Breaching Trans Confidence

Duplicitous government, unethical researchers

Adapted from an illustration of Dante’s Inferno by Stradanus (1587): public domain

Yesterday i wrote about the principles — or perhaps lack thereof — involved in this government’s proposal to overturn the Human Rights of one of the most sensitive cohorts in the UK right now: young trans people.

Today, i am going to move on to something even more critical. The detail of what is being proposed and some very serious questions as to why. Also, whether the proposal even achieves the thing it purports to do.

Before setting off on this journey, allow me to mention a couple of things i did before i turned to the slightly dodgy occupation of writer and journalist. To wit, i spent some 20 years managing and carrying out data analysis for government, corporates and charities.

That is not just the technical doing of it, but also the legal and ethical ground zero within which that analysis took place. I also edited two peer-reviewed journals about data, database, and the practicalities of carrying out analysis.

So, i have at least a smidgen of experience in this field.

Though i will freely admit now that some of the assumptions i make in what follows may be wrong. Because they are assumptions. And despite the fact that i might be one of the best-qualified of trans folk when it comes to…