Last Saturday in Glasgow, a phenomenal trans rights rally took place protesting that the UK government had actioned S35 of the Scotland Act. Up to a thousand trans folk and allies chanted, waved trans flags and held up signs, the vast majority appropriate for the occasion.

Sadly, however, a few were not.

One read “Decapitate Terfs”, while another suggested that Terfs should “be eaten”. Needless to say, the trans-hostile media made capital out of such a silly own goal, ignoring the hundreds of perfectly good signs.

Terfs, (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) can be any of any sex. Still, one of the current trends of the gender-critical movement is to claim trans activists are misogynists, conveniently forgetting that transmisogyny is an established word in the dictionary.

Are trans women hated?

By some, certainly – but I would like to make clear that my colleagues at TransLucent nor I approve of hate against women who, like trans women, are oppressed in areas such as gender imbalance in the workplace and government, suffering a differential in pay in comparison to men and simply shocking healthcare for conditions like endometriosis and PCOS.

Is this a complete list?

No, It certainly is not.

We fully understand that feelings are running high – that trans people and allies are utterly livid that the UK government have acted as they have. And just now, gender-critical women, even on the left of politics, see the Tories as the saviour of their cause.

Clearly, the team at Translucent and our allies are disappointed that trans liberation for our Scottish siblings has gotten stuck in the mud – but that doesn’t excuse hate.

So it’s OK to say we dislike or disagree with gender-critical people, as it is OK for them to say the same to us.

If Maya Forstater taught us anything, there is no “thought police” – but going so far as wishing harm to others is, frankly, not on.

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Steph Richards (she/her) is a 74-year-old human rights activist, intersectional feminist, and recipient of a 2023 Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Award. Holding a Gender Recognition Certificate and "post op", she is the founder and Chair of Translucent.Org.UK, which was named LGBT Organisation of the Year at the 2022 National Diversity Awards. Steph was also shortlisted as a Positive Role Model for Gender at the 2025 National Diversity Awards. Steph’s leadership spans political, healthcare, and community advocacy. She served as the Women’s and LGBT Officer for the Portsmouth Labour Party (2021–2024), co-founded the Women’s Action Network (Portsmouth), and is a former CEO of a women’s health charity. A passionate champion for women's healthcare, she possesses extensive expertise in baby loss awareness, actively defends UK abortion rights and is a member of "Women Against the Far-Right". Calling out VAWG, Steph has researched and written about 125 women and girls killed by a man. A prominent voice in national media and debate, Steph has been featured live on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Anti Social, Good Morning Britain, Times Radio, LBC, GB News, and Channel 4 News. In 2023, she debated trans human rights alongside Harvard biologist Dr. Carole Hooven at a prominent US university event.

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