By Sam Berkeley, Courier News Editor

IS THERE any group in society more unjustly persecuted and demonised than transgender people? I doubt it.

I've thought about writing this column for some time but haven't for two main reasons.

Firstly, because of cowardice – sticking my head above the parapet into such a toxic discourse is bound to be uncomfortable. But it's nothing compared to the incredible bravery of trans people to face each day having their very existence debated.

And secondly, who am I, a straight cisgender man, to speak on this when trans voices have repeatedly been shut out of this 'debate' on their fundamental rights? But while 'gender critical' voices continue to use their platforms to contribute to a worsening and entirely unjustified moral panic, I'm done being silent on this.

Whether you like it or not, trans people exist. Surely they deserve to live with the same dignity and respect as everyone else. Sadly, far too many seem to disagree.

It can be hard to appreciate quite how hostile the environment in the UK has become for trans people, but here's a clue: in 2017, a British transgender woman was granted asylum in New Zealand on the basis of the abuse and discrimination she had received in the UK simply for being trans.

Trans hostility is worse in the UK than anywhere else in the western world – indeed, we are something of a laughing stock abroad for this.

The upper echelons of our media are disproportionately packed with the 'gender critical'; even the BBC is, to its shame, guilty, including its recent publication of a journalistically bankrupt hit piece against trans people painting them as sexual predators, while pulling out of the diversity scheme of the country's most prominent LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall on the basis of 'impartiality' – just think about that, our national broadcaster no longer thinks acknowledging the right of transgender people to live as who they are is 'impartial'!

The speed at which this moral panic has been whipped up is frightening. We are seeing rapid online radicalisation, including some people being so offended by a political party’s expression of solidarity on Transgender Day of Remembrance they feel the need to talk over the literal murder of trans people with ‘what about women’ comments.

And that is how this 'gay scare' for the modern age is usually couched: that trans rights are in conflict with women's rights. But it's not true.

Trans rights don't interfere with women's rights in any meaningful way. Accepting trans women as women doesn't diminish cisgender women's womanhood, nor trans men for cisgender men.

Likewise, the appeal to the binary nature of sex – quite apart from not even being scientifically true – ignores the fact that someone's gender is much more important in how we interact with them on a day to day basis. If someone presents as a woman and identifies as a woman, why would we not see them as a woman?

Worst is the implication many trans people are opportunistic sex pests – particularly when talking about toilets, prisons etc. This is the exact same accusation that was disgracefully thrown at gay people during the moral panic of the '80s; we rightly look back on that today with horror and I've no doubt one day the same will be true here.

Are some trans people sexual predators? Obviously. But they are in an overwhelming minority. And suggesting that allowing transgender people to use the toilet of the gender they identify as – which has been happening safely for years – will make toilets unsafe for women has no basis in fact; after all, cisgender people sexually assault people in single-sex toilets and prisons.

Surely we should be working to make these spaces safer for everyone and tackling the root causes of sexual violence, not demonising trans people, who are overwhelmingly more likely to be the victims of sexual assault than the perpetrators.

And let's not forget that words have consequences: shockingly, hate crimes against transgender people in the UK have quadrupled in the last five years.

But lost in all of this is the fact that polls show far more UK citizens are supportive of transgender rights than not. And those who scream “misogynist” at any man who supports transgender people would do well to reflect on the fact that all opinion polling shows women are considerably more supportive of trans rights than men. Are all those women misogynists too?

Polling also shows that the overwhelming majority of LGB people stand in solidarity with their trans brothers and sisters. And the huge support for trans rights from young people gives real hope for the future.

So if you're trans and reading this, don't despair. You have more allies than you know. And, though the battle may be long and difficult, you will win the war.