Two-thirds of Brits are concerned about transgender abuse
Pride in London’s iconic annual parade will take place this Saturday. (NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images)
New research by LGBT equality charity Stonewall found that two thirds of British people, or 65 percent, are concerned about the abuse transgender people face in the UK.
Stonewall shared the statistics while unveiling its new program for trans equality, the Trans Allies Programme, on Wednesday.
The charity group surveyed 1,000 adults and found that 65 percent of respondents were concerned by the abuse trans people face, and 51 percent believe more should be done to tackle discrimination against trans people.
The research also found that 53 percent of respondents would be comfortable if one of their friends was trans.
Hand-in-hand with the research’s findings, Stonewall is unveiling its new trans equality initiative, called the Trans Allies Programme. It wants to encourage non-trans people to act as allies for trans people publicly and in the workplace.
The programme will give non-trans recruits a better understanding of the impact of transphobia on their trans peers. It also aims to offer people the right tools and language to tackle trans discrimination within and beyond the workplace.
“A lack of confidence can often provoke a fear of making mistakes, and prevents many people from being visible allies to trans people – whether that’s in the workplace, in the local community or online,” said Stonewall’s head of trans inclusion Bex Stinson.
The new scheme will be rolled out in the form of one day-long training sessions held by different organisations. In total, 13 private, public and civil society organisations have ‘come out’ as launch partners of the Trans Allies Programme.
Partners include Barclays and Lloyds, EY, P&G and the House of Commons.
“We’re proud to have such a diverse range of organisations helping to launch our Trans Allies Programme,” said Stonewall’s director of empowerment programmes, Sanjay Sood-Smith. “Their commitment journey to getting trans inclusion right is an extremely promising sign that a positive future is possible.”
Sood-Smith thinks the diversity of the trans allies programme’s partners shows there is a “wealth of support for trans people at the most senior levels of British industrial and cultural life.”
The Trans Allies Programme comes at a time where British trans and non-binary people are facing increased discrimination.
Earlier research published by Stonewall shows that more than half of trans and non-binary people have had to hide their identity at work because they feared discrimination or abuse. One in eight trans employees (12 percent) have been physically attacked by a coworker or customer in the past year.
Stonewall’s LGBT in Britain Trans Report found that two in five trans people, or 41 percent, and three in 10 non-binary people (31 percent), experienced hate crimes because of their identity.
