“A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.”
This was only one of a string of comments about trans people by members of the Conservative Party Conference in early October. This is not the first time that Rishi Sunak – the man responsible for this quote and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – has made comments that can be seen as dismissive of trans identities. Moments like this are demonstrating a concerning culture of transphobia within the Conservative party, and the party seems to be weaponising current debates around trans identities, standing strong on anti-trans rhetoric as a means of gaining traction and support for the party.
At the Conservative Party Conference on October 4, Sunak attested that the population are being “bullied” into believing that people can be “any sex they want to be.” He said that “a man is a man, and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.” These words are chilling. Here Sunak is not only implying that anyone who believes that trans people exist are wrong, but also completely invalidating trans and queer identities with such bold condescension.
What strikes me most about these comments is that they feel like an attempt to galvanise any members of the electorate that might resonate with these claims towards the Conservative party, as well as giving them a mandate for their own transphobia. Trans people, who (according to the most recent census) make up less than 0.5% of the UK population, seem to be an odd group to target in such a prominent forum and in such a pronouncedly critical way, especially when so few queer issues or policies were even discussed at the conference.
It demonstrates a concerning willingness to hurt a group that is so harshly marginalised already, in order to cement the support of one side of a contentious cultural debate about gender identity. For a minority group that makes up such a small percentage of the UK population, 64% of young trans people report to having been bullied at school, and the average life satisfaction rate for trans people stands at 5.5/10, compared to the national average of 7.7. If anyone is being ‘bullied’, it is certainly not the people who refuse to acknowledge trans identities.
Sunak is not the only one responsible for harmful remarks. There’s a wider, pervasive and disturbing culture of comments made to gain support or put down political opposition at the expense of trans people. On the 5th of June this year, Sunak was recorded making a joke about how Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, was “trying to convince people that ‘women clearly had penises’.”The Tory MP for Shipley Philip Davies, in a discussion about prisoners assaulting guards, made a quip about how the opposition parties believe the “only people who should be in prison are [those] who misgender people.”
These instances demonstrate a further weaponisation of discourse surrounding trans people with the aim of putting down the opposition. The Conservative party is exploiting people’s identities with the hope of gaining the political upper hand. Suella Braverman is also guilty of contributing to this culture. Adam Boff, an openly gay Tory MP was removed from the party conference after quietly heckling Suella Braverman’s warning against the effects of ‘gender ideology’ – a concept with no academic or theoretical grounding, and most commonly used within conservative religious groups that display anti-LGBTQ+ tendencies – on British culture. Adam Boff being escorted out by security at the conference was a rather visual representation of the Conservative party that its leaders want to cultivate. It is clearly not a party that is as tolerant and inclusive as it claims to be.
This slew of anti-trans comments made by Conservative party members is perhaps unsurprising given their frequency, but they are highly concerning. It cannot be ignored that this Conservative government have recently finally agreed to push ahead with banning conversion therapy practices, as first set out by Theresa May in 2018 – this is a large step in the right direction for the queer community. However, the inflammatory comments made my members at so many levels of the party are indicative of a readiness to align themselves with one side of the debate, wholly at the expense of trans identities.
“Transgender Pride Flag” by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is licensed under CC BY 2.0