The UK Rage Page: tales of Intimidation and Violence

Tales of Intimidation and Violence against trans people in the UK

Collated by Christine Burns

Some months ago, when I came out publicly within my community to campaign for Press for Change, a local political associate admitted she was baffled.  I’d spent some time telling her about the things that really do happen to transsexual people, at the hands of various thugs … and even, still, the police … but she had difficulty taking it in.

"Surely, if these things really DID happen in Britain in 1995, then we’d all hear about them … Wouldn’t we?"

She thought I was exaggerating the case to make a point.

Taking a deep breath, I then tried to explain what it’s like to grow up believing (with some justification) that the whole of society will have contempt, and worse, for how you feel.  And what that translates into in later life when, for instance, a transsexual woman’s been strip searched for the edification of a room full of male police officers.

The conversation, and that gulf of understanding, couldn’t have been a better lesson for me at the time.  I realised, then, that the world at large had evolved the best possible way of ignoring the plight of transsexuals.  It simply chose not to look.

A short while ago I was reminded of that conversation again, when a reader of this database wrote about a transsexual woman friend who had had to move house following an attack in her own home.  She had allowed a feature to be done about her in the local paper and, in so-doing, became a target for the neanderthals in her town.

As someone greatly involved in encouraging more people to step forward and talk to their local media, the story doesn’t leave me feeling very comfortable.  Nevertheless, it also made me realise that here was yet another case of intimidation which most of the world will never ever hear about.

Hence the inspiration for this page.

You are invited to send us a short account of any traumatic experience you, or somebody you know, has experienced here in the UK.  We won’t publish names, unless you specifically indicate that you don’t mind … and you need not limit yourself to acts of violence … but I’d like to build up a fresh portfolio that shows that such things still go on in a society where ignorance and fear about transsexuality still reigns.

Dismissals, harassment in the workplace, breaches of privacy, denial of access to children, benefit problems, sexual violence … you name it, we’ll list it.

Ideally your piece should be no more than 100 words or so (no more than a reasonable-sized paragraph).  Please indicate, too, roughly when the incident occured.  On receipt we’ll then add the tale to this page, so that this becomes a record of the unpalatable side of being "normal".

Dinner in Cornwall

Who better to start this page than "P", the woman whose blatant dismissal … and refusal to take it lying down … led to the European Court of Justice, and will now force a change in the United Kingdom’s employment laws.  Let’s not forget though, that as long as there are right wing politicians and journalists who think the ECJ’s judgement to be a despicable interference in the UK’s sovereign right to be bigotted, we should not be smug.

Arson attack on trans woman

From: Terri Anne Walker
To: editor@pfc.org.uk
Date: 21 July 1998 20:16
Subject: Arson Attack

    I would like to add our experience to your Rage Page.

    I came out fully as being TS oriented (I may not undergo the surgery
but I want to live full time in the female role) 5 months ago.  Even
though at the moment I only leave the house as Terri Anne occasionally,
(I still have to work as Graham due to my employers having trouble
coming to terms with my condition as they call it.  They are slowly
coming round to accepting it).  Within two days of Melanie (my wife) and
I appearing on national TV  someone poured petrol though the front door,
and under the kitchen door and lit it.  Luckily it only resulted in the
loss of a carpet and a large burn on the kitchen floor.  Also the words
F**k  off Gay and Les were painted on the kitchen door.

    You may print our details as Melanie and I have nothing to hide any
more, the incident made us more determined than ever to stand up to
these animals!

    Sincerely Yours

    Terri Anne Walker.

Royal Surgeon Blackmailed

A surgeon who was a key member of the team that carried out the Queen Mother’s recent hip-replacement operation was subjected to blackmail threats and forced to go public as a Sunday newspaper prepared to reveal his desire to undergo Gender Reassignment treatment, according to The London Times.  William Muirhead-Allwood made his plans public, following telephone threats two months previously from an unnamed blackmailer and the impending publication of the newspaper story.  Times medical columnist Dr Thomas Stuttaford praised the surgeon as a well-known and respected practitioner to whom many other doctors referred as their own GP and said that he thought it would be a tragedy if Mr Muirhead-Allwood’s announcement gave rise to prejudice and anxiety that interfered with his future as a surgeon.

Send us your tale now