The Culture War Against Trans People

Summary

A briefing note for MPs, journalists and other stakeholders giving the background and facts in relation to the "Culture War," aka the "Gender-War," against the transgender community in the UK

The Culture War Against Trans People – Briefing Note

In October 2017, at the ‘Values Voter Summit’ (an annual conference attended by American evangelical far-right, conservatives, anti-abortion and anti-LGBT groups), a new campaign was agreed after conceding the battle against same-sex marriage was lost.

Later, merging with allies from the left, this campaign is known as ‘Splitting the T from the LGB’ and has become a key wedge issue.

It has had a profound and far-reaching impact, affecting the lives of thousands of trans people not just in the United States but also in the UK and numerous other countries worldwide.

Devised by anti-trans activist Meg Kilgannon, the culture war against trans people was launched, claiming there were “issues” of trans people in single-sex spaces, sports, prisons and healthcare, particularly that of young people’s gender-affirming healthcare.

The Culture War Against Trans People – Dark Money

The Gender-Critical movement was born, backed by an unprecedented amount of financial support, much of which is ‘dark money.’ This substantial financial backing has enabled the movement to launch organisations advocating against trans human rights on a global scale, often under the guise of protecting women’s rights.

More recently, some trans-hostile organisations have appeared specialising in a particular area of attack, invariably that of healthcare. Two such groups are SEGM and Genspect, which have rapidly been classified as “Hate Groups” in the US by the human rights organisation SPLC. SEGM is accused of using pseudoscience techniques, recruiting scientists with “Christian” or anti-LGBT beliefs who frequently specialised in one area of science but were prepared to write a scientific paper on another if it was advantageous to their cause.

The UK’s Conservative Government was enticed into the culture war by born-again evangelical Catholic American Vice-President Mike Pence, visiting Prime Minister Boris Johnson on September 5th, 2019. Just five days later, gender-critical Liz Truss was appointed Minister for Women and Equalities.

In February 2021, after serving as Vice President, Pence joined the Heritage Foundation as a “Distinguished Visiting Fellow.” Heritage is one of the most prominent financial backers of the culture war and the architect of the much-feared “Project 2025.” Often partnering with Heritage is another far-right evangelical group, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), also designated by SPLC as a hate group and with a declared income in the UK over one million pounds in their financial year ending 2023. The ADF, along with organisations such as Sex Matters, Labour Womens Declaration, For Women Scotland, Keep Prisons Single Sex and Tufton Streets LGB Alliance, lobby MPs and other decision-makers.

It should be noted that The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), together with others, has specifically labelled LGB Alliance Ireland as a hate group.

The Culture War Against Trans People – Sex-Based Rights

Numerous feminist and human rights organisations, such as UN Women and the Council of Europe, have called out the critical gender movement. The Lemkin Institute said:

“The gender critical movement simultaneously denies that transgender identity is real and seeks to eradicate it completely from society. Many gender-critical ideologues identify themselves as feminists and believe themselves to be protecting women from men. The movement, a centrepiece of right-wing ascendancy in the Western world, calls for discrimination against and harassment of transgender individuals and the transgender community through laws and policies that criminalise trans identity and trans life”.

The Culture War Against Trans People – Conservatives

When in position, Liz Truss disbanded the government’s advisory ‘LGBT Panel as it was not in line with her thinking. Further, the ‘Safe to Be Me Conference’ was cancelled, and the results of the public consultation regarding the reform of the Gender Recognition Act were ignored, even though promised by former Tory Prime Minister Teresa May. When Truss was promoted to Prime Minister for those eventful forty-nine days, she appointed gender-critical Minister Kemi Badenoch to fill her shoes.

From late 2019 onwards, Gender-critical personnel were placed in key positions by Truss and Badenoch in the NHS and our national human rights organisation, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Over the following four years, it started to erode trans human rights, leading to a highly publicised staff rebellion after the EHRC board (allegedly all members had gender-critical views) suggested making a significant change to the Equality Act.

The Culture War Against Trans People – Cass Report

In 2020, the Conservative government asked NHS England to undertake a review of Children’s Gender Identity Services (GIDS), appointing paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, someone with no expertise in this area of healthcare, to lead the review. Trans people and health professionals who worked at GIDS were purposely excluded from the Cass team. Her report, published in April 2024 and known as the ‘Cass Report’, has drawn worldwide condemnation, leaving the UK as an outlier in trans children’s healthcare.

The Culture War Against Trans People – Puberty Blockers

A second attack on the healthcare of children and adolescents was also launched via the gender-critical movement regarding the prescribing of Puberty Blockers, aka GnRH analogue (GnRHa).

Discovered in 1971, and like many medications, GnRHa’s have many uses. Still, by manufacturing pseudoscience reports and constant campaigning that Puberty Blockers were “experimental” and prescribed “off-label”, this life-line medication for gender-questioning children is currently unavailable in the UK, despite the fact numerous other countries have endorsed their use. In essence, if parents believe puberty blockers are appropriate for their child, they have no option but to seek help from private healthcare organisations working outside of the UK.

Right-wing media have jumped on the gender-critical bandwagon using trans people as clickbait. They have propagated the “What is a Woman” question, highlighting trans women in other countries who participate in female sports and often suggesting trans women are predators and sex offenders. In reality, trans people commit fewer crimes than cisgender people. Because of all the negative publicity against the trans community, hate crimes have rocketed 186% in five years:

Since the Pence visit, the vast majority of Conservative politicians have promoted gender-critical opinions to create a “wedge issue” between themselves and other political parties.

To date, their strategy has worked perfectly.

ENDS