Hold on to your hats!
After a month or so when the anti-trans have been mercifully quiet, this week will mark a return to ‘business as usual’. There is a string of initiatives in the pipeline deliberately designed to restrict and strip rights from trans people in the UK.
TW: If you would rather not know, look away now.
Otherwise, read on…
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If you know me, you’ll know i am a glass half full kinda gal. I’d rather focus on the positives. That’s part because i am a firm believer that most history happens slowly, and the worst rarely comes to pass. Part because i do not believe that scaring friends and allies into rabbit-in-the-headlights inaction does anyone any favours.
Today, though, i am going to list what is coming up over the next couple of weeks — and months to follow. Because folks need to know; and they also need to know that the anti-trans agenda, while scary, is not infinite.
You are going to be reading a lot of nasty stuff in the media this week and next. My hope: if you know what is coming — and therefore, what is not — you can prepare mentally.
So here goes:
Education
Department for Education guidance on how to “deal with” trans kids in school is due out this week.
You’ll have seen it trailed in the BBC last week, alongside some pretty awful stuff in the likes of the Telegraph talking about the “Trans crisis”. (And if anyone is up to writing an analysis of the Beeb stuff for Trans Media Watch, please drop me a line).
The implication, of course, is that we are the crisis; not that we are facing one.
First, assume it will contain some pretty nasty stuff, including:
- kids not being recognised as trans unless they have a diagnosis
- refusal to recognise name changes
- outing students to parents
- removal of trans kids from sports. Most sports; contact sports; it is not clear
Be aware: this will not be a done deal. It will go out for consultation. This, though is likely to be the…
