Stonewall's LGBTQ+ Life in the UK report (2026) found that 45% of trans people had experienced harassment, intimidation or potentially criminal assault in the past year. Trans people reported worse outcomes across almost every measure, even though the report also highlights progress in acceptance and equality.
What did Stonewall's 2026 report actually find?
Stonewall's new report, LGBTQ+ Life in the UK, draws on the experiences of almost 3,500 LGBTQ+ people. Its overall picture is mixed. There is real progress in acceptance and equality, and that is worth saying plainly, because a lot of people have worked hard for it. But when the findings are broken down, trans people report worse outcomes across almost every measure.
That is the sentence I keep coming back to. Equality has improved, but not for everyone, and the people it has improved least for are the people who were already furthest from safety.
I should say that I am working from the headline figures Stonewall has published rather than the full methodology, so if you need the detail behind the sample or the questions, the report itself is the place to read it. The figures below are the ones Stonewall has highlighted.
What does 45% of trans people mean in real life?
Stonewall found that 45% of trans people had experienced harassment, intimidation or potentially criminal assault in the past year. Look at that again. It does not say 45% of trans people have ever been harassed over a lifetime. It says almost half had it happen in the last twelve months.
The figure covers a range, from being followed or shouted at, through intimidation, up to assault that may amount to a crime. I can't tell you from the headline number how it splits across those, and I would not want to guess. What I can say is that almost half of a whole group of people being treated this way in a single year is not a handful of unlucky incidents. It is a pattern.
When trans people tell me about their lives, this is rarely the first thing they mention. It tends to come out sideways, as a passing remark about a bus route they stopped using or a friend they stopped meeting in town. The number gives that private, half-mentioned experience a shape. If it has happened to you, it is not because of something you did, and it is not a sign that you are doing transition or visibility wrong.
Why do so many trans people avoid places or change how they dress?
Two more figures from the report show what that fear does to ordinary days. 47% of trans people avoid certain bars or restaurants because they do not feel safe. 49% change how they dress in public for fear of discrimination or harassment.
These are not dramatic situations. Nobody is being asked to walk into a hostile crowd. They are the small, daily decisions that other people never think about: where to meet for a drink, which coat to wear, whether to take the quieter street home. Add them up and you get a life that is smaller than it should be, with the edges quietly trimmed so that nobody has a reason to be unkind.
If you do this, I don't think it is giving in. Looking after yourself in a place that has already shown you it can be hostile is a rational thing to do. People often ask whether adapting like this means they are not being true to themselves. I would put the question the other way round. The difficulty is not that you are adapting, it is that you have to. The cost belongs to the people and the culture creating the risk, not to you.
Is this progress or a step backwards?
Both things can be true at once. Acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has improved, and Stonewall says so. But an average across a community can look healthy while hiding a group who are struggling far more. That is what the report shows: when you look at trans people specifically, the outcomes are worse across almost every measure.
So when somebody says things are better than they used to be, I agree, and then I ask better for whom? Progress that reaches some of us and leaves others more afraid is not finished. It is unfinished business with a long history behind it, because trans people have existed in every society and every period, and have so often been the first to be pushed out when attitudes harden.
It also matters how we frame the problem. Trans people are not the problem. The problem is a society where people feel they must hide who they are to stay safe. Every statistic in this report is a measurement of that society, not of trans people.
What does the law say about harassment of trans people?
In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 protects trans people from discrimination and harassment through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. It applies in work, in education and when you use services such as shops, bars and restaurants. Harassment is unlawful under the Act, and some of the behaviour described in the report may also be a crime in its own right, which is why Stonewall's wording is "potentially criminal assault".
The gap, as these figures show, is between what the law says and what people experience. A law that protects you on paper does little for the person who changes their route home because they are frightened. Enforcement is slow, reporting is hard when you are already worn down, and many people reasonably decide that the cost of pursuing a complaint is more than they can manage. That is a failure of the system, not of the people it fails.
What can you do if this has happened to you?
If you are in danger right now, call 999. Beyond that, a few practical things tend to help.
- Write down what happened as soon as you can, including the date, place and anything you remember about the people involved. A record helps whether or not you decide to report.
- If it happened at work or in a venue or shop, the Equality Act 2010 applies, and a written complaint to the employer or business creates a paper trail.
- If it may be a crime, you can report it to the police, and you can say that you believe it was motivated by hostility to you as a trans person.
- Tell somebody you trust, even if you do nothing else yet.
You get to decide how much of this to do and when. Some people report straight away, some want weeks before they can face it, and some never do. All of those are reasonable. If you want to talk it through, work out what you want to say or rehearse a conversation with an employer, you can do that here with Sammy.
How can you help if you are supporting a trans person?
If you are a friend, relative, colleague or employer, the report gives you a clear list. Believe people when they tell you they were harassed, rather than looking for the explanation that makes it smaller. Don't ask them to make themselves safer by dressing differently or avoiding places. Notice who in your workplace or friendship group is quietly adapting, and ask what would make things easier. Challenge unkindness when you see it, including when it is a joke, and including when nobody trans is in the room.
For HR leads and clinicians reading this for professional development, the lesson is that a trans person's absence from a space is data. If trans people are not at the event, the venue or the team social, ask whether it feels safe to them before assuming they are not interested.
Where does this leave us?
Equality means equality for everyone. Trans people deserve to feel safe, respected and free to live their lives, and almost half of them are being told otherwise in the course of a single year. We have made progress before, and we can make it again, but not if trans people are left behind while everybody else celebrates.
Most of all, look after yourself.
If there is a topic that you would like me to cover, just let Sammy know.
Dr Helen Webberley
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