Following on from the news that one of the few private doctors dealing with Trans issues has had complaints made against him by fellow doctors, Sarah Brown suggested that Trans people tweet their bad experiences of doctors using the #TransDocFail hashtag. Most of these failures go uninvestigated, because people are afraid of not being believed or having vital treatment witheld as the following demonstrate:

@AutistLiam: Told counsellor (who also does NHS counselling) abt abusive, gaslight-y behaviour from psych. Was told “She’d never do that!” #TransDocFail
@AutistLiam: For example, I never complained about my abusive psychbecause I didn’t want to end the only NHS route out of Place-I-lived #TransDocFail
@InWhichAlex: Urologist then stops anyone else trying to treat me, after formal complaint asking for him to no longer be involved in my care #TransDocFail
Anonymous: Charing Cross GIC told my psych that I was suicidal asrevenge, after they discovered a negative blog post I wrote about them.#TransDocFail
@TransDocFailAno: “#transdocfail I tried to complain, at which point I was told the next appointment I had for arranging second opinion would be cancelled.”
@TransDocFailAno: “#transdocfail I am terrified of talking about my experiences because I am afraid of having treatment withdrawn by the GIC.”

The hashtag took off in a big way. There are thousands of tweets now, but below are a hundred or so grouped by the most common themes emerging from the trend. Even the General Medical Council themselves joined in, pointing people at resources for complaining:

@gmcuk: We have a website to help patients if they’re concerned about the care they’ve received from a doctor http://ow.ly/gDmvQ #TransDocFail

If you’d like to contribute yourself but don’t want to out yourself, an anonymous service @TransDocFailAno, is available via Tumblr.

Think you can go to the GPs and get treatment for Gender Dysphoria? According to some GPs, the NHS doesn’t deal with Trans people…

@Tara_Hewett: Doctor at GP drop in refused to believe i was seeing endocronolygist on nhs “all that trans stuff is only available privately” #TransDocFail
@auntysarah: When I approached GP surgery in 2005, the doctor had never heard of gender dysphoria and “The NHS definitely doesn’t do that” #TransDocFail

The excuse for this is often because doctors have watched too many TV programmes about Trans regret, and think everyone is like that.

@auntysarah: My gynaecologist treated me with hostility, asked if I”regretted it”, suggested trans women eventually detransition & take T #TransDocFail
@qbnaith: My psychiatrist initially refused to refer me cos “most people regret transitioning” #transdocfail

Sometimes, the NHS really doesn’t “do that”. Or at least, bits of it.

@MissCassHoskins: #transdocfail Brighton PCT wont fund laser treatment as they don’t see the benefit
@S0phieH: also the NHS denied facial hair removal, so sometimes I’m terrified to walk outside, till I can afford it myself #TransDocFail
@auntysarah: Most PCTs will not find hair removal from vaginoplastydonor tissue. Apparently vaginal hairballs are “cosmetic”. #TransDocFail
@mixosaurus: In Notts PCT, *all* cross sex hormones were red-listed. GPs didn’t have authority to prescribe; GIC didn’t have funds #TransDocFail
@quarridors: Lots of impressively depressing stuff on the #TransDocFail hashtag. I eventually got good treatment but my PCT refused to fund meds in 2002.

So you’ve convinced your GP that in fact the NHS does do this sort of thing. And they’ve written a referral for you… or have they? Strangely, referrals for Trans issues often seem to end up lost at the bottom of the pile.

@JessWardman: had a referral to psychotherapy lost for nearly a year. Still no idea why. At time, thought waits that long were normal. #TransDocFail
@NotRightRuth: I’m very lucky – only 5 years from seeing GP to getting surgery. Mostly nice doctors. Still can’t afford laser treatment. #TransDocFail
@SimonelyMe: Overall because if my 3years 2months & counting wait for a GIC appointment I have been self medicating for 9months #transdocfail
@bluefoo: First GIC appointment next week, first went to GP for help 44 months ago #TransDocFail
@kara_louise18: #transdocfail having my GIC referral sitting on my GP’s desk and him not doing owt about it for ages, until I went and reminded him.
@lilylayer4: #transdocfail I learned my request for treatment was denied in a copy of a letter sent to my GP, without explanation or after support.
@major___tom: My GP repeatedly told me she’d referred me when she hadn’t. Took 11 months from asking to be referred to being referred. #TransDocFail
@Ithlin: @Lady_Muck666 CHX
told me that they were unable to type out a letter dictated on 13/12/12 earlier than Feb ’13. #TransDocFail

@Aurum_Boss: My GP refsued to re-prescribe anything for 6 years because estrogen was “off-licence”. #TransDocFail
@CherylMorgan: GP refused to attest that I’d had surgery so I could get a GRC. I had all my hospital notes, and, you know, a vagina… #TransDocFail
@Christabel321: Former GP told me to pull myself together and stop wasting his time #TransDocFail
@Ginnheim: I knew a pre-hysto trans man denied HRT after 3 years of being on it.His ‘monthlies’ returned,making him lethargic & miserable #TransDocFail
@IntercomTrust: had a teenage client who’s Dr asked him to wait a yearbecause then “you’ll be at uni and the Dr there can deal with it” #TransDocFail
@Lady_Muck666: Doc in Jersey refused me treatment point blank I paid £40 for a badly spelled letter telling me2 go away #TransDocFail
@LymanSays: I was told to ‘focus on [my] disability, that’s what’sreally important’ – transition apparently being an optional goodie. #transdocfail
@elided_: The first GP I told later told me he could no longer treat me because I was trans; he later shredded my notes #TransDocFail
@elided_: Subsequent doctors practice withdrew post-op HRT without asking me; had to refuse to leave surgery to get it back #TransDocFail
@itsjustabout451: GP: i’m ‘wasting his time’ when he has to prescribe meds as my GIC won’t prescribe but writes to him ‘recommending’ he does… #transdocfail
@laurenisolde: #TransDocFail #lies “Legally I can’t prescribe hormones until you have a therapist’s letter”. (Then I found an informed consent clinic)
@lolvixen: #TransDocFail I first saw my GP for help 13 years ago. He refused and humiliated me, and suicide was preferable to risking a different GP.
@major___tom: GP refused to write me a letter to say I live full-time as male because he said only an endocrinologist could certify that. #TransDocFail
@wiriamu: Only doc in my old area that’d treat me without outright contempt or scorn was a pediatrician. I was 23. #TransDocFail

So you have treatment! Now every medical issue you have will be related. Broken your arm? It’s probably because you’re Trans. This problem, I have to point out, isn’t confined to the Trans community. When meeting with the General Medical Council last year, they report that people with disabilities or mental health problems get the same treatment.

@PublicMatt: Denied care for a heart condition because “I have all this gender stuff going on so it was probably in my head” #TransDocFail
@GreenSkyOverMe: RT @[protected] Insistence on genital exam before chest xray for chest pain #transdocfail #AandEfail
@InWhichAlex: Made to wait >2 years for psych appointment (at GIC) before being treated for clear urological problem #TransDocFail
@Diran_Sky: I was denied access to a therp. for my depression as Iwas “already seeing” someone at the GIC. for 30mins. every 3-6 months #TransDocFail
@Flaneurble: My GP recently outed me to two student docs and then referred to me as a trsnsgender. I only wanted a repeat prescription. #TransDocFail
@AutistLiam: My GPs are nice and friendly and completely clueless about trans issues. Suggest every ailment is a side effect of HRT. #TransDocFail
@Inkysloth: Local Mental Health services kept refusing my referrals for phobia support as I was seeing a gender identity psychiatrist! #TransDocFail
@Jenny_Alto: Denied access to local MH counseling service because “you’re with the GIC”. The GIC don’t do non-specific counseling. #TransDocFail
@PublicMatt: Told I probably have BPD by a dr who saw me for 15 mins based on “gender confusion” despite living as male for years #TransDocFail
@PublicMatt: Having my physical condition repeatedly called psychosomatic because I’m trans and also have MH problems #transdocfail
@SemiStealth: GP refers me to hospital 30 miles away even if it’s just something a simple as a stomach ache #transdocfail
@Tara_Hewitt: Hearing consultant flicked through medical file questioning about hormones &my gender dysphoria diagnosis NONE OF HIS BUSINESS #TransDocFail
@a_cognito: #TransDocFail I need a (hopefully) routine gynae checkup, but my GP wants to send me back to GIC at Charing Cross
@auntysarah: A trans lady I know was refused emergency access to gynaecology for over a year because PCT was arguing over how to pay for it #TransDocFail
@flippac: Shrink blames financial problems due to DWP admin errors on “problems managing money”, apparently transition-related #TransDocFail
@flippac: Clinic has no disability training. Disabled, can’t work? No RLE, no HRT. Obviously that depression’s about your transition #TransDocFail
@major___tom: Routine appts about non-trans stuff turned into chats about my gender even when I just wanted help for a hurt back or w/e. #TransDocFail
@major___tom: GP thought depression was ‘normal’ given my being trans & thus ADs pointless. Even though they alleviate the depression. #TransDocFail
@scattermoon: @TheCraftyTracy #TransDocFail H was taken to hospital after losing 2 pints of blood post-op. They didn’t do anything.
@scattermoon: @TheCraftyTracy #TransDocFail actually, they did. They brought in a team of nurses to gawk at her because they’d never seen one before.
@schokopflaster: All docs have to unbiddenly talk to me about trans* after learning why I’m taking hormones. Even when I see them about a cold. #TransDocFail

Sometimes, it goes beyond simple refusal to treat and turns into outright abuse, either deliberate or unthinking, and inappropriate treatment.

@AutistLiam: NHS Psych told me I wanted to transition to male cos Iwas too ugly to live as a woman. Also told me I’d never pass as male #TransDocFail
@Diran_Sky: RT my wife was told by sexual health clinic that she’sat high risk for AIDS/STIs because she “has sex with transgenders” #transdocfail
@Diran_Sky: RT was turned away at reception of gyno who shouted about “it” and “do they have a vagina” – needed external granuloma removed #transdocfail
@JessWardman: was called a “shemale” by the gender specialist psychotherapist pre-GIS referral #TransDocFail
@LupieStardust: District nurse taking blood asked me if I was going to have genital surgery. Only there for bloods! #TransDocFail
@Oh_Dani_Gal: With that doctor I was required to undergo unnecessarymedical exams to receive HRT, e.g. regular orchidometer checks. #TransDocFail
@PublicMatt: Despite explaining my situation was told before a sexual health check that I was “really a woman” #TransDocFail
@TheCraftyTracy: #TransDocFail during my visits to A&E during this episode I got groped by a doctor and lectured by a nurse how it was a shame effort was
@TheCraftyTracy: #TransDocFail put into trans treatment while there was no cure for cancer. Which is what I needed to hear when bleeding to death.
@TinTower: Leeds GIC, as I mentioned last night, were really keen to perform a genital exam. My GP, thankfully, wasn’t. #TransDocFail
@a_cognito: #TransDocFail recent foot surgery, I told anaesthetist I’d had vaginoplasty. His reply “Well it takes all sorts….er…I’m OK with that”
@a_cognito: #TransDocFail first GIC appt, presenting as female, friendly blood nurse saw I was trans on paperwork “OMG you’re one of them!” #80s #AIDS
@auntysarah: A historical #TransDocFail – in the 1990s, the UK’s largest gender clinic would insist you divorced prior to treatment.
@eiridescent: Sexually assaulted (breast groping) by endo as a condition of receiving necessary care. #TransDocFail
@elided_: Repeatedly been told by GIC that long-term post-op complications are “because you don’t sleep with men”. Feel that’s my fault. #TransDocFail
@major___tom: Psychologist, when I asked for a CHX referral from her, asked me how often and how I masturbate #TransDocFail
@marliesanna: First thing my GP said after I’d worked up the courageto tell him I was trans: ‘You don’t exactly have a very feminine body’ #TransDocFail
@tanyabloomfield: #transdocfail Dr Green (Charing Cross GIC) “you’re going to be an ugly woman”
@zoeimogen: I rang NHS Direct to get help for partner. NHS Direct doctor spoke to them and told them to leave me as I was an “abomination” #transdocfail
@zoeimogen: Even within the T healthcare community, there’s prejudice. One Dr was worried about “creating she-men” http://www.complicity.co.uk/blog/2012/03/unintentionally-creating-she-men/… #transdocfail

You’re really gay, or too young to transition, or it’s your mother. Or something. If an expert said otherwise, I’m still not sure.

@AutistLiam: Me: I’ve lived as male for over a year & want hormones Psych: Young people can live successfully as trans w/o hormones#transdocfail (contd)
@Flaneurble: @auntysarah
when I went to GP about GD he said ‘nothing wrong with being gay’ and sent me to a family planning clinic .WTF !! #TransDocFail
@Ginnheim: GP refused to prescribe HRT even *after* I’d been recommended them by GIC over concerns that I was “not taking them safely” #TransDocFail
@HannaMadeIt: I talked to
my doc about wanting treatment for my dysphoria, I wasn’t “trans enough” #TransDocFail
@Inkysloth: One Gender
Identity psychiatrist suggested I was trans because I was rebelling against my lesbian mother. #TransDocFail
@JessWardman: had it supposed that I wasn’t really trans because I played D&D and Jess was apparently just a new character for me #TransDocFail
@KelestiMMO: #TransDocFail my first doc told me that my disconnect to my body, my reflection, my life, all needed to be medicated, not treated.
@Lady_Muck666: I saw 3 psych pro’s about being trans, they ALL told me I was just depressed and to get a job and I’d feel better #TransDocFail
@LupieStardust: Told by
psychiatrist at pre-referral evaluation that I was too young to “know for definite”. I was 21. #TransDocFail
@MizBrea: First doc I saw in Virginia said “You’re already Intersex, so why bother with the transition nonsense? Isn’t that enough?” #TransDocFail
@Oh_Dani_Gal: Had working, appropriate HRT doses severely reduced bya doctor because they, and not
I, wanted my libido to return. #TransDocFail
@Starlight_Witch: “you have to be 18 before you make any serious decisions about your gender” #TransDocFail
@flippac: Surgeon talks about “the cosmetic op”, mansplains my own sexuality to me. Gee, I had no idea what my clit is/isn’t capable of. #TransDocFail
@flippac: Repeatedly implied that I should not identify as butch. Care coordinator cedes to clinic re existence of queer gender roles #TransDocFail
@jackiets: When i first went to my GP and explained how i felt hereferred me to a Behavioural Specialist….the dark ages of 2002 #TransDocFail
@laurenisolde: #TransDocFail My first endo flat out refused to prescribe hormones because I wasn’t wearing women’s clothing. Apparently I wasn’t serious.
@marliesanna: Sexuologist told me I wasn’t trans and shouldn’t go the GIC because I disliked my penis, not severely disliked it. #TransDocFail
@marliesanna: Sexuologist officially diagnosed me with transvetic fetishism as GID was too definitive and this was the closest alternative. #TransDocFail
@qbnaith: When I said I had no interest in genital surgery my GPtold me I ought to have it cos “sex is very important to some people” #transdocfail
@qbnaith: As if sex is the reason for transitioning, and as if Icouldn’t possibly have sex with my genitals the way they currently are.#transdocfail
@wiriamu: Was accused by my former endo of supplementing my hormones when she’d prescribed wrong dosage. #TransDocFail
@wiriamu: Former shrink wanted me to wait till I was 30 to transition and ‘had experienced male life fully’ #TransDocFail
@wiriamu: Said shrink was also convinced that I had Aspergers, and was transitioning to ‘give myself a perpetual role to play’ #TransDocFail

Another common complaint is failure of the NHS to be able to update records to accommodate new names, titles and genders properly. That’s assuming it’s an administrative mistake of course, and not deliberate misgendering or “outing”.

@AutistLiam: @christineburns NHS Psych started “accidentally” mispronouning me and using wrong name when I tried to get her to follow it #TransDocFail
@AutistLiam: Despite repeatedly being directed to NHS policy, health centre staff kept saying I’d need a dx of GID before changing records #TransDocFail
@AutistLiam: NHS policy is to change name, title and sex on patientrecord on demand. NHS staff refused to believe this when I told them. #TransDocFail
@Chastance: MH nurse told suicidal me that they couldn’t use my name because some imaginary guy might want to go by ‘spike’. #TransDocFail
@FyremaneFoxx: Been setting up with new GP, when filling out forms onFriday, I was changeing all the Mr. To Ms. & male to female #TransDocFail
@InWhichAlex: Psych invented name to call me because I wouldn’t tell him my birth assigned name #TransDocFail
@JessWardman: was informed by docs that was not possible to change gender marker at surgery and title was gender-linked. #TransDocFail
@Lady_Muck666: Went to my GP presenting as female, asked to change my records, even now they still refer to me as male… #TransDocFail
@SimonelyMe: I was continually referred to by my former name even though I had provided copies of the NHS documents on gender variance #transdocfail
@a_cognito: #TransDocFail I volunteered I was trans to a chest surgeon who then referred to me as he/him to the nurses
@amywok1: @auntysarah just transitioned nervously sat in drs waiting room. Doctor shouted “old name!” , outed by gp. #TransDocFail
@cnlester: My GP was, at first, supportive. Then called me a ‘pretty young lady’ during a chest exam – despite my top surgery. #TransDocFail
@ctonry: GPs routinely out me to nurses via blood test forms #transdocfail
@ctonry: GP thought I was cis at the beginning of an appointment, but managed to misgender me by the end #transdocfail
@major___tom: Took receptionist 4 months & 3 copies of my deed poll to update name & title. Having Miss Tom Robinson outed me in meantime. #TransDocFail
@major___tom: Receptionist ‘forgot to write down’ my first psych appt for a CHX referral & I had to rebook. Another 2 months’ delay. #TransDocFail
@thebeardlessone: Also, he filled in a form with a preferred name box without asking me, put in my birth name. I have no proof this was fixed.#TransDocFail
@thekeywordgeek: Repeated misgendering of elderly trans woman friend dying of cancer by male nursing staff who shoulda known better. #TransDocFail
@zoeimogen: Doctor treating one of my kids refused to use “Ms. O’Connell” in notes. Insisted on male titles/pronouns. In front of the kid. #transdocfail

Can’t make an appointment? Dared go private? It’s back to square one.

@Aurum_Boss: In 2004 Charing Cross GIC kicked me off their treatment programme because I’d missed one appointment. #TransDocFail
@Diran_Sky: depression, anxiety and heavy snow made me miss 1 app at the GIC, then i was informed I had been removed from their books #TransDocFail
@S0phieH: #TransDocFail cancelled appointment for surgery to look after dying father. can’t get another appt. without ‘re-proving’ I’m still trans
@Tara_Hewitt: Diagnosed privately wanted nhs surgury referrals afteryrs on hrt told id have to go back at beginning of treatment pathway #TransDocFail
@auntysarah: A few weeks from surgery, Cambs PCT said they wouldn’tfund me unless I started as a new GIC patient, with a 2 year wait. #TransDocFail
@auntysarah: This was, ostensibly, so the referral would meet with their surgeon’s acceptance criteria. It was the same surgeon. #TransDocFail

Even vague transgressions will be punished: I demand that you conform to my ideals about gender! Remember Vazquez from Aliens? Some doctors don’t apparently. (Really, this topic could do with a blog post on it’s own.

@Diran_Sky: Any talk of being non-binary was quashed swiftly. very much felt binary was the only way they would accept #TransDocFail
@miah_: My first therapist told me to do things a “real girl” would do. Her example was to go see “Sex in the City(movie)”. #TransDocFail
@Oh_Dani_Gal: Was refused transition treatment for being lesbian, riding motorcycles, and not wearing skirts and heels to appointments. #TransDocFail
@Sirius7dk: Interesting to read the #TransDocFail hashtag whilst i am on my way to a doctor thathas already refused me HRT for being non-binary

Some rather dry but nevertheless interesting statistics for you: According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), as many as 1% of people may have gender “issues” of some description or another.

The evidence comes in the form of a “technical note” on conducting surveys from the EHRC. (PDF Link) When asking just over 10,000 people various questions about their gender, 0.4% did not identify as binary (I.e. neither male nor female) and 1% had had thoughts about (Or taken actions towards) gender reassignment.

Of course, this new evidence hasn’t stopped the Daily Mail having a pop at previous, lower estimates, labelling them “preposterous” purely because relatively few people actually get as far as dealing with the NHS (…perhaps because it’s so difficult to do, and the likes of the Mail create a negative social stigma around it…) or getting a GRC (…because they’re really not as much help as they should be, thanks to the Equality Act!)

But I am inclined to agree with the Daily Mail (I know, sorry, it happens occasionally) about excessive collection of data. It’s rarely statistically significant for Trans folk unless you’re dealing with a sizeable number of people and can be intrusive. (Data that one person in a group of 100 is Trans is enough to out someone)

Oh, and of course if you collect data, you can accidentally leak it. (It’s not clear in that case if information on gender reassignment was also leaked)

Being heavily run by the BBC today is the news that the Advertising Standards Authority have finally (After 3 months!) ruled that the Paddy Power “Ladies Day” advert breached their codes. It had already had its clearance by Clearcast, a separate group who pre-vet adverts, withdrawn after the complaints.

Complaints fell broadly into three categories: That the advert was offensive, that it caused harm and that it was not socially responsible and the ASA upheld that all three rules had been breached. Highlights from the ASA ruling on being offensive:

“We therefore considered that the suggestion that trans people could be segregated into the gender stereotypes “stallions” and “mares” as part of a guessing game, trivialised a complex and difficult issue and objectified them in a way that was likely to cause them serious offence.”

“We considered that the ad in general and those scenes in particular depicted those negative stereotypes in a way that was also likely to be seriously offensive to trans people.”

“We considered that the suggestion that a trans woman would need to, or should, use a men’s toilet and the reference to a woman as a dog were also likely to cause serious offence to women generally and trans women specifically. We concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence.”

And on social responsibility and causing harm:

“We considered that by suggesting that trans women would look like men in drag and that their gender could be speculated on as part of a game, the ad irresponsibly reinforced those negative stereotypes and, particularly by framing the game in a way that involved a member of the public who had commented on Paddy Power’s Facebook page, the ad condoned and encouraged harmful discriminatory behaviour and treatment.”

Sadly, there was no mention that the adverts put Trans folk at risk of physical harm, but unsurprisingly given the above, they conclude “the ad must not be shown again in it’s current form“.

Having listened to Chloë Sevigny talk about her role in “Hit and Miss” on yesterday’s Woman’s Hour (It’s right at the start) I think I have to stand by my first view that the production company are seriously lacking in clue, as shown by the fact that their initial casting call was for a pre-op trans woman. (The pre-op bit was explicit)

The way such interviews usually work is that the production or publicity company will have a fact sheet or similar that they will give to the show and, although Chloë has some interesting views as a result of playing the part of a trans woman, (Perhaps enough to make me watch the show) it’s pretty clear from the interviewers questions that the fact sheet and likely the show itself will be awful.

We’ll start with the usual rant: Transsexual is an adjective, not a noun. The interview was littered with the interviewer committing the usual crime of referring to Chloë as playing “a transsexual” instead of “a transsexual woman” or “a trans woman”. (Chloë did not make this mistake once)

Interestingly, the text accompanying the podcast refers more correctly to her as playing “a transgender contract killer”.

The worst bit is, predictably given the requirement for any trans people playing the part be pre-op, the rampant genital essentialism which sounds like it’s going to be present throughout the series, and not in a good way. As well as the interviewer referring to her not having had “the full operation”, there’s this exchange:

Interviewer: “And we see her naked on a number of occasions and you wear prosthetic genitalia. Why was it important for the audience to see that?”

Chloë: “According to the producers…” (Laughs, slightly nervously: I don’t feel she’s comfortable with this explanation) “…they wanted, that was their way of reminding the audience that she is… still a man or still has her male genitalia… and I think it was provocative.”

That’s rather worrying for a series like this: They want to be provocative and they want to remind the viewers that she’s “still a man”. (Because as we know, you’re not “really a woman” until you’ve had “the full operation”… ugh!)

Interviewer: “And how did you deal with this, wearing it?”

Chloë: “Not very well. It was painful… physically and emotionally because Mia, of course, has a very bad relationship with her genitalia as most, I think, people that are transitioning do. It’s very uncomfortable and humiliating being naked with it on. It’s hard enough to be naked yet then to have… you know, I just felt like a freak which Mia does, it helped me inhabit the character”

This is more interesting – as Paris Lees put it, “Sounds like gender dysphoria to me”. (Or at least, a serious degree of body dysmorphia, even if I’m not entirely happy that she used the word “freak” there)

Later the interviewer refers to an earlier role of Chloë’s, in Boys Don’t Cry as the girlfriend of a trans man. The interviewer describes Brandon Teena as “a female-to-male not quite transsexual but crossdresser” which is pretty inaccurate.

If I watch this, it’s going to be because it sounds like Chloë’s experiences playing a trans woman are interesting. From the ham-fisted approach taken by the production company, I suspect overall it will do nothing to advance Trans equality and understanding and will likely be horribly cringeworthy.

A comment I sent in to the BBC’s “Thinking Allowed” last week on Transgender issues has been read out on air. I’ll publicise this here mostly because I just love the inflection the presenter has given my words. I don’t think I could have done better myself! Start from 13:45, it’s about 30 seconds long.

Also on BBC’s Thinking Allowed Podcast site

The programme I’m commenting on is the one from 2nd May and Zowie Davy’s piece is towards the end. Here is the full text of my comment – the second paragraph was read out on air.

I was somewhat surprised on today’s show to hear basic linguistic errors being made by both the presenter and the academic author, Zowie Davy.

As someone who has apparently spent some time working with trans people, I would have expected Zowie to understand that “Transsexual” is an adjective, not a noun. You would not say “John is a black” or “Sue is a disabled” as that is very othering. Similarly, you should talk about someone being “a transsexual person”, lest one cause serious offence.

I hope that Zowie’s overall research is better informed than her use of language would suggest!