Newcastle transgender woman welcomes equality report
A Newcastle woman says it'll be a long time before we can ensure equality for transgender people.
It's as MP's have given the government a six month deadline to produce a new strategy.
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee have released a report with more than 30 recommendations, including improvements needed in social care, in schools, at work, in sports and within the NHS, particularly down to the “attitude of some clinicians and other staff”.
The report says the NHS is "failing in its legal duty" to provide equal access to services and guarantee zero tolerance of transphobic behaviour. It called for a "root-and-branch review" by the summer of the health service's treatment of transgender people.
It cited estimates that as many as 650,000 people in the UK are "gender incongruent to some degree" and said it was believed that around one third of transgender adults and half of young people attempt suicide.
Tara Stone from Newcastle said that she contemplated suicide.
The 42 year old transitioned around five years ago. She said:
“I spent a large portion of my life being worried about coming out and all the fears I had around that. Then when I came out and I began the process of transition, there’s so much pressure. Just walking down the street and engaging with daily life can be problematic.”
"It’s a bit of a circular problem because if people don’t feel like services aren’t there for them and they can’t engage with them then how those services do then improve. They can’t improve because people can’t engage with them.”
The report also warned of a "clear risk of harm" if trans people are held in prisons according to their birth genders, citing the case of two transgender women who died in 2015 while serving time in male jails, and another who spent a week in a men's prison before being moved. The position of transgender prisoners must be "urgently" clarified in new guidelines being drawn up, the committee said.
Committee chairwoman Maria Miller said:
"Fairness and equality are basic British values. Britain leads the world in recognising lesbian, gay and bisexual rights, but despite some welcome progress, we are still failing trans people in so many ways.
"Our report challenges attitudes towards trans people calling for them to be treated equally and fairly.
"Media coverage of transgender issues has improved a great deal in recent years, but it still tends to focus on transgender celebrities. There is a stark contrast with the day-to-day experiences of many ordinary individual trans people, who still endure routine hostility and discrimination."