Kate Nash joins hundreds of trans people for mass lobby of MPs: ‘Transphobia is not feminism’

Brit-Award-winning singer Kate Nash joined nearly 1,000 trans people and allies at a mass lobby of parliament, and said if draft Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) guidance on single-sex spaces was implemented it would be “devastating to trans lives”.

The singer, best-known for her Noughties track “Foundations” and who recently released fiercely pro-trans single “Germ”, turned up at the event on Wednesday (25 June).

A mass lobby is when a large number of people contact their MPs and members of the House of Lords in advance and all arrange to meet them at parliament on the same day. Such activities are often organised by campaign groups to show the strength of feeling about an issue.

The crowd at Westminster wanted to voice their concerns about the EHRC’s proposed changes to its Code of Practice on single-sex spaces which look set to be implemented in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s gender ruling.

The Supreme Court judgement, handed down in April, decreed that the definition of the protected characteristic of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act referred to “biology” only and specifically excluded trans people. In response, UK equality watchdog the EHRC, issued interim guidance which called for transgender men and women to be banned from single-sex facilities which matched their gender and, in some cases, from using those which matched their “biological sex”.

When the guidance was published, the EHRC said it would give the government an updated version of its Code of Practice by the end of June, to “support service providers, public bodies and associations to understand their duties under the Equality Act and put them into practice”.

The EHRC was criticised for making the public consultation period for the changes just two weeks and eventually bowed to pressure and extended the time frame to six weeks, which runs until 30 June.

The mass lobby was organised by the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance as part of its Unite for Trans Rights campaign and so many people turn up that the queue stretched along the side of the Palace of Westminster.

Organisers estimated that about 900 people turned up, making it as big as those which took place during the era of the much-reviled anti-LGBTQ+ law Section 28.

Speaking to ITV News at Westminster, Nash said: “These proposals would be devastating to trans lives, and it’s time for all of us to stand up in the UK and across the world against anti-trans hate and division. Transphobia is not feminism. Trans-inclusive feminism is the only path forward and we mustn’t let these fringe views become the mainstream.

“Trans people need protection, rights and healthcare from the UK government. Trans people are not a threat but are people living their lives like you and me.”

In a separate interview, Nash told AFP that “there’s a lot of hatred and a lot of hyper-focus and obsession” regarding the trans community, despite the fact it represents “such a small percentage” of the UK population.

“Trampling on another vulnerable group’s rights in order to protect cis women doesn’t make sense to me,” she added.

She also noted the similarities between how the transgender community are treated today and the homophobic abuse and discrimination gay people faced in Britain decades ago.

“Think about how we treated gay people in the ’80s and how much of a shameful mistake that was, she told Sky News. “We don’t want to make the same mistakes again. Transphobia is not cool.”

Released in May, “Germ”, which stands for “girl, exclusionary regressive misogynist”, is a spoken-word, indie-rock track that proclaims trans-exclusionary radical feminists, or TERFS, are “not rad at all” but exclusionary, regressive and misogynist.

“I feel no threat from any trans person that might be in the toilets/I’ve never felt threatened by a trans person as it turns out/The 69,958 rapes that were reported between October 2023 and September 24 in the UK do slightly concern me though,” Nash protests in the lyrics.

@pinknews

Hundreds of transgender people and allies showed up at Westminster to lobby their member of parliament, in what has been a history making day of action for trans rights. The huge number of attendees spoke to their MP about the rights of the trans community and shared their concerns about the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) proposed changes to its Code of Practice on single-sex spaces, which look set to be implemented in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s gender ruling. The mass lobby, staged on Wednesday (25 June), was organised by the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance as part of its Unite for Trans Rights campaign. The Supreme Court judgement, handed down in April, decreed that the definition of the protected characteristic of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act referred to “biology” only and specifically excluded trans people. In response, the EHRC issued interim guidance which called for transgender men and women to be banned from single-sex facilities which matched their gender and, in some cases, from using those which matched their “biological sex”. When the guidance was published, the EHRC said it would give the government an updated version of its Code of Practice by the end of June, to “support service providers, public bodies and associations to understand their duties under the Equality Act and put them into practice”. The EHRC was criticised for making the public consultation period for the changes just two weeks and eventually – after pressure – the equality watchdog extended the time frame to six weeks, which runs until 30 June. Although not officially confirmed, organisers estimate around 900 people attended, making the mass lobby as big as those which took place during Section 28. Trans+ Solidarity Alliance founder Jude Guaitamacchi told PinkNews 1,400 people had signed up but they were unsure if everyone made it on the day. However, given the number who did arrive, they “would not be surprised if it broke a record”. The mass lobby comes just a day after a change to the toilet policy was implemented at the Palace of Westminster, similar to a those made in the Scottish parliament building in May, to bring the rules in line with the Supreme Court’s decree. The UK parliament’s official website now says: “Members of the public should use facilities that correspond to their biological sex or the gender-neutral toilets.” The rule covers both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as Portcullis House which provides Westminster offices for MPs and their staff. As recently as Saturday (21 June), the same page of did not include any reference to who should use what facility, based on “biological sex”, an archived web page shows. Guaitamacchi said the alteration gave the trans community and allies “even more of a reason to turn up today”, adding: “That is an indicator that we need to be here, we need to be vocal. It is entirely unworkable, the whole thing. When the mass lobby was announced earlier this month, Guaitamacchi said: “We are going to parliament to tell politicians that if this bathroom ban becomes law, it will have a devastating impact on the day-to-day lives of trans and gender-non-conforming people and make the UK a global outlier on LGBT+ rights. #trans #transgenderrights #lgbtqia #transgender #ukpolitics #queer

♬ Serious piano and strings, the end(973959) – 8.864

“Women are facing serious dangers/not during boxing matches or from trans people needing a piss/but from actual violence that is carried out against them every week/according to End Violence Against Women, every three days a woman is killed/by a man,” the song continues.

“More than 100,000 girls are at risk and living with the consequences of FGM [female genital mutilation], forced marriage and honour-based abuse/Kathryn Bromwich from The Guardian states that trans people make up roughly 0.5 per cent of the UK population and are twice as likely to be victims of crime than cis people/according to Home Office figures, this country has seen an increase in hate crimes towards trans people/and cis women are supposed to focus on a threat we have yet to see manifest from a small minority of the country who are struggling to stay safe themselves.”

Discussing the track, Nash said it was the “responsibility of a feminist to be progressive” and “learn from previous waves but to always be pushing towards a new one”, not be regressive or discriminatory.

“Feminism must be intersectional. It must never be used to discriminate against others. Feminism must not be used to bully and berate both cis women and trans people,” she said. “So, let’s start labelling things correctly. These types of behaviours are transphobia and misogyny. You are not defending or protecting me.”

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