Trans rights are under attack across the world. This year in Hungary, Pride marches have been completely banned. In the US, the Trump administration has been relentless in attacking the rights of trans people on several fronts, from passport gender markers to limiting access to gender-affirming care.
By Claudia O’Riordan
Countries across the world, from Brazil to Poland, have limited sex education to remove any mention of gender identity. Globally, trans people are more likely to be victims of violent attacks, to be homeless, to be unemployed and to experience discrimination.
In the UK, we have seen access to puberty blockers for young people completely scrapped, along with the recent Supreme Court decision, which has ruled that “a person with a Gender Recognition Certificate in the female gender does not come within the definition of ‘woman’ for the purposes of sex discrimination” under the Equality Act 2010. This will mean restricting access for trans people to ‘single-sex’ spaces, making being a trans person in public spaces much more difficult and dangerous.
Right-wing ideologies protect no one
The way that these attacks are framed is in terms of ‘protecting’ women and children from assault from an insidious ‘gender ideology’, which seeks to unravel all we hold dear. The global rise of the far right and the aping of their ‘anti-woke’ rhetoric by establishment parties shows they do not take the rights of women and children seriously. Access to abortion is being curtailed worldwide, domestic violence shelters have had funding decimated, education budgets are being cut year on year, and we are in the midst of witnessing a genocidal war in Gaza where children are being murdered and starved.
The right does not seek to protect anyone. Their agenda is to carry out a naked assault on the rights of trans people, seeking to remove us from all aspects of public life. It fits into the right-wing strategy of scapegoating minorities in an attempt to divide the working class. Unless something is done about it, the situation is only going to continue to get worse.
This system won’t keep us safe
The rights of oppressed people are not safe under this system. Any rights we are granted can just as easily be taken away when politically advantageous to the ruling class. Both Labour and the Tories welcomed the Supreme Court decision. Keir Starmer has shown time and again in the past year that his party is no friend to trans people.
It is dizzying to remember that not too long ago under Theresa May, the Conservative Party were discussing introducing self-ID and scrapping the overly medicalised and time consuming process of obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate. Today, we see the Labour Party cheerleading and even themselves passing measures to marginalise one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Now Labour is even postponing its Women’s Conference indefinitely and considering potentially banning trans women from officer roles and women’s party shortlists pending review, all in an attempt to exclude trans people, and particularly trans women, from the party.
This shift isn’t due to ‘following the science’ – it’s because trans people provide a convenient distraction from the myriad issues that working people have been faced with in recent years: the cost of living crisis, the housing crisis, the still-ongoing recovery from the effects of the Covid pandemic and so on.
Additionally, seeing the explosive rise of Reform UK and their own cratering support, Labour are seeking to adopt ever more reactionary positions to climb out of the hole they have dug themselves into. This strategy will never work. Labour cannot “out-Reform” Reform UK, and this will only make the rhetoric of the right wing more normalised.
One of Labour’s few transgender councillors, Dylan Tippetts in Plymouth, resigned from the party in early May, saying “I cannot continue to represent a party that does not support my fundamental rights. I cannot, as a trans person, continue to support the Labour Party.”
Trans people cannot rely on the two major parties to protect us – that has become abundantly clear. Of course it isn’t just trans people who have been let down by this horrific Labour government: pensioners, disabled people, refugees and migrants, Palestinians, public sector workers and beyond have been thrown to the wolves while Labour pander to the right and to big business.
For the major parties, trans people are a sacrificial pawn – one that can be cast aside in the face of any pressure. Trans people make up a tiny section of society. While a section of people have been whipped up into a frenzy by the right wing and the media, it is crucial that we win the majority of working people who do not yet hold such a firm position over to the struggle against these attacks. It will require a movement of ordinary working people to lead any kind of fightback.
Pride is a protest!
As we begin Pride season, we will see wonderful celebrations up and down the country. But above all, Pride should also be a vital organising space for LGBTQ+ people. We have seen some Pride marches explicitly ban the likes of the Tories and Labour from participating, such as in Birmingham, Brighton, London and Manchester. Labour should not be allowed to make any attempt at pinkwashing their reputation in light of their recent actions. Beyond not allowing the likes of Labour to participate, attempts to organise resistance should be put front and centre.
The first Pride march was a political protest. The legacy of Stonewall should be present at Pride events today. We need to reclaim the radical roots of Pride. For too long, our events have been co-opted by corporations and the capitalist establishment. Pride must be a space to organise a movement against the rise of the far right, against the attacks on trans people, and for the liberation of LGBTQ+ people and all oppressed groups.
Trans people alone are not able to build a mass movement capable of changing things, but Pride can act as a springboard for a movement drawing in wide sections of workers and young people. The trade unions could play a key role in this. In the wake of the attacks on trans rights, particularly since the Supreme Court decision, we have seen some unions making statements, updating guidance and passing motions in support of trans rights.
The British Medical Association (a medical workers’ union) issued a statement calling the Supreme Court ruling “scientifically illiterate” and condemned the decision, saying it will result in “real world harm to the trans, non-binary and intersex communities in this country”. These are, of course, welcome moves from the trade union movement, but they do not go far enough.
The trade unions need to take a lead in organising actions in defence of their transgender members, not just mere words. This should begin with bold contingents on Trans Pride demonstrations and other fighting Pride events, and a broad campaign of noncompliance with regards to the Supreme Court ruling.
The attacks on trans people are stark, and the situation appears grim, but trans people are not the only ones under attack. The refusal to lift the draconian two-child benefit cap, the attacks on refugees and migrants, the pitiful pay rises being proposed in the public sector for the upcoming year, the cuts in welfare and benefits payments confirm Labour as the new party of austerity. Labour believe that they can get away with this as they continue to drive a wedge between different sections of the working class. But if we as a class are able to unite our struggles, the potential of such a movement is unlimited.
A new left party of struggle
The attacks on LGBTQ+ rights from a Labour government highlight more clearly than ever that none of the ruling class parties can be trusted. We need a party of our own, rooted in the struggles of workers and oppressed people to fight for our interests. The support of the recently-launched People’s Alliance for Change and Equality (PACE) in Kirklees for a local, radical Alternative Pride is an example of the role that a new left party could play in boosting the struggle against attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.
A new party could provide the space for all of our struggles to be linked. If the right steps are taken, it could grow rapidly and provide a lead to all those in struggle. It is clear to a wide section of society that something new is desperately needed. This new party could give the trade union movement the impetus to finally break with the Labour Party which has long since abandoned them.
A party built from the bottom up, with a firm commitment to democracy and connected to struggle, could be a powerful weapon in our hands to fight back against the transphobic and racist right. It is crucial that any new party takes a firm stance on trans rights, not just because that is the just and moral thing to do, but because if they don’t, it means that such a party is willing to compromise the rights of any one group for political expediency.
A new party should be a vehicle for the multi-gendered, multi-racial working class to fight for demands like LGBTQ+ inclusive education as part of a fully-funded, publicly-owned and democratically-run education system, and the right to self-ID.
It could fight to reverse the privatisation of the NHS, and to tax the rich to restore and expand services, including a massive expansion of gender-affirming care. A new party should represent the entire working class, including all minority groups within it. Any attempt to divide us only serves to weaken us.
The capitalist system thrives on division and oppression. To win genuine queer liberation, we need socialist change – taking the wealth out of the hands of the super rich and using it to build a society based on solidarity, where the needs of the working class in all its diversity can be met. This is what Socialist Alternative is calling for at Pride events across England, Wales and Scotland this year. You should join us!
