Trans women like me are now effectively outlawed from public life – what are you so scared of?
The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 specifically says that someone with a gender recognition certificate shall be considered in law to belong to their acquired sex. This is being reversed thanks to today's Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of 'woman' is based on biological sex.
Had the court allowed any trans people to give evidence or any doctors or scientists who work in the field of gender identity, they would have discovered two things. First, the supported 'threat' to women's rights posed by the existence of trans women does not exist. And second, the definition of 'biological sex' is infinitely more complicated and harder to pin down than a simple matter of X or Y chromosomes.
Instead, they accepted a narrative of bigotry and prejudice that bears a sickening resemblance to that used as the justification for the segregation and persecution of Black people and Jews: this group is inferior, but it is also dangerous, and its very presence is a threat to a healthy society.
But what threat do trans women actually pose? Name me the trans female who has won an Olympic medal or a tennis grand slam. There is no such name because it has never happened (and no, those two boxers at Paris 2024 were not transgender).
Give me a case of a trans woman causing trouble in a female hospital ward. In 2024, the trans rights group TransLucent contacted 102 NHS hospital trusts and, using Freedom of Information requests, asked them to provide any records of complaints against trans patients in women's wards (of whom I was one, as it happened), over the past three years. Millions of women went to hospital at that time. Only one made any complaint about a trans patient, and that was so trifling that it required no further action.
As for trans women in ladies' loos, here's an exclusive report on what we do there. We stand in line. We dash for the first available cubicle. We do our business. Then we wash our hands, check our face, brush our hair and leave.
Sound familiar? Well, so would the rest of my life. Ten days ago, a couple of girlfriends (both 100 per cent XX-chromosome natal females) and I decided to treat ourselves to a very special lunch at the Ritz. I was called madam at the front door, at the concierge desk, by the man at the cloakroom and by all the waiters. When I used the ladies' loo, no one batted an eyelid. No one ever does. I've been going full Marie Kondo on my flat, and I'm 'luv' and 'darlin'' at the council tip where I'm dumping all my rubbish, too.
It never occurs to people who meet me for the first time that I'm trans. If I tell them, they either don't care or are actively supportive. Above all, I am a woman-made woman.
Quite apart from my mum, who started the process, the psychiatrist who approved me for gender surgery is a woman, as is the surgeon who, to be blunt, gave me my labia, clitoris and vagina. (My breasts, I might add, grew without anything more than oestrogen to help them.)
A woman taught me how to speak like a woman. Women were my nurses and are my hairdressers. I go to a salon that only has female clients. Everyone knows I'm trans, and they are all friendly and absolutely at ease with my identity. Why wouldn't they be? I mean, why would I go through all the time, trouble, pain and expense of gender transition if I were hostile to women?
And yet, for all the acceptance in my everyday life, I, like all trans women, have to live in a world of persecution without justification. In 2024, a UN report into the treatment of trans people in the UK reported on the worrying rise of transphobic speech in media and politics, which was leading to a dramatic increase in violence against trans people. The people who are supposed to be such a threat face more violence and abuse than any other group in society.
The Supreme Court's judgement, coupled with the recent assault on gender-affirming medical care in the NHS in the wake of the Cass Review, just adds to the weight of state abuse of trans women, putting Britain on a par with the most bigoted states of the USA. But in America, there are at least some states that are still safe havens for trans people. There is no haven here.
And don't think it will stop with trans women. As if to echo the Martin Niemöller poem 'First They Came', the White Christian Nationalist groups who fund the anti-trans campaign in the UK, and who are open about seeking the total eradication of 'transgenderism' (which is to say, trans people) aren't stopping with us. They are coming for abortion rights. They are coming for gay rights. You could be next.
In the meantime, we trans women are being destroyed by lies and the suckers who support those lies. It's just a pity that some of those suckers sit on the Supreme Court.
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'I used the phrase 'black service'… you only have to look at the stats – across all the major disease categories that we talk about, black people have a worse experience and worse outcomes – we've known that for years, I'm not saying anything new. 'My mother is an episodic example of a systematic problem. 'We've got a cancer programme, we've got a cancer we've had targets for diagnostics, and pathways, and yet, people like my mother…' Lord Adebowale, who established the NHS Race and Health Observatory in 2021 to try and tackle inequalities experienced by black and minority ethnic patients in healthcare, went on: 'I just think there are too many, too many situations where people that look like me and shades of me don't get the service. 'What I'm talking about is a systemic problem exampled by what I have experienced a my mum, and I think she represents a lot of other mums out there and lots of other people out there.' Asked about his comments about a 'black service', Lord Adebowale went on: 'Why did I (say) it? Because I'm sick of it not changing like everyone else, and I'm close enough to it to know that it happens. 'I could have stood there and give you a load of stats, and you wouldn't be talking to me. 'And my mum, I think, God bless her, I think she would have wanted me to say it.' He added: 'The disproportionate poor services that too many poor people and too many black people experience, that's what I'm sick of.' He said there was nothing in his mother's medical records to suggest she had cancer, adding: 'She went to A&E in a poor condition. 'My sister described a hospital that was really struggling when she went in, she had to argue for mum to get a room. 'It was a very busy day. There had to be a negotiation to find a space, which you shouldn't have to do, but that's what happens when people are under pressure.' He added: 'We haven't got to the bottom of it, and that's why I'm not blaming anybody, and I don't want to, but I can talk about my experience and my observation of what happened to my mum. 'How does that happen? I know it does happen. People have chronic diseases and people don't know and they die of them – I know it's more likely to happen if you're black, it's also more likely to happen if you're poor. 'It's all part of the same story. I used to own story to illustrate a bigger problem, which is systemic.' On his mother, whose full name was Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale and who worked in various nursing sectors including mental health, acute care and maternity, he said: 'If you a nurse it is what you are, it's what you're born to do.' Commenting on Lord Adebowale's remarks, Professor Habib Naqvi, chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said: 'We extend our sincere condolences, thoughts and support to Lord Victor and the Adebowale family. 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31 minutes ago
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Health leader condemns ‘black service, not NHS service' received by mother
Lord Victor Adebowale, chairman of the NHS Confederation, described the death of his 92-year-old mother as 'undignified'. His mother Grace, who worked as an NHS nurse for 45 years, died in January of suspected lung cancer. But her cancer was not detected until after she died. Her case highlights systemic racial disparities in healthcare, Lord Adebowale said. 'I just think there are too many situations where people that look like me and shades of me don't get the service,' he said. In an emotional speech, Lord Adebowale told the NHS ConfedExpo conference in Manchester: 'It was not the dignified death that we would have wanted for her. It wasn't the death she deserved. 'So it makes me clear about the need to address the inequity. I think she got a black service, not an NHS service. 'So I have to address the inequity that still exists within the NHS, in terms of the experiences that people who look like me continue to receive. 'It just hasn't got any better.' He went on: 'It is not acceptable that someone who looks like me, on average waits 20 minutes longer in A&E than white patients. 'To achieve an inclusive, equitable NHS we need an inclusive equitable culture from top to bottom.' Mrs Adebowale emigrated from Nigeria to Scotland in the 1950s. Lord Adebowale, who grew up in Wakefield, said that he did not want to blame anyone, but he said that he wanted to highlight a 'systematic problem'. 'She lived to the age of 92 and you may think, 'well, she had the good old innings', but for a lot of those years she was in some discomfort, and it looks like she died from cancer,' he told reporters. 'It's still the case that if you look like me, you're more likely to discover that you've got cancer in A&E, and that that for me is it's an example of two different services. 'I used the phrase 'black service'… you only have to look at the stats – across all the major disease categories that we talk about, black people have a worse experience and worse outcomes – we've known that for years, I'm not saying anything new. 'My mother is an episodic example of a systematic problem. 'We've got a cancer programme, we've got a cancer we've had targets for diagnostics, and pathways, and yet, people like my mother…' Lord Adebowale, who established the NHS Race and Health Observatory in 2021 to try and tackle inequalities experienced by black and minority ethnic patients in healthcare, went on: 'I just think there are too many, too many situations where people that look like me and shades of me don't get the service. 'What I'm talking about is a systemic problem exampled by what I have experienced a my mum, and I think she represents a lot of other mums out there and lots of other people out there.' Asked about his comments about a 'black service', Lord Adebowale went on: 'Why did I (say) it? Because I'm sick of it not changing like everyone else, and I'm close enough to it to know that it happens. 'I could have stood there and give you a load of stats, and you wouldn't be talking to me. 'And my mum, I think, God bless her, I think she would have wanted me to say it.' He added: 'The disproportionate poor services that too many poor people and too many black people experience, that's what I'm sick of.' He said there was nothing in his mother's medical records to suggest she had cancer, adding: 'She went to A&E in a poor condition. 'My sister described a hospital that was really struggling when she went in, she had to argue for mum to get a room. 'It was a very busy day. There had to be a negotiation to find a space, which you shouldn't have to do, but that's what happens when people are under pressure.' He added: 'We haven't got to the bottom of it, and that's why I'm not blaming anybody, and I don't want to, but I can talk about my experience and my observation of what happened to my mum. 'How does that happen? I know it does happen. People have chronic diseases and people don't know and they die of them – I know it's more likely to happen if you're black, it's also more likely to happen if you're poor. 'It's all part of the same story. I used to own story to illustrate a bigger problem, which is systemic.' On his mother, whose full name was Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale and who worked in various nursing sectors including mental health, acute care and maternity, he said: 'If you a nurse it is what you are, it's what you're born to do.' Commenting on Lord Adebowale's remarks, Professor Habib Naqvi, chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said: 'We extend our sincere condolences, thoughts and support to Lord Victor and the Adebowale family. 'The loss of a beloved family member is extremely difficult. We thank Victor for the candour in sharing his personal testimony. 'The NHS Race and Health Observatory continues to support healthcare organisations in implementing meaningful change for ethnic minority patients, communities, and members of the healthcare workforce.'Kate Seymour, from the charity Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'Stories like Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale's highlight the heartbreaking reality for some when it comes to accessing cancer care in this country. 'It is categorically unacceptable that some people with cancer are having worse experiences simply because of who they are or where they live.' An NHS spokesperson said: 'Everyone – no matter their background – should receive the best NHS care possible. 'That's why we are working across the NHS to ensure that happens – from improving access to cancer diagnosis and treatment, to expanding health checks for Black and Asian communities and increasing uptake of blood pressure and cholesterol medication in under-served groups. 'But we know there is much more to do, and tackling health inequalities will form an important part of the upcoming 10 Year Health Plan.'
