So its official, the UK is transphobic.

So the Council of Europe has produced a report that is titled "Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe" and is scathing of the transphobia in the UK, especially by the media.

This is what the report has to say about it :-

1. Hate messages targeting LGBTI people are also disseminated through the media, internet, video games and music. Hate speech is reported to have risen on social media in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Malta, Montenegro, the Russian Federation and Turkey in the past year, and in the general media in Slovenia and Ukraine. It remains an ongoing issue in Georgia, Ireland, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Spain and the United Kingdom.

2. Anti-LGBTI hate speech is often closely entwined with broader anti-gender discourse, which has spread throughout Europe and the world in recent years.Note On our continent, it has been highly visible in opposition to efforts to achieve greater recognition of same-sex partnerships. Examples include the three-year campaign for a referendum to ban same-sex marriage in the Romanian constitution and the campaigns against recognising same-sex marriage in Slovenia and Croatia.Note Such discourse was also at the heart of demonstrations against the introduction of same-sex marriage in France in 2013 and the recognition of civil unions in Italy in 2016.Note It has also been at the heart of attacks on trans people’s rights, notably in the United Kingdom, as discussed further below.

We are now in the same boat as countries like Russia, Romania and Macedonia in the anti trans league. The main culpites in transphobia in the UK is not the British Public at large, but the Mainstream Media. Tabloids like the Sun, Times, Sunday Times, Telegraph and Guardian regularly posts anti trans articles. The BBC also has programs that thinks it is ok to have GC's (Gender Criticals) discussing Transgender Issues but not one trans person to represent the trans community. This has to change.

There is some hope on the horizon though, as a piece in the New Statesman also states that "Gender-critical feminism is not as popular as its supporters may want you to believe".

I am also heartened by the support people have shown on twitter and Facebook in the comments about this report. Also in real life, people I have spoken to have been disgusted and ashamed with the report. 

Also the fact that some of our allies such as Canada, Australia and France have passed a law banning conversion therapy of trans kids outright, while our government is still having consultations and creating loopholes. This is just unacceptable, lives are at risk with this practice as it drives a higher than normal rate of suicides.

The full Council of Europe report can be found here.

The New Statesman Article can be found here.