Investigation into impact of anti-trans rhetoric launched – have your experience heard
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) has launched a community-led investigation, Trans+ Voices, to understand the experience of trans+ people ahead of the next general election.
In recent years, the so-called ‘trans debate’ has become increasingly prominent in both the media and within political discourse, with Rishi Sunak – the Prime Minister – recently making a “joke” at the community’s expense in the House of Commons while Brianna Ghey’s mother was in the chamber. “For the Prime Minister to use trans people as a punchline, in front of the grieving mother of a murdered trans child, was cheap, callous and crass,” a statement from Stonewall said at the time. “The disrespect and dehumanisation of trans people that we see played out daily in the media and in our political discourse has real life consequences and it has to stop.” Hate crimes against trans+ people were also found to have risen by 11 per cent between 2022 and 2023, according to Home Office data. “Transgender issues have been heavily discussed by politicians, the media and on social media over the last year, which may have led to an increase in these offences, or more awareness in the police in the identification and recording of these crimes,” the report, published in October last year, said.
In response to the current climate trans+ people are living in, TBIJ wants to hear from and work directly with members of the community to understand the impact anti-trans rhetoric is having in the UK.
Approximately 93 per cent of trans+ people surveyed by TransActual in 2021 reported that transphobic commentary in the media impacted how strangers interacted with them, whilst 85 per cent said it affected the relationship with their family.
