I find it very sad that a young woman (aged just 23) hurled abuse at a trans woman in Southend and subsequently pleaded guilty at Southend Magistrates after being charged with threatening behaviour. 

The court considered the case to be pretty serious, and I suspect she was lucky not to be jailed. 

Now she has a record, her name to be potentially splashed over the media and no doubt the transphobic to allege she was not to blame. While the attacker’s name is obviously in the public domain, I am not naming her – but my God I would love to chat to her and ask why? 

If she is ashamed of what she has done I hope she is searching the internet for reports of her actions and with luck, she may just find this blog. In which case I hope she will read my story and come to realise how difficult it is to be trans. 

She has cis privilege. Her brain matching her genitals. She may well go on and be a great mum. I was never given that chance.  

Her case follows on from video footage of another trans woman being attacked in another coastal town (Plymouth) just a few weeks ago.

Attacks on trans folks increase year on year are (I understand) up 39% on this time last year. 

The gender-critical such as LGB Alliance, Woman’s Place UK (WPUK) and Fair Play to Women plus others, of course, all allege that Mermaids & Stonewall go into schools and brainwash kids to be trans allies and convert them to being trans.

Given the age of the Southend attacker, my only comment is that Mermaids & Stonewall need to up their game.   

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(Pronouns - she/her) - Steph Richards is a 73-year-old 'post-op' trans woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate and works as a human rights activist. She was the elected Women's and LGBT Officer at Portsmouth Labour Party 2021 - 2024, CEO of Translucent.Org.UK, winner of the LGBT Organisation of the Year at the National Diversity Awards in 2022, co-founder of Women's Action Network (Portsmouth) and a volunteer at a Women's health charity. Steph was shortlisted as a "Gender Role Model" at the National Diversity Awards in 2025. Steph has been platformed live on BBC Radio 4 three times, including Women's Hour. She has also appeared on Times Radio, LBC Radio, GB News and Channel 4 News. In 2023, Steph debated trans human rights at an American university event alongside Harvard biologist and author Carole Hooven, PhD. Steph (an intersectional feminist) is passionate about the inclusion and acceptance of trans people in society. She advocates for women in prison, specifically pregnant women and calls out the mounting concern that abortion rights are at risk in the UK. She was the recipient of an Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Award in March, 2023.

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