WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

"The world won't go away just because believe otherwise. You can't avoid people being gay or transgender just because you have a religious faith.

-  Bea Groves-McDaniel

If your child says they're gay and you hate them for it, then all the religion in the world won't make you morally right. Your holy men (and they're inevitably men) may tell you otherwise, but the world's issues will still bite you on the bum for all that." (BGMcD, Facebook, 2019)

When I wrote the above as a Facebook post three years ago, I was commenting on the backlash against transgender people that was (as I now know) in its early formulation. I was a little naive to think that anti-trans feeling was a quasi-cultural-religious matter. It isn't. Indeed, recent times have mainstreamed anti-trans rhetoric to the extent that barely a day passes without some comment being made about transgender people in the news media. I must be clear here about what I mean. The 'news media' means every strand of the press, radio and TV, plus accompanying discussion in the national political ranks. It seems everyone has their own take on transgender issues, whether they have any new insights or not. It has become, shall we say, a 'hot' topic. Meanwhile, transgender folk themselves have been side-lined. Want to hear what we feel about the furore? You'd be hard put to find out. Occasionally a community 'spokesperson' is wheeled on to give an opinion, but this is largely a minority sport.

The consequence is marginalisation and a sense of victimhood, neither of which gives a true vision of transgender people in 21st century Britain.

As for trans-people themselves, there is a growing sense of anxiety. An undercurrent of anger and resentment has evolved at what is seen as a 'Grand Betrayal' by institutions (government) and social movements (feminism). Both these entities appear to agree on one point: that there is a transgender 'problem' that needs resolving... though I must admit no one seems quite clear on what this problem might be.