Rishi Sunak sucks: Transphobia in the Tory Party

I must preface this piece by acknowledging that my privilege as a cis-gendered woman allows me to write this article without fear for my safety. This is not a luxury which is extended to our transgender community. Therefore, it is imperative that we use our voices to advocate for those who have been forced to live in fear by our outdated, out-of-touch, outrageous government. There are mentions of acts of violence, sexual assault, rape and suicide – if any of these issues resonate with yourself or a friend, please feel free to refer to the links below to seek support. 

So, our Prime Minister is transphobic. 

I doubt this comes as a shock to anyone; the political environment which I myself have grown up in is still flawed with many different factions of discrimination and prejudice. Just think about the headlines we’ve seen earlier this month: toxic islamophobia and anti-semitism surrounding the ever growing violence in Israel and Gaza, and of course the rise in Conservative hate towards the transgender community. The epicentre of this latest attack on LGBTQ+ rights was in Manchester, where the Tory’s hosted their annual party conference. A major focal point which I took away from the media coverage of the conference was the notion of the “war on woke”. High-standing cabinet members took to the stage to use their platform to spread transphobic hate, and I think that is something which we should all be scared of. 

Unfortunately, the systematic neglect of those who do not appeal to traditional party values is also not a surprise. These core principles are what make conservatives Conservative, however the vilification of such a small minority group in the UK (which takes up approximately 0.5% of the population according to the 2021 census) illuminates a 1984-esque authoritarian regime where those in power are manipulating the public to fear members of the trans community. It is no wonder that criminal acts of hate against those who identify as transgender have increased 11% from March 2022/23. 4,732 attacks against individuals were reported to the police; the highest number on record in the UK. Our governing party is inciting these acts of violence. There is no question about it and no signs of them stopping. 

Back to the party conference, when Priti Patel and Nigel Farage weren’t too busy dancing to Frankie Valli’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes off You’, there was plenty more gut wrenching behaviour

being displayed by party members. As previously mentioned, multiple cabinet members spoke about trans-based issues during their addresses, with the most notable coming from the Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak), Health Secretary (Steve Barclay), and the Home Secretary (Suella Braverman). 

Both Barclay and Braverman choose to justify their attacks under the premise that one of the most pressing issues currently in the UK is the threat to the protection of women which trans women allegedly pose. As a woman in the UK, I would like to suggest that if the Conservatives really do want to protect women and make them feel safe, that they pour their resources into supporting the 1 in 4 women who have been raped or sexually assaulted, or work on reforming the legal justice system where, in 2021/22, less than 2% of reported rapes resulted in a conviction. Obviously, these are not the sort of directions that either the Health or Home Secretary want to pursue. Instead, to protect women, they have introduced plans to ban allowing trans women to receive medical treatment in female-only hospital wards, and place restrictions on sex offenders’ abilities to change their gender. Whilst I understand there are many people who do have a lot of questions regarding potential trans issues, we see this discourse currently dominating many sporting headlines, and earlier on in the year with Nicola Sturgeon’s prisoner row. It is crucial to distinguish constructive, inclusive conversations from political rallies which are being used as tools of aggression. 

It is also vital to acknowledge the dangerous ‘othering’ that was displayed at the conference. We can begin with the dangerous notion of neglecting to see trans women as women. Barclay’s hospital ward ban entrenches this toxic transphobic norm which the community has been fighting decades for. Dismissing trans women as women is alienating for some of the most vulnerable members of our society. I can never begin to imagine the emotional and physical strain that transitioning has on an individual, but a 2018 survey from the charity ‘Stonewall’ does give a small insight into the toll it takes. 

● 46% of those who identified as transgender thought about taking their own life in the past year. 

● 60% felt like their life was not worth living. 

● 12% made attempts to take their own lives. 

Instead of supporting these people by putting legislation in place which acknowledges and protects them in law, our government decides to exploit them and use them as a scapegoat in an attempt to cover up the past 13 years of catastrophe that they are responsible for.

Now to address our completely unelected leader, Rishi Sunak, who has decided that “a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, that’s just common sense”. It is a difficult statement to swallow when you refer to the harrowing figures just above. His dismissive and belittling tone clearly presents his lack of basic human sympathy and provides even more evidence as to why he is not the man who should be running our country. There were objections made, most remarkably from Tory London Assembly member Andrew Boff, who was swiftly ejected from the audience during Braverman’s speech. He later claimed that “this trash about gender ideology is making our Conservative party look transphobic and homophobic. This is not what our Conservative party is about”. However relevant it is to represent the inner party rejections of this narrative, I fear that the power of the sentiment has taken off to a state beyond recall, though I do not believe that it is something the Tory’s are interested in stopping. In fact, I interpret this transphobic stance as a political device, symbolising just how little the party is interested in enfranchising the vote of the ‘woke’ younger population. 

So, what can we do about this? 

For those who are regularly caught scrolling through Tik Tok, the name Max Balegde may ring a bell. Max is a British social media influencer who was quick to publicise his rage post-conference. As part of his reaction, Max suggested a march in support of trans rights to show wide scale support for the community. However, the rash nature of his response, and lack of acknowledgment to the extent of organising that would need to take place to accomplish this act, resulted in intense backlash across the platform. Max commented on how he had never received so much hate from within LGBTQ+ networks, which I think is interesting in highlighting just how important physical safety is to these groups – especially when we relay this back to the initial figures presenting the increase in violence against trans individuals. Despite the fallout, Max has gone on to plan a Variety Show in London, showcasing trans acts in a safe environment whilst generating money to be reinvested into trans charities. A win-win situation! 

In the long term, the only way to protect our transgender community is to take political action. Although our next general election is not officially due until the end of January 2025, under the current turbulent climate there is a likely chance that we could be heading to the poll station slightly sooner than expected. It is so important that we, as young people, are registered to vote

and are willing to educate ourselves on issues that are impacting cross sections within our society. 

Now, if not more than ever, the transgender community needs our support and unity. 

Support resources: 

TransLeeds supports all transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive people over 18 in Leeds and the surrounding areas. 

https://equality.leeds.ac.uk/support-and-resources/guidance-to-support-trans-staff-and-students/ University of Leeds guidance to support trans staff and students. 

Samaritans helpline for those struggling with suicidal thoughts. 

https://rapecrisis.org.uk/

Rape Crisis England and Wales is a charity working to end sexual violence and abuse. 

Sources: 

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/06/rishi-sunak-transphobic-comments-conservative-conf erence/ 

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/2021-census-what-do-we-know-about-the-lgbt-population/ #:~:text=Around%20262%2C000%20people%20(0.5%25),identity%20as%20%27trans%20wom an%27. 

https://www.ft.com/content/0832548c-3750-4500-82c2-455e6f92faa7

https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/nhs-backlog data-analysis 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/oct/05/record-rise-hate-crimes-transgender-people-re ported-england-and-wales 

https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/carms/2020/06/17/gender-identity-why-are-transgender-and-non binary-people-more-at-risk-of-suicide/ https://www.saunders.co.uk/news/virtually-all-rape-victims-are-denied-justice-here-is-the-roadm ap-to-failure/#:~:text=No%20statistic%20can%20provide%20a,rate%20of%20less%20than%20 2%25.

Edited by: Ellen Hartley

• politics
• rishi sunak