The history books will see Theresa May as a bigger trans ally than Keir Starmer
As a trans person in the UK, it’s incredibly frustrating to watch how we have become a political football for leaders of both main parties – to see how easy they seem to find it to throw us under the bus when convenient.
Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is the latest to let down the LGBTQ+ community – dropping plans to introduce self-identification for trans people.
In an article in the Guardian last week, Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, claimed that Labour was going to ‘lead a reform of transgender rights’, and that they weren’t going to take ‘lectures from the divisive Tories’.
But based on what Labour have said in recent weeks, I have serious doubts about their commitment to my community, who are suffering from an increase in hate crimes and are sick of being used as culture war pawns.
From Wes Streeting apologising to Rosie Duffield over the criticism she’s received from LGBTQ+ community who oppose the MP’s gender critical views, to the criticism of Scotland’s gender reforms – I fear the party is embracing, rather than rejecting, this moral panic.
In Dodds’s article, she promised that a Starmer government would ‘modernise’ the Gender Recognition Act (GRA).
The GRA, first passed in 2004, allows trans people to apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) – which trans people can then use to change their birth certificate to reflect their lived identity.
The process to acquire one includes showing ‘proof’ that you’ve been living as yourself for the past two years and reports from two medical professionals.
This in itself is humiliating, and puts the lives of trans people in the hands of medical professionals, who may or may not hold outdated and arbitrary ideas about gender and how trans people are supposed to look, behave and be.
So while it was pleasing to read Dodds’s promise of ‘reform’, in the same article she criticises the Scottish Government for their own attempt to modernise the gender recognition process.
The MP also claims that a medical diagnosis is an ‘important part of accessing a gender recognition certificate’ and that ‘requiring a diagnosis upholds the legitimacy of applications and confidence in the system’.
But take it from me, trans people don’t feel a medical professional should have such a large bearing on our access to legal rights and freedom.
Self-ID is a right that every individual should have, and something we all do in one way or another – which is why it’s so disheartening to see Labour fall into this false narrative that it’s something to fear or be ‘careful’ about.
If trans people are to be able to live their lives as themselves fully, we need to be able to decide how we want to be recognised – socially, and legally.
If Labour wanted to make a true commitment to our rights and move away from the relentless culture war, they would be moving ahead with self-ID, which is already in place all over the world.
Back in 2020, Labour had said they were ‘committed to equality’ and would introduce self-ID in the UK.
To see them back away from their commitment is a huge disappointment to say the least, and shows how they are moving towards conservative policies, not fighting against them on behalf of those who need it most.
The irony is that the Tories had a more progressive stance on trans rights in 2017 under Theresa May, where they promised a package of reforms in which the process for securing a GRC would be ‘streamlined and de-medicalised.’
That this is no longer a mainstream view in either party shows, to me, how much worse things have become for LGBTQ+ people in this country amid relentless negative attention on trans people from some parts of the media.
I am saddened to see that the Labour Party doesn’t seem keen on moving rights forward for trans people in any meaningful way, but will instead fall into the trap of the same divisive arguments they claim to reject.
Transgender people will instead find our freedom and dignity potentially sacrificed as part of a misguided appeal to more conservative voters.
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Just like how LGBTQ+ people will not forget how our community was treated during the AIDS crisis, or when the government enacted Section 28, we will always remember the cowardice of politicians now.
We are already on the slippery slope of a dark time in UK history, where a lack of commitment to meaningful change and support for the LGBTQ+ community will be another grim chapter for so many people.
The Labour Party still has a chance to turn it around and commit to serious reform to help some of the most vulnerable in society – but with their current trajectory I’m not holding out much hope.
Only time will tell what legacy Keir Starmer chooses to leave behind if he reaches Downing Street.
But one thing’s for sure – the LGBTQ+ community will continue to fight for their rights, with or without politicians’ support.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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