our community. Organisations like Mermaids and TransActual have information on how best you can support the work that they do. You can also keep up to date on the work the Good Law Project is doing to present a legal challenge to the EHRC guidance.
Stop calling TERFs feminists
We devalue the validity and the integrity of feminism when we allow TERFs a place within it. While they will sing to hell and high water that they are feminists, we know that real feminism is intersectional, and real feminism does not deny the womanhood or the humanity of anyone. We need to call TERFs what they really are: transphobic bigots who are using feminism as a front for their hateful and discriminatory agenda. Feminism is only valid when it is inclusive of everyone.
Remembering why Pride Month is important
Pride Month this year is more significant than ever before. It is this Pride that we have seen active attempts to pull back on the rights of people from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. We need only look at what the Reform UK-Led Durham Council tried (and failed) to do to the city’s Pride festivities to be reminded that Pride is a protest. In the current social climate, it is more vital than ever that we engage with Pride, and reflect on the fact that it is extremely important as a statement of resistance to a world that still treats all LGBTQ+ people, but especially trans and non-binary people, as second-class citizens who should not be seen or heard. Support your local Pride festivities this summer.
Keep trans people in mind when you vote
Whether it is the Makerfield byelection, the next round of local elections, or the 2029 general election – keep trans and non-binary people and their rights in mind when casting your votes. The democratic process is our main way to send a message to politicians that our voices matter and that we care about human rights. I have always believed that when deciding who to vote for, you should think about what option is best for those in society with less privilege than I have. Research what candidates on the docket have to say about trans rights and vote accordingly.
Don’t lose hope
It is so easy to look at the state of trans and non-binary rights in our country and feel like the situation is hopeless. That is something that I have been guilty of myself. What this does is make us lethargic to action and feel defeated. We cannot let that happen. Even if the EHRC guidance becomes law at the end of the month, we cannot surrender ourselves to feeling hopeless – that is what transphobes want. We need to fiercely and bravely picture a better future for ourselves, not one where we accept that the fight is lost. Hope is an ember, and when we tend it, we have the fire power to ignite real and lasting change.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Nadia Whittome’s motion will be voted through by Parliament, but it is vital that we make a stand and show that we will not take this degradation of human rights lying down. By demonstrating that there are people across this country who care deeply about the rights of transgender and non-binary people, we send a message to the people who are trying to erase us: that message is that we are not going anywhere and we are not going down without a fight.
Photo from Depositphotos