Why this recent poll of transgender issues in the UK is a problem.

Josh Woodward – Creator at ASWT

The trans community is under siege.

In the week of writing this blog post, the UK Supreme Court ruled the legal definition of a woman under equalities law is based on their biological sex and does not extend to members of the trans community including those who have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The implications of this judgement are becoming clearer already, with some public bodies saying that trans women would no longer be able to use single-sex spaces for women including toilets and changing rooms.

In reading the judgement, Lord Hodge stated “We council against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another. It is not.”. That did not stop campaigners outside the court popping champagne.

The discourse around gender issues, particularly on social media platforms, has become toxic and polarised. The trans community are being used as a punching bag for political parties seeking to appeal to their base by stoking fear and creating an enemy against which they can rally. Trump is one example, but it is also a frequent topic of discussion amongst British politicians. Notably, Sir Kier Starmer PM has left many of us confused about his views, and frankly disappointed.

You may have caught a recent YouGov poll of transgender rights in the UK from December 2024 published this year. It suggests there’s been a rise in sceptical attitudes towards transgender rights compared with the same survey taken just two years earlier. More people now feel trans rights pose a genuine risk to women’s rights. To me this reveals the devastating impact of this toxic discourse.

The most striking finding from the recent poll is the disparity between respondents who know a trans person compared with those who don’t. If you know a trans person, you are much more likely to respond favourably on all the transgender rights issues that were polled. If you know someone who is trans, you are best placed to support them.

How do we resist the toxic discourse and support our besieged trans, intersex, and non-binary communities? We arm ourselves with facts, not fear, and we stick up for our friends. We call it out when we see it, both online or in a conversation with family over dinner. There is a way our society can protect everyone from discrimination, but appealing to judges to segregate the trans community is not the answer.