Four in five transgender people in the UK have experienced some form of trans hate crime in the last year.
Recent research by the charity Galop also found that one in four had either experienced or been threatened with transphobic physical assault, and one in five trans people had experienced or been threatened with transphobic sexual assault.
That’s just in the last 12 months alone.
The statistics show a stark need for support and assistance for trans people in the country and show we are still far from a place where everyone can live their lives without prejudice or judgement.
Friday (November 20) marked Trans Day of Remembrance, a chance to remember those around the world who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.
The day also coincided with Transgender Awareness Week, which aims to educate people about transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
Emma Underwood, 24, who is trans, says we need more than awareness.
“Trans Awareness Week is really important but what I would like to draw an emphasis on is that we shouldn’t stop at just being aware,” Emma tells the Manchester Evening News .
“For the most part, a good proportion of people in the UK are aware of trans people but what they’re less aware of are the issues that we face on a day-to-day basis.
“We don’t need awareness as much as we need kindness and understanding.”
For the last two years, Emma has been the Trans Programme Officer at LGBT Foundation.
In the role, Emma works to improve the lives of trans and non-binary people in Manchester and across the UK through workshops, creative sessions and engaging with the government on policy work and reforms.
Emma came out as trans five years ago, while at university, and says she has always been at the forefront of trans rights activism and trying to change some of the negative perceptions surrounding trans people.
“There are lots of different opinions about trans people in the UK,” Emma says.
“They range from the very positive outlook of people wanting to work alongside us to remove cultural barriers to those who think we’re monsters and freaks of nature.”
Speaking about the general misconceptions that trans people often face, Emma said it will usually vary from the ‘well-meaning’ to the ‘insidious’.
“A big patch of misinformation is around young trans people and gender non-conforming people,” she explains.
“You have the views that are peddled by transphobes that say we are forcing children to change their gender against their will.
"We see a lot of people talking about how seven-year-olds are having sex changes and that’s just not happening, it’s not true.
“There’s a misconception that trans women are actually just men wanting access to women’s spaces. That’s just wholly wrong; i’m not a man.
“Some people also claim that trans people are violent and dangerous to women who aren’t trans. In actual fact, we are far more likely to be victims of violence than the perpetrators.”
Read more of today's stories here
There were 2,540 transphobic hate crimes recorded by police in (excluding Greater Manchester) between March 2019 and March 2020.
The number is 18 per cent higher than the previous year and 209 per cent higher than in 2015/16.
Emma says all of her trans and non-binary friends have faced some form of physical or verbal transphobia in the past.
Unfortunately, she has her own experiences too.
“It was on a tram on the way home from work,” Emma explains.
“It was quite late at night and I was cornered on a seat in the tram and asked some very inappropriate questions. I was then assaulted.
“I didn’t report it to the police, partly down to the way that I felt about it at the time. I was worried that I wasn’t going to be taken seriously, that nothing would come from it and I’d just have to keep re-explaining what happened over and over again.
“I spend most of my day fighting for trans rights and I spend a lot of my free time doing that as well. I knew it was going to be something that would be quite overwhelming to do and I thought I could divert my attention elsewhere.
“That being said, if it happened again, I feel confident that I would now report it to the police.”
In fact, Emma is now working closely with Greater Manchester Police to ensure that members of the LGBT+ community have confidence in it.
“Many trans and non-binary people don’t feel comfortable in reporting things to the police,” Emma says.
“There’s often a general mistrust of the police because there’s a legacy there. The police force has absolutely changed a lot in the last few years but there’s plenty of trans people today that still remember being ridiculed and targeted by the police - we’re only thinking 30 or 40 years ago.
“Working quite closely with the police now, I can have a little more confidence because I know there’s definitely a move to rectify the past.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with some fantastic people from GMP about trans stuff and have been able to bring things to their attention.”
In September, plans were announced to ‘streamline’ the process needed for transgender and non-binary people to self-identify their gender.
While the government said the reforms would see the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) become ‘kinder and more straightforward’, there are still issues that remain.
“It’s a good start but it’s nowhere near what we were asking for,” Emma explains.
“We had a handful of reforms where the £140 cost of a certificate would be replaced with a nominal fee and processes would be moved online but many people feel that it doesn’t really offer much of a kinder solution to gender recognition.
“A lot of us fought really hard and spent a lot of time fighting for this. We came up against so much hostility from a range of different groups and to see a lot of that work almost go to waste is disheartening.”
Despite the announcement, the women and equalities select committee has since launched a inquiry into the plans and is now asking for people to submit evidence and feedback by November 27.
When equalities minister Liz Truss made the announcement, she also mentioned ‘at least’ three new gender clinics would be set up this year to help transgender people access the health care they need.
One of those will be based in Manchester and will be a partnership between LGBT Foundation and gtd healthcare.
Emma says she believes the new Indigo Gender Service, due to open at the beginning of December, will be ‘ground breaking’ in its approach to trans and non-binary people.
“It’s going to have an enormous impact on the wellbeing of trans people,” she says.
“The health care we receive at the moment is heavily criticized but now we’re getting a service that integrates trans health care into primary healthcare.
“Many services like this in the past have been created by people deciding what’s best for us whereas this pilot has been created by trans people and is in direct consultation with trans communities.
“I’m really, really excited to see people getting good healthcare.”
With Trans Awareness Week now coming to an end, Emma says it’s important for allies to continue to show solidarity for trans people beyond national campaigns.
“We need people to support trans communities and show up for us,” she adds.
“If you have trans friends, be there for them and try to understand what they’re going through. If you don’t, consider volunteering for trans organisations or donate to mutual aid funds that exist to take care of the needs met by trans people.
"When we are back to protesting and demonstrating, come to those, sign the petitions and answer these consultations - every voice in this helps.
“Every person that comes forward for trans rights is a step forward for us.”
For support and advice on any of issues raised, you can reach out to LGBT Foundation here.
