Beauty

Trans people want ordinary lives, not a political debate

Dr Helen Webberley on Times Radio: the gender debate, with Jo Coburn, Times Radio

What people think

Trans people are primarily a political issue, a debate to be had, a question to be settled. The conversation about trans lives happens mostly in studios and courtrooms and opinion columns, and the people at the centre of it are defined by that controversy.

What is actually true

What I hear, over and over, from trans people and their families is something so ordinary it almost feels strange to have to say it out loud: they want to get up in the morning, go to work or school, love the people they love, and not have to justify their existence to anyone. The political noise is not something they created or invited. It lands on lives that were simply trying to be lives. When I say society and politics keep coming in to say "we don't think you should have that", I mean happiness, I mean peace, I mean the quiet dignity that everyone else gets to take for granted.

Whatever brought you here, I'm glad you came. Tell me what is on your mind and we can talk it through.

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