Keir Starmer’s promise of change won’t reach the trans community

Today, it was announced that the Labour Party had won the general election with a landslide of 412 seats. Whilst it’s a relief to finally see the back of a disastrous fourteen years of Conservative rule, for those of us in the trans community, it’s unlikely we’ll feel the main thing Keir Starmer is promising: change.

For the duration of the election campaign, trans people have been scapegoated and vilified by both major parties. This came as no surprise from the Conservatives, who in the last year barred access to life-saving puberty blockers and advised schools to deny vulnerable trans children the right to social transition. But it was disappointing to watch a Labour Party which once championed trans rights stoop to transphobia to secure victory.

The disingenuity of Starmer’s position makes it more insulting. Three years ago, he was committed to introducing gender self-identification and criticised MP Rosie Duffield for her transphobic remarks. However, in the days leading up to the election, he shared that he was “not in favour of [gender] ideology being taught in our schools” and claimed trans women “do not have the right” to access women’s toilets.

The new government’s pledge of a “full trans-inclusive ban” on conversion therapy and plans to “modernise, simplify, and reform” the Gender Recognition Act are cold comfort in light of Starmer’s public stance on our place in society. Because of his position, self-ID was scrapped in favour of changes which still require a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and two years of waiting before a gender recognition certificate can be granted. His manifesto also offered no legal recognition to non-binary people, with the option of an X gender marker on passports missing from his policies.

Commitments to tackle violence against women and girls more robustly (such as fast-tracking rape cases and the introduction of domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms) are also unlikely to help trans victims. Starmer has made it clear that trans women will continue to be denied entry to life-saving refuges, and non-binary victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence like myself will remain unrepresented, even though members of the trans community are disproportionately likely to experience these issues. It’s a shame, because the proposed policies are long overdue and have the potential to help many vulnerable people within the trans community.

Starmer also routinely passed up the opportunity to call out the Tories’ aggressive scapegoating of the trans community over their failure to effectively tackle VAWG. Instead, he chose to fan the flames of a manufactured culture war, making a pandering promise to “continue to support the implementation of [the Equality Act’s] single-sex exceptions”. Transphobic demagogue J.K. Rowling was even offered an audience with the future PM in the runup to the election — a decision that speaks volumes given the party has neglected to offer a platform to trans people even once over the last few years.

This election has served as proof that the political system as it stands works against marginalised groups like the trans community. Repeatedly, Starmer has shown he’s willing to throw us under the bus to score political points. Our only options for genuine, positive change– the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats– had their chances of a majority quashed by an outdated voting system which reinforces the status quo.

Ultimately, it’s clear that although the new government is promising change, it won’t reach those of us in the trans community.