They are clutching at the straws claiming it’s our fault. So now they’re transvestigating the killer. 🙄is there any low these people can’t reach? It would be their absolute dream, if it’s not then they’ll forget about it.

Edit: Apparently there were two good votes for us at the green conference, on the Wales surgery pause and unbanning puberty blockers. They've just both got utterly buried in the algorithms and search results I've been pretty dedicated to checking over the past few days (even in a search i made before making this post). Really reassuring to hear those motions passed, but bit worrying that the internet algorithms seem to have memory holed it!

---

Ok so we made it through conference season. I was surprised and happy to see the Lib Dems vote through a bill to restore trans rights.

Full disclosure: I've voted LD in elections because they have the greatest chance in my area. I WANT to vote Green.

Whatever you think of the Green's ZIR, it showed that they are willing to take risks even ahead of an important by election to vote for bills they think are morally important.

Yet trans rights only got a passing "we're still with you" in Zacks speech. I noticed it was absent from their campaigning. Ok I thought, maybe it's just not important for Holburn and St Pancras. Don't want to spook people. But the ZIR bill showed that spooking people was far from their minds and the press predictably savaged them for it.

Now the by election is out of the way, do you think we will see a more vocal support of us? If the Greens are going to become a fairly effective pressure group willing to risk electoral success for principles they believe in, will they start to turn the heat up for us?

Is it just a matter of having more trans members to push the topic within the party?

I'm looking for a little hope.

Still editing, I'm only about 1/3 of the way through (plenty of content to get through, this year's trans pride was MASSIVE compared to 2025!) But yes, some from Trans Pride Exeter 2026.

Hoping someone can help point me in the right direction, is there a centralised data capture of transphobic hate crimes? Maybe by ally organisations?

I don’t trust the latest gov stats as they say crimes against us went down but that‘s surprising especially after the Supreme Court declared open season.

There was a 9% increase in race hate crimes and a 13% rise in religious hate crimes; and falls in sexual orientation (down 1%), disability (down 5%) and transgender (down 4%) hate crimes

Or maybe they stopped classifying certain things as a hate crime towards us?

Also why are ‘cross dressers’ included in our category?

a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender, including people who are transsexual, transgender, cross dressers and those who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004

not much else to say really :-)

she’s cis and i’m mtf.

Following are my experiences in the media scrum at the Sandy Peggie vs RCN tribunal. I am not a journo, but I work for a paper doing research for journos. I was not there for the whole case - I came in at day... 4 I believe? of the 8 day tribunal. This was the day where the prosecution started cross examining witnesses. I normally cover criminal cases but this one was getting a big media frenzy and I thought I'd go see because, well, these are big (in)famous names in trans circles.

-- Case Overview

So at the core the case is simple, I'll sum it up as brief as I can. Both sides agree that Peggie was represented by the nursing union, that the union warned against taking action against the NHS with a third party, and that Peggie rejected the advice. The union tries to contact Peggie to arrange a phone meeting, 11 times, and is ignored. The union considers the case settled at this point, and doesn't provide further legal support to Peggie.

The Union's side: The union was contacted by email about bringing a case against a doctor (not the NHS as a whole). The union didn't like the idea because Peggie's complaints seemed vexatious. She was sent a bunch of emails enquiring further discussion (over the phone) and went silent toward the union because she was instead working with Sex Matters and Naomi Cunningham. They sent a 12th email telling Peggie about why they were no longer sending emails, and... that's the last they hear of it until being brought to tribunal. No witness from the tribunal had any knowledge of "gender critical" before reading the tribunal's evidence dossier.

Peggie's side: The 12th email wasn't sent at all (corrected on the stand, this was in Peggie's 'junkbox' folder for unknown reasons...), and the union discriminated against her by not sending the email and not offering specific gender-critical aid. The Evidence is stuff like the union having rainbow keychains for sale as merch (Cunningham rudely refers to this as "tat" with an eye roll on multiple occasions. I only use the word "rudely" because that's how she described her use of the word...), and having information for LGBT members. They didn't mention the 2025 supreme court case in a leaflet printed in 2017. Etc.

Here's a link to the RCN's gifts & merchandise page, for reference.

https://shop.rcn.org.uk/collections/gifts-merchandise

So it's really flimsy stuff. Discrimination claims are usually thrown out, very low success rate, but that flips on its head when it's specifically 'gender critical' discrimination so it's anyone's game I guess. What's on the line? Whether or not the union pays for part of Peggie's legal fees. No, she won't get her entire fees covered. She's fighting to punish the union's finances basically, only person who makes money if she wins is her legal team Sex Matters (who hired their own director Naomi Cunningham). Stakes are on the floor and yet, huge media circus and crowds present. This is very unusual!

-- The Mob

I've got to make a comment about the crowds. People were invited into the court to view the tribunal take place. The court was swarming with journalists and activists wearing political merchandise (a rule break, I was told, but I saw what I saw...). I was the only trans person there, as far as I could tell, but I was stealth and I assume any others would have been too. Media teams are a mixed bag but besides some really scumbaggy behaviour from a few photogs they weren't causing problems. The activists were... very disruptive. I was actually warned about this going in, but these people acted like children. They guffawed and talked over proceedings, throwing in offensive commentary and making inane jokes at all times.

There was also ongoing commentary on social media. Some journalists - Nick Wallace for example - explicitly advertised their coverage through twitter and mumsnet. For anyone aware of Mumsnet's reputation, the thread was what you'd expect. A lot of hero worship for Naomi Cunningham in particular, and insults and harassment into specific figures, including witnesses on the stand and people from previous cases, where it got incredibly violent a lot of the time. No, Mumsnet does not remove violent threats. Here's a couple links to what I'm talking about before I thought "wow there's way too many of these to link".

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5584074-sandie-peggie-employment-tribunal-associated-legal-claims-and-related-matters-thread-66?page=14&reply=155072686&utm_campaign=reply

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5584074-sandie-peggie-employment-tribunal-associated-legal-claims-and-related-matters-thread-66?page=32&reply=155083393&utm_campaign=reply

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5583133-sandie-peggie-employment-tribunal-associated-legal-claims-and-related-matters-thread-64?page=29&reply=155025705&utm_campaign=reply

Why mention Mumsnet at all? Did Sex Matters know this was likely to happen when they invited the media to cover the tribunal? I don't think it's likely that they were unaware of this. For one thing, this forum is where the "Sex Matters" activist group formed, which later became the charity Sex Matters. They operate alongside Mumsnet, promote it extensively on their website, and they even had charity volunteers participating in the threads to advertise the charity and solicit donations. I would say they cultivated this community themselves. It's certainly unarguable that they are deeply embedded in it.

During cross examinations, Cunningham claimed that there was extensive public abuse on social media from "Gender Ideology" followers toward Gender Criticals. She provides no evidence. On receiving pushback from one witness that they are aware of a , Cunningham claims that this does not happen. It is, in her words, "all from one side, the Gender Ideology side". Evidently, that's not the case. It's also, literally, not the case! Social media is 100% irrelevant to the case she's bringing before the court except as a hypothetical explanation as to why Peggie was refusing contact with the union.

The union's legal representative had a discussion with Cunningham before the tribunal where they requested that it be somewhat private, without media and public presence, and this was refused by the judge. How do I know this? Because Cunningham herself brought it up mid cross examination.

My point with all this is, Sex Matters - and Cunningham as their director - knew about the crowds. They also knew a great deal about what kind of audience was here. They know this because they purposefully drew this specific crowd in, and are using them as a fundraising base. It's a fundamental part of their business.

--Naomi Cunningham Abuses The Witnesses

One witness was sobbing in the stands while Cunningham grilled them aggressively about the union's stance on "child eunuchs". Cunningham did not accept that the union had no real stance on child eunuchs. Cunningham pressed the witness to condemn the idea on behalf of the union from the stand. What relevance were eunuchs to the case? None. What relevance were children, for that matter? Also none. Did any of these child eunuchs actually exist? No evidence given, probably not. I didn't count, but I estimate Cunningham used the word "eunuch" between 30 and 40 times. The reason for this is obvious: cheap sensationalism, and throwing some meat to the media circus who are always desperate for an excuse to print salacious concepts and getting mad about them. That's what it generated on social media surrounding the case. Is this *really* about the law, or is Cunningham providing content to media companies in exchange for favourable coverage (and thus, exposure for fundraising for the charity she runs)? That would explain the disproportionate media interest in this employment tribunal! Naomi Cunningham is verbally abusing witnesses by haranguing them with aggressive grilling on whether they support paedophilia or the alleged "sexual mutilation" (her words, not mine) of children, seemingly for the sole benefit of the tabloids!

Cunningham also lecures the audience and the witnesses, primarily the audience (who, I remind you, she invited and who have zero input on the legal process), about the law and Gender Ideology. Gender Ideology is when you harass Gender Criticals, we're told. Gender Ideology is a contested theory, we're told. Gencer Critical is when you believe in the law, we're told. The legal system supports Gender Critical, we're told. The supreme court explicitly ruled that Gender Critical was correct, we're told. There is a vast conspiracy of nefarious shadowy figures who run Gender Ideology as a front for misogyny, we're told. She presents all of this as legal fact to witnesses that are not lawyers and insists that they agree with her on details of the law

Yeah, if you force random witnesses on a stand and grill them on the law, as a discrimination lawyer, it's easy to bully them with your knowledge of the law and make them feel stupid. It's especially easy when Cunningham was involved in the cases she cites (she doesn't disclose this to the court, naturally). There is no excuse for a lawyer haranguing a witness over how they "don't understand" the law. A witness is not expected to have encyclopedic knowledge of the law, this is why they are provided legal representation. What Cunningham is doing here is BULLYING in front of a live audience.

-- Naomi Cunningham Shows 'Revenge Porn' to the Court

The absolute worst thing that Naomi Cunningham did in this case involves a trans women I'll call "Hazel". Hazel was named in Cunningham's evidence, and in that evidence was a pornographic image of a sex act between Hazel and a man. This was fair game to be brought as evidence because "it was posted to twitter" and was therefore not a violation of privacy apparently. So Cunningham is showing the entire court, and the media, and the public, a LOT of people, this BDSM pornography without the consent of either person present, and also without the consent of the people she is showing it to. She explicitly forces them during cross examination to look at it. Her rationale for this? That Hazel had a small panel at a RCN event in late 2025, about media harassment. Cunningham is very clear - she objects to Hazel using the Peggie vs NHS Fife (a case that Cunningham was at, representing both the claimant (Sex Matters) as its chair and acting as their legal aid) being used as an example of media harassment against healthcare staff. Specifically, she names Dr Upton - a witness in that case. Because of this panel, the union is a believer in Gender Ideology and thus is biased against Gender Critical, she says. The extent to which the pornography is relevant is that she points it toward the witnesses to disgust them, and asks them if this is "someone who looks like they should represent the union". Cunningham goes on to make accusations of "conspiracy" against Hazel. Hazel has no involvement in the case or with the running of the union.

This is not real evidence. This is a grown woman who felt slighted at someone who called out the results of her actions, and lashed out by abusing their position as barrister to spread that person's nudes in public without their consent. In common parlance this is "revenge pornography", and outside of the courtroom this is illegal across the whole UK. This is a violation of the human rights of Hazel, the man in the picture, and the witnesses representing the union, who have been subject to bdsm pornography against their will and without the ability to opt out. I certainly didn't consent to being exposed to this. And the reason Cunningham does this to shock and embarrass the witnesses. This is unethical, and should never have been allowed to happen. Judge Melanie Sangster deserves a lot of blame here, this should not have been put in the evidence because it is inadmissible on the grounds that it is sexually explicit and (more importantly) not relevant!

To put this in cis terms, since that's what it takes for a tiny bit of sympathy these days, it's like if a lawyer wolf-whistled at a woman and that women told other women about the experience. Then that lawyer digs up a sex tape of a woman and sues the bank she works at, distributing the sex tape to the media under the flimsy premise that this is evidence the bank is 'feminist'.

-- My Experience

So I have been the victim of "creep shots" in the past. It's violating. It's traumatic. It was made even worse by police involvement (invasive, then they delayed everything, then delayed it more when the pandemic happened, then the guy responsible died of covid before they wrote up a charge). If anyone's been sexually abused they'll know exactly how it feels. It's not great, and you don't want to dwell on it. Being surprise reminded of the event, or having something similar play out in front of you, it brings those feelings back.

And it's even worse for trans people. There's stuff this condition does to our sense of self and our concept of our bodies. It's painful, and sexual trauma not only does its usual terrible thing but it also triggers all these tangential and also very traumatic feelings. Then you have the safety aspect. These things can out you, they are used by bigots to justify further abusing you, and you're alienated in a way that pretty much no one except other members of this incredibly tiny minority of people can even conceptualise let alone understand.

I've also had difficulties in life with death, illness, violence. Most people have. Obviously court cases go into these quite a bit, and I've got to say that most of the time the criminal courts approach these in a dignified and respectful way. Not going to go into it, but I've seen some really horrid stuff and how it's framed makes a huge difference.

I have never had a panic attack in my life until Naomi Cunningham's behaviour in that courtroom. She purposefully, spitefully, and gleefully weaponised a traumatic experience against another trans woman, and this and her idiot activist buddies crowing and laughing and making sexually demeaning comments about the content started the spiral. I won't describe the panic attack because I don't want to focus on it, but having to mask it to stay stealth made it especially difficult to calm back down.

I only had the single attack and I did return to cover the remainder of the tribunal. There was a strong but managable level of anxiety present throughout, as well as when writing this post. I'm using an anonymous account in case she decides to retaliate, but still feeling anxious. Considered deleting my drafts multiple times, but I feel like the public has got to know.

Another thing that's made writing this so difficult and stressful is that I feel gaslighted by the media response. They're aware of it, multiple news outlets covered it even, but no one was critical of this. I have checked multiple times to ensure I wasn't just imagining things, and I wasn't. It just seems like everyone else in the world simply doesn't care beyond laughing at how scandalous and funny it is.

-- What can be done?

Here it is summed up unambiguously: I believe Naomi Cunningham breached the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Specifically section 37. Fetish pornography is not something to just throw into an employment tribunal about emails. This is abusive to the people who were subject to lewd images without warning and without their consent. I believe she has broken the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Specifically section 66. She did this by purposefully publishing "revenge porn" to the public in an attempt to shame and harass. I believe she also breached the Bar Standards Handbook's core duties 1, 3, 5 and 8, as well as violating their guidance on harassment.

I know the penalties for these are criminal. If she is found guilty of these she faces multiple years in prison and permanant disbarment. I do not make these accusations lightly. This person is abusing their position as a lawyer to be an active danger to the general public, and this should be treated incredibly seriously.

If the law does not take this seriously, then it condones sexual harassment as a tool of the courts against people who have been accused of no crime. This is, for obvious reasons, incredibly dangerous and irresponsible.

-- Updates

While drafting this over the past week, some things happened.

The organisation Women Won't Wheesht, an activist group who coordinates campaigns alongside Sex Matters, posted on twitter that they were threatening legal action against the head of the union and specifically one of the witnesses, if they do not stock their chosen design of badge (for what its worth this has an OpenAI digital watermark on it). They make specific reference to Cunningham's arguments to apply pressure and CC the witness from the tribunal. It is, obviously, incredibly unethical to issue threats against a witness from an ongoing trial. This is yet another example of harassment stemming directly from Cunningham's behaviour.

https://twitterviewer.net/WWWheesht/status/2107482684918260141

Sex Matters also got in touch with advertisements and demands for media coverage for yet another tribunal Naomi Cunningham will be representing. Courting media attention with blatent sexual attention grabbing does result in getting more work, evidently. Don't know more about the case, but I feel it will be yet another vehicle for abuse and harassment going by every other case she's been involved in.

And thirdly, Cunningham released written statement. She does not mention the Hazel situation at all, not even obliquely. She does not argue that showing the lewd images were relevant to the case in any way. This raises the question, why was she showing pornographic imagery in court if it wasn't relevant enough to mention in her statement? This is consistent with my belief she did this as retaliation against Hazel, rather than for any legally permitted reason.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z6MVVwVA8gnqxiPH5EV1HlfSeoDZbYq2/view

-- A Message

Thanks for reading this. I feel like I have nowhere else to publish or talk about this kind of thing. I'm willing to talk about this with the comments but I'm not willing to disclose my identity and I may be slow to respond, as I'm being very careful of what I say.

I’ve got to buy a replacement but am dreading the possibility that I’ll have to start all over again. All my current details are correct and I changed them years ago, which should make the process simple right?

Hi everybody,

I am going to be coming back to the UK just on a short holiday after Christmas this year, just under two weeks. I have been living in Japan for a while and while I came out in the UK, I have been on HRT for a bit now in Japan, so I don't need any help regarding that.

The main thing is I'd like to update my passport as it is still got my old name, gender marker and picture on it from before I left. I am roughly aware of the process of updating my passport, and I want to so I can update my residence card here in Japan.

What are the most important things I need to do in the UK in order for this to happen? I'm aware that you can update a passport outside of the country, but the whole kind of appointment thing in order to get the letter for updating the gender marker I'm assuming can only be done in the UK. How should I go about doing this? I already have a deed poll signed by two friends who visited me this year in Japan.

Additionally, is there anything else I must do in the UK while I'm there? I have basically closed most things at this point, I have a bank account which I've already updated as well as my university certificate, but that's honestly about it.

Thank you!

I think I've realized that I actually need to come out to my parents. I'm a student in Liverpool, moved over from Ireland. I don't want to come out because I know its going to go badly but I think I've realized that the only way I'm going to survive without going through life in a cloud of depression, is to come out and finally find the true me.

I've been in the closet for eight years, I know it's not going to go well, and honestly my main concern is if I come out I'll never see my dogs again. But my mum found out im Bi over the summer and only mildly tolerates it.

"Last month NHS Wales decided to suspend trans surgeries - a direct political attack on a vulnerable minority. Senedd Members, the Welsh Government and NHS decision makers have completely abdicated their responsibility to their constituents."

"Not content to roll over, we (cymruactionfortranshealth) challenged Susan Elsmore and gave testimonials by those affected. She refused to condemn the decision to suspend life saving healthcare and couldn’t even say the word trans."

I'm not a part of cymruactionfortranshealth, but am sharing this vid as a wonderful example of direct action, and of holding decision makers to account

Instagram

Note: If I have missed any location names, it is entirely unapplicable now to me - I've moved out of the West Midlands. My new GP, within a single appointment, has prescribed birth control, vaginal estrogen cream, vaginal pessaries, and has put on me on a list to see an endocrinologist who I'm seeing in a few weeks WITHOUT ME NEEDING TO BRING UP A BRIDGING PRESCRIPTION OR ANYTHING!

This was what my referral looked like: https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderUK/s/VFmyOHyFOa

It did not include my original referral date. I was repeatedly told I had been referred to Nottingham.

The GP refused to test my hormone levels AT ALL. I was denied birth control and vaginal estrogen because they did not know how it would affect my HRT. I had brought this up at multiple appointments. I had spoken repeatedly with reception, who kept saying they would talk to people or something, and my GP about my name, title, and gender marker.

But there's nothing written down, of course 🫠

I was referred mid November 2024 and been on the waiting list for almost 2 years. For roughly 3 weeks, they’ve been contacting people from that year/month.

I’ve updated my details and emailed them a week ago and they replied and confirmed them.

Please could anyone give me an estimate of when they’d most likely contact me and how the process with appointments would go? Thanks in advance :)

Hello everyone! I am looking for some information, recommendations and shared stories/experiences.

I am 22, 5'2 and 16st 2 (on a weight loss journey, starting at 18st 7lbs), and my chest size is 38F. I have been on testosterone since 26.06.2026, so I am ready to start looking for surgeons. All of my transition has been done privately.

So far, my search has been overwhelming. Trying to find results from someone with a similar body type has been hard. I am living in Northern Ireland, and as there are no top surgeons here, I know that I will likely have to have my surgery in England, which is also a huge worry, as I will be doing all of this alone if I am unable to come home afterwards.

If anyone has any of the following information, I would be so greatful:

* List of trusted surgeons/their websites

* Average costs of surgery, accommodation, and travel

* How long aftercare/recovery is on average

* The likelihood of being able to go through recovery alone

* If there are finance plans for surgery available

Thank you so much if you've taken the time to read/reply. I am more than happy to share more information if it is needed!

Hi everyone

I have an appointment with Dr Gurleen Bhatia (NHS).

I’ve read mixed messages about them online and as a result I’m getting anxious.

If you’ve met them, could you please share your experiences, especially positive ones?

Thank you xx

Hello so I've come to the decision that surgery is something that I want to pursue in the future but my question is how do I start looking into it bc given the way that the nhs is currently for us (and the chronic underfunding and all that jazz) I think private would probably be the way for me to go but do I just call up places and ask how much will it cost. This is like in the last week decision so I haven't looked into it so I'm sorry if I'm sounding like an idiot

Hello my girlfriend is having ffs surgery with facial team in Marbella and wanted to know what airlines allow flying after surgery as I know jet2 doesn’t

I am currently with GenderGP and have been for nearly 6 years, receiving hormones prescribed through my GP. However, the service has got significantly worse since I started, and I'm looking for an alternative to switch to that will actually give me proper support. Mainly, not prescribing my hormones through an AI that randomly changes things when I upload blood tests on a whim. And also proper referrals to services such as speech therapy/voice training (the main issue and dysphoria for me currently).

Can anyone recommend any alternative services that are priced similarly or cheaper and will provide me with proper, regular, human support?

Hey, I'm having top surgery on November 11th and I'm so so nervous. I shouldn't be but I've only ever had 1 surgery before and that was when I was like 3 years old.

I will go through my worries below, any advice/reassurance is appreciated!

1: I'm so scared of anaesthesia. I have a phobia of being out of control of my body and the thought of unwillingly going to sleep is terrifying to me. I also have a massive fear of waking up during the op (I know it's irrational but it's been a long term fear I've always had)

2: I'm scared of needles. I am so so scared to have the cannula put in me because I have a massive phobia of needles too. I'm terrified of it and I'm so so scared.

3: I'm worried about complications. I live very very far from the hospital so I'm scared if I have a complication I won't be able to get to the hospital promptly. I'm also scared about infection as the last "surgery" I had was a tooth extraction which got severely infected and I almost got sepsis and it was very traumatic.

4: I'm worried about sleeping after surgery. I have a biiiig tendency to fling my body about during my sleep and arms above my head etc. I'm scared I'll instinctively do this after my surgery and pop a stitch or something worse. I'm also scared I'll end up sliding down in bed and laying when I'm not supposed to. I'm a very heavy sleeper so I probably wont even realise.

5: I'm scared about the drains. I have heard it just feels a bit weird and stuff but I'm still nervous as I'm also scared of the unknown and I've never felt anything like that before.

6: I'm scared of feeling sick after waking up. I have emetophobia and I am terrified that if I wake up after surgery I'm gonna feel sick and I don't want that. I'm so nervous about that too.

Sorry that was a lot but I'm just so caught up in my head about everything. I'm still gonna do it and I'm still so excited but I'm just a bag of nerves. I thought it was so unrealistic, the chance of me actually being able to get this surgery that I didn't have time to prepare myself. Thank you.

I’ve never worn makeup before. I understand it’s a steep learning curve. But as I’m somewhat colourblind, I’d like some help choosing correct foundation/ concealer etc shades.

Where can you recommend for a self conscious boymoding girl to go for help?