Trans people are fed up with our lives being used and abused for political gain
metro.co.uka protest hosted in London by the organisation Ban Conversion Therapy. Thousands of LGBT+ people gathered together to condemn the Government’s decision to exclude trans people from a bill that aims to ban conversion therapy.To put it simply, the Government will make conversion therapy illegal – but not when it comes to the trans community.As I stood there with a protest sign in hand that said ‘Trans Liberation Now’ alongside other members of the wider community, I was reminded of the extraordinary power of LGBT+ support and solidarity.Never has it been more evident that those who wish to divide us and remove the ‘T’ from the acronym are a small minority that is completely out of touch with the community they claim to represent.
The Government is also completely out of touch with the LGBT+ community, and also wider society. A poll by YouGov showed that around two thirds (62%) of Britons want conversion therapy to change someone’s gender identity to be banned, along with 65% on the basis of sexual orientation.It’s therefore puzzling as to why exactly the people who are supposed to lead and protect us have decided to do this, because it clearly isn’t the will of the majority of people in this country.
I saw otherwise with my own eyes at the protest.I personally think the Government has done this for one particular reason — they want to make transgender rights a wedge issue in the next election, and force their opponents to champion transgender rights, knowing that it’s an incredibly hostile and divisive issue in the media.
They hope that this will cause them to lose votes, and also diverts the focus from other topics that might paint the Tories in a bad light.
