For trans people, our situation in the world is precarious. There is a wealth of data that shows this, and plenty of evidence that those who hate us are pursuing an agenda which ignores this data. That’s why we need to translate these data points into real action, and exercise joy as a form of resistance.
Members of our community face hateful or otherwise ignorant rhetoric, often extending into direct emotional and physical violence. Our access to gender-affirming resources is at risk. There are constant debates around and scrutiny of our rights, often excluding our input. TransActual’s 2025 Trans Lives study shows that this systemic transphobia has negatively affected our quality of life. The data shows the negative impact to be even greater for trans people of colour, due to the intersection of racism and transphobia.
Amnesty analysis of UK media coverage over just five years found a total of 17,000 trans-focused articles, mostly negative, with JK Rowling mentioned four times as often as actual trans people.
Inclusion of perspectives from actual named trans people was minimal. The two most prominent trans people featured – in others’ words, not their own – were Brianna Ghey, a young trans person who was murdered, and Isla Bryson, who became the focus of a media storm when she were due to be sent to a women’s prison.
Amid this noise, we need to rise to the challenge and be louder. We need to get the data supporting our case seen, because it speaks for itself.
One of the largest official studies of trans youth recorded a significant decrease in rates of depression and suicidal ideation amongst its 315 participants after 24 months of gender affirming hormone therapy, including puberty blocker usage - New England Journal of Medicine, 2023
Meanwhile, NHS England excluded 97% of studies with medical evidence about the use of puberty blockers in trans teens, before announcing what was left was ‘insufficient evidence’. This includes the 2023 New England Journal of Medicine study.
It calls into question why this data is not breaking through, regardless of its applicability. It begins to feel intentional, as if the data supporting us is rejected precisely because it supports us.
Alongside all the negative media coverage, this gives the impression that the goal of investigation and scrutiny was always to gradually erase us from public life. How can data help us if it is outright disregarded by decision makers?
It only takes a little research to learn that the data supporting our case is abundant. That can be useful in some circumstances, but everyday life is not just about cold statistics on a page or screen. It is about going out into the world, learning through sensory experience and understanding.
One has only to look at trans people in the world to see us for what we are, on a personal and collective level. Social media, and media in general, features a growing number of trans creators who make content about their experiences, including high-profile individuals such as Yasmin Finney, Munroe Bergdorf, Paris Lees, Noahfinnce, and Abigail Thorn. These individuals and others provide first-hand testimonials of their lives as Trans+ people, many with the aim of educating people.
And it is not difficult to find us in the offline world either. Most cis people probably know, or have met, a trans person without even realising it, and we know from history that meeting queer and trans people is the best way to illuminate what our lives are like. Many of us face direct transphobia, sometimes compounded with other forms of bigotry.
Prioritising community over individuality is not always easy in our society, but this merely reinforces the importance of it. We must acknowledge our history. This struggle for equality started with, and has kept going through all we have gained and lost, because of trans and queer people of colour. Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie and hundreds of others have had an immeasurable impact.
We cannot live without humility in the face of all they fought for, all that has made our lives possible at all. We must show, and act on, a comprehensive acknowledgement of and respect for the individuals and communities to whom we owe so much. Finding community, and carving out and sharing in joy with our trans siblings, is not merely important: it is imperative.
And there is something else we must remember: the joy we make for ourselves is not exclusively trans. After all, being trans may be part of who we are, but it is far from the most interesting thing. I believe that we, and our joy, can set an example for cis people. At our core, we have the capacity for addressing what has made us miserable in our lives and taking steps to change it. By prioritising a defiantly joyful life, we can inspire cis people who struggle to address their own problems, and in the process quell the hatred thrown our way.
A life of hatred is no life at all. Making for ourselves an authentic and joyful life is what makes us human.
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