A Backward Step for Transgendered People
 
Despite all the euphoria surrounding trans people’s official inclusion in the Pride celebration, I am reminded of what Martin Luther King once said;
 
“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle”
 
In the last year I have had the uncanny feeling that he was talking about the current situation of transgendered people in the UK.
 
Last summer the government launched a consultation for its proposals for a “Fairness Bill”. The intention of this is to tidy up all the existing anti-discrimination laws into one piece of legislation. So laws on sex discrimination, race discrimination, discrimination against transsexuals and many others are all to be brought together in one single piece of legislation, thereby making it easier for everyone to implement. One single piece of legislation will deal with everything, and it will become much more widely known by everyone and become easier for everyone to make sure that people are not unlawfully discriminated against. So far so good.
 
Unfortunately this golden opportunity to include all transgendered people this in anti-discrimination protection has been passed up and the government has decided deliberately to exclude transgendered people who are not transsexual from this legislation. The reason it gave for this is that they argue we represent a “Lifestyle Choice”; a gratuitously offensive phrase. Firstly, like most trans people I did not choose to be transgendered, I have been transgendered for as long as I can remember (indeed most transgendered people are conscious that they are transgendered from a very young age). Secondly, the word ‘lifestyle’ with its connotations of faddish consumerism, I find particularly nasty; this is not my lifestyle, it is my life.
 
The offensive phrase alone demonstrates the need for all trans people to be included in anti-discrimination legislation; the government would have had to consult with groups representing us before using such language. However if there were proof that all trans people need the protection against discrimination which is available as a matter of course to all other groups in society a quick glance at what has been happening to trans people in the UK recently can remind us;
 
  1. 1.A pub in Hampshire has a blanket ban on all trans people who are not transsexual, this is entirely legal.
  2. 2.A cross-dresser in the south of England has recently had his children taken away from him because he is transgendered.
  3. 3.Two trans people who were recently assaulted in separate incidents and who called the police were themselves arrested and prosecuted. Their attackers were not.
  4. 4.A trans person attacked in a nightclub in the north-east of England had her wig pulled off, when she tried to recover it she was ejected by bouncers only to be attacked again by her assailants outside the club and eventually arrested and incarcerated in police cells for the night having to make her way home on her own the next day, still dressed.
  5. 5.Shops and other businesses continue to refuse goods and services to trans people, all perfectly legally.
  6. 6.Transgendered children continue to leave school at the earliest possible opportunity because schools do not cater for their needs. A transgendered 10-year-old recently committed suicide.
  7. 7.Many trans people have had to move out of their homes because of attacks on them by neighbours.
  8. 8.A trans person was recently sacked on a Monday morning for what she was wearing at a nightclub on Saturday night.
 
Many trans people may feel relatively safe, especially if they live in places like London, but the majority of trans people do not, many still staying in their closets for fear of being ostracized or attacked in their communities. Indeed it is common folklore amongst most trans people that for every trans person who is ‘out’ there are 100 still in their closets. The stress these people are under must be immense.
 
Harry Benjamin, the famous psychologist who studied trans people more than half a century ago realised that whilst for transsexuals there is a medical solution to their problems, for other trans people there is not. Their only cure is to cure society, to change social attitudes towards trans people to enable us to be accepted for who we are and to live our lives as the people we really are. This is why it is so important to be included in this legislation; it would be a significant step toward implementing Harry Benjamin’s ‘social cure’.
 
Up to now there have been no laws at all referring to trans people who are not transsexual. That will change with the introduction of the Fairness Bill. We will go from being left out by inertia to being deliberately excluded. There is a massive difference. Effectively the leaders of our society are saying; “We do not think you are worthy of inclusion as bona fide members of our community to be accorded the same protection as everyone else.” The message this will send out to the bigots and bullies everywhere will be clear. We are to be considered fair game.
 
The Fairness Bill will be a huge step backward for trans people who are not transsexual, but not just for the reasons given above. Everyone in the UK is going to get to know this legislation in detail, it has been designed for this purpose; to simplify, to make it easier to use. This means that it is going to become common knowledge that trans people who are not transsexual are excluded from anti-discrimination protection. So not only are we to be deliberately excluded but that deliberate exclusion will be broadcast much more clearly to the whole population. In other words the bigots and bullies are to be better informed about our lack of protection as well.
 
Quite why the government is doing this is very difficult to understand. What exactly are they afraid of? Is the fabric of society going to break down? Will the pillars of our country’s hallowed institutions and social system crumble? Well it hasn’t in the 14 US states which have enacted legislation protecting all transgendered people, including California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Minnesota and Illinois. In fact the city of Minneapolis has had laws protecting all trans people since 1975. Other countries in Europe including Sweden also have laws to protect all trans people.
 
So, as this Bill is now passing through parliament now is the time to pressurise our representatives in parliament. The minister responsible for this Bill is apparently Harriet Harman, so writing to her is very important, and cc. the letter to your MP asking him/her to ask the minister why transgendered people are to be deliberately excluded from the Fairness Bill.
 
Harriet Harman’s email address as well as links to those of all MPs can be found on my website; www.thisaboveall.co.uk
 
Finally, I would like to try and make representations to whichever parliamentary committee is dealing with this Bill. If anyone has any knowledge of the workings of parliament or who might be able to advise me about how to go about doing this, I would be grateful if you could contact me;   natachakennedy@hotmail.co.uk
 
Natacha Kennedy