There also appears to be absolutely no empirical basis to this movement.

I fundamentally believe that individuals who experience dysphoria and distress due to issues with their biological sex and how they feel about it, must be given access to appropriate forms of support and assistance to allow them to understand the causes of that distress and move on with their lives. This is not happening in any meaningful way before these individuals are sent down a medical pathway which does not resolve their distress nor address its psychological causes.

I am suspicious of the politicisation and co-opting of this issue by fringe groups who seek to infringe women’s hard-won civil liberties and protections; and I deplore the actions of former gay rights organisations (e.g. Stonewall) which, rather than disbanding after social equality for us was achieved recently, has embraced the political project of individuals who appear to be little more than men’s rights activists cosplaying as women.

I work with autistic young people, and  I am aware that this group is vulnerable to the influence of ‘transgender’ activism insofar as confusion over sexuality interacts with rigid thinking (e.g. I am a boy and I like other boys, therefore I must be a girl). This has the possibility of causing real psychological and social damage to such individuals.

I am extremely concerned that ‘trans rights’ activists will not discuss their wants or concerns with wider society. Gay rights were won through openness and understanding; ‘trans rights’ (whatever these may actually BE) appear to be advanced via stealth: institutional capture; policy change; shaming of concerned voices; silencing concerned individuals by demonising them as phobic or ‘TERFs’. There also appears to be absolutely no empirical basis to this movement. Is ‘trans merely a manifestation of developmental distress (which is a natural aspect of puberty) interacting with other psychological or psychiatric factors? Is it a cultural phenomenon?

I have shared my concerns with my manager at work, and shared GC content with her. I have asked questions on Twitter (and never received an answer) of trans rights activists. I have challenged a team of researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University, who are running a survey on gay men’s sexual health, over their use of Stonewall’s unscientific terminology and highlighted this as a source of potential bias in their research.

DM, Gender sceptic from Edinburgh