What Councillors Said When They Voted 41 to One to Back Trans Rights
A resource for any council, organisation, or decision-maker still working out where to stand
On 26 February 2026, North Hertfordshire District Council held a debate on a motion to formally support transgender rights. What was said in that room deserves to be heard more widely. These are the voices of the people who were there, in their own words, speaking plainly and from the heart about what they believe and why. Read them slowly. They are worth it.
Cllr Sadie Billing, who proposed the motion
“Everyone in North Hertfordshire deserves to feel safe, respected and able to live as themselves. This motion makes it clear that discrimination and hostility have no place here and sets out practical steps to keep our policies and services inclusive.”
“Legal protections remain but the uncertainty has a real impact on people’s sense of safety and belonging.”
Cllr David Chalmers, who seconded the motion
Cllr Chalmers is a gay man who grew up in the 1960s. He drew a direct line between the treatment of his generation and what trans people face today.
“The hate and scars left on my generation of gay men turned many to alcohol, drugs, and even suicide. I have lost too many friends over the years, and now I am seeing that same diet of fear and shame destroying the lives of trans friends.”
Cllr Elizabeth Dennis, Labour
“When we fail to acknowledge and support gay rights, lesbian rights, trans rights, we also fail to acknowledge women’s rights.”
“It is an absolute nonsense to suggest that women’s rights suffer where we support trans people.”
Cllr Tamsin Thomas, Labour
Cllr Thomas described attending a women’s safety event in Hitchin attended by more than 100 women, where the question of trans women in bathrooms never came up.
“It wasn’t in their mind. It’s a manufactured fear.”
Cllr Joe Graziano, Conservative (voted for the motion)
“One of my best mates was a man and transitioned. In an idealistic world, we should be to a point where we shouldn’t be discussing this at all, where everybody is respected for who they are, end of.”
Cllr Ralph Muncer, Conservative (the sole vote against)
Included here for completeness and balance.
“I find it somewhat hypocritical that an administration who seeks to ensure that the protection of women and girls is very much at the forefront of policy, is content with allowing biological males to go into changing rooms, to go into toilets, that biological females and young girls frequent.”
What strikes me most about this debate is how straightforward it all sounds when you read the words back. One councillor who lived through the worst of what prejudice can do to a community spoke with the quiet authority of someone who has already seen this story play out. Others talked about what women actually said when asked what they were afraid of. And a Conservative councillor who voted with the majority simply spoke about his friend, and said that in a better world none of this would need to be debated at all.
This is just good sense. It is compassionate, it is legally sound, and it is the kind of thing that makes a real difference to real people who are watching to see whether the institutions around them are on their side.
Other councils can follow this lead. There is nothing complicated about it. You pass a motion. You write a letter. You mark Trans Day of Visibility. You say out loud that everyone in your area deserves to feel safe and respected. You put it on the record.
North Hertfordshire has shown it can be done. The question for every other council in the country is simply whether they are willing to do it too.
With love and solidarity,
Dr Helen Webberley
Gender Specialist and Medical Educator
www.helenwebberley.com
Thank you!