How Britons really feel about trans equality

The subject of transgender rights and the long-running debate over biological sex versus socially constructed gender have been major talking points throughout the Conservative leadership campaign so far.

Given the state of the NHS, the cost-of-living crisis and “the small matter of restoring dignity and decency to public office”, you would be forgiven for thinking that contestants in the acrimonious contest would focus only on “serious, urgent matters”, said Alona Ferber at The New Statesman.

But no – propped up “alongside the pledges to cut taxes and government department budgets” is the trans rights culture war, with Tory MPs keen to determine the stance of each PM hopeful as the candidates are gradually whittled down to just two.

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The debate is so contentious within the party that Penny Mordaunt – who is currently leading in the polls – suffered what Sky News described as “her first setback of the campaign” when she was quizzed on her stance towards trans people by right-wing Tory MPs at a major hustings event on Thursday.

“The identity agenda, if we can call it that, is coming up fast on the inside rail as an issue in the campaign,” an unnamed “party grandee” told the broadcaster.

Public less polarised

But although a vague support for trans rights could be enough to lose Mordaunt party members’ votes, and the keys to No. 10 as a consequence, research suggests that the British public is far less polarised than the Tories are.

A study by More in Common, an initiative set up in 2017 to understand the forces that drive communities apart and help bring people together, found that the majority of people want a “live and let live” approach to trans people.

The report, which was based on the polling of more than 5,000 people and 20 focus groups, found that more people agreed (46%) than disagreed (32%) that a trans man is a man and a trans woman is a woman and just 2% of respondents said that “the debate about transgender people” was one of the most important issues facing the UK.

“From the toxic debate playing out across social media you’d assume the country is split into trans activists and transphobes, those who want to protect women’s rights, and those working to undermine them,” said Luke Tryl, More in Common’s UK director. “But when you actually speak to ordinary people in communities across the country you realise that nothing could be further from the truth.”

Majority want conversion therapy banned

An April YouGov poll on conversion therapy – following the government’s decision to exclude trans people from a promised ban on the practice – found similar public support for trans rights.

The survey of 1,826 adults found that most Britons (62%) want conversion therapy banned, including when it is specifically aimed at transgender people.

It also found that the government’s plan to exclude trans people from promised bans went against the wishes of Conservative voters, with six in ten responding that “conversion therapy to change someone’s gender identity should be banned”. Only 19% said they wanted to allow gender identity conversion therapy to remain in place.

“While on this issue the government seems to draw [a] distinction between lesbian, gay and bisexual people compared to trans people, Britons do not,” said Isabelle Kirk, a data journalist at YouGov.

“Research shows Britons would support a ban on conversion therapy at about the same rate for both sexual orientation and gender identity, with widespread support across parties and social groups.”

‘Weaponising’ trans rights

The Telegraph listed trans rights as one of three “key” issues in the selection of Britain’s new prime minister, alongside tax cuts and net-zero plans.

But campaigners have accused candidates of “weaponising” trans rights in order to improve their chance of succeeding Boris Johnson.

“We don’t want our lives and well-being to become an election point,” Cleo Madeleine, a spokesperson for the trans rights charity Gendered Intelligence, told OpenDemocracy. “Trans people in past months in particular have been used as a political football to distract from serious issues.”

At The New Statesman, Ferber pointed out that one former Tory leadership contender had a refreshingly simple way of tackling the contentious issue. When asked by Sky News’s Sophy Ridge whether trans men are men and trans women are women, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps responded simply with: “Let people live their life.”