Speaking to his conservative party, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made the “radical” statement that he feels “bullied” into accepting the existence of transgender people– rhetoric that has many trans-rights activists fearing for the safety of trans-people in Britain.
“We shouldn’t be bullied into believing people can be any sex they want to be, they can’t,” said Sunak during a speech at his first party conference as leader.
“A man is a man and a woman is a woman, that’s just common sense.”
“We will be bold, we will be radical. We will face resistance and we will meet it,” he said, in a move to try to position his party as a force for change ahead of next year’s general election in the UK.
The change he is calling for remains unclear, however, as statistics show transgender people are more likely than the general community to face bullying and harassment.
Within the LGBTI community itself, the transgender community is the most targeted group, with transgender people more likely to experience threats of physical or sexual harassment or violence, according to a National LGBT Survey out of the UK.
In 2020/2021, UK police recorded 2,630 hate crimes against transgender people– a likely underreported number as research also shows 88 per cent of transgender people don’t report hate crimes they experience.
The effects of this harassment are great, with research this year showing that a majority of trans and non-binary young adults have experienced suicidal thoughts or feelings. And within the the LGBT community, trans and non-binary young adults were the most likely to have hurt themselves deliberately (76 per cent and 78 per cent respectively).
With such grim statistics already apparent, many trans-rights activists are concerned that Sunak’s high-profile transphobic comments will cause even more harm.
Trans-rights activist and doctoral researcher Thomas Willett took to X (Twitter) to say Sunak’s anti-trans speech has the power to ignite real danger toward trans-people who “just want to live in peace”.
Britain’s first transgender national television newsreader and first transgender co-host of an all-women talk show also shared her views on Sunak’s rhetoric. In a video posted to Twitter, India Willoughby called it “absolutely outrageous” and said “the biggest cheer of Rishi Sunak’s speech was when he pounced on the trans community– that was the scariest part”.
The UK is in the midst of turbulent debate over trans rights, and Sunak’s speech follows recently announced plans to ban trans women from female hospital wards. He referred to the ban when he said that patients “should know when hospitals are talking about men or women”.
This is also not the first time that Sunak has openly attacked the trans and non-binary community. In June of this year, he was secretly filmed mocking trans people, joking about “women having penises” and making fun of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey for supporting trans rights.
Sunak and former conservative PM Liz Truss also denied that trans women are women during a Conservative leadership hustings in August 2022.