Why did Emmerdale cut a Transphobic Scene?

A scene in soap opera Emmerdale that had been shot and was due to be aired in early 2014 has been cut following a complaint by a transgender actress Samantha Valentine. However having read the reports of the scene, I am a bit dissapointed that John Whiston, the creative director of Emmerdale has decided to drop the scene rather than take the opportunity to address the issue that led to the complaint.

 According to reports today the scene involved Laurel, Marlon, Rhona and Vanessa in a gay bar where they compete to get phone numbers from other women. Lauren chats up the barmaid, a trans woman played by transgender actress Samantha Valentine, and gets her number. However Marlon objects saying "That's not fair, that's a he, not a she."

Samanta then complained to ITV saying that she would never have agreed to play the part if she had known that the scene would ridicule trans people.

John Whitton has appologised making it clear that this would never have actually been aired as it would have been picked up by the producers at some point.

What suprises me is that Emerdale has been addressing homophobic prejudice for months now in the storyline with Rhona's addiction and relationship with Vanessa. I assume that these four characters were in the gay bar as part of that ongoing storyline.

So if a transphobic comment was made, that is frankly not all too surprising. Lots of people see transwomen as "he rather than she" and becaouse there is little education on this topic in schools or anywhere, this was a great opportunity to help change attitudes.

We seem to be getting to a position where media are now afraid to address the issues. Coronation Street have recently reminded us that Hayley is a trans women when her son turns up and blackmails her into giving him £5000 if she wants to see her grandchildren and then claims it was compensation for the humilliation she put him through.

Many trans people have challenges with family when they come out and although initially this was a major part of the storyline, Coronation Street has not really used the opportunity as well as they could have. Most people had forgotten Hayley was trans until this final exit storyline.

Of course most trans people don't want the trans issues to be there, they just want to get on with life in the gender they wish they had been born and to be fair to Corrie, they have tackled issues of prejudice, getting married, adoption and fostering and family rejection. There is some evidence that Roy and Hayley's relationship highlighted to the public the difficulty facing trans people and the public pressure influended the goverment at the time to start to process which led to the Gender Recognition Act in 2004

The reason why most people forget that Hayley is trans of course is that the actress, Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays the part is female. When Corrie decided to provide Audrey with a cross dressing lover Marc, it was far less forgettable and after 6 months the character was axed because the plot was not popular with the audience.

Over the six months that the story ran however they did manage to address a number of challenging issues and there was plenty of discrimination, harassment and hate crime and some homophobic and transphobic storylines that highlighted the kind of challenges we face day to day.

Hopefully Emmerdale and Coronation Street will continue to feature storylines that address sexuality and gender identity and will do what they can to show harassment and discrimination as unacceptable behaviour.

Why Is Transgender Awareness Training So Important?

When the plans for extensive public sector cuts were first announced by the UK Government in 2010 it was the ”soft” areas like training and equalities that bore the brunt of the initial cuts. 

Unfortunately when organisations stop investing in these soft areas for too long people start to make mistakes that can cost more than the saving that resulted from making the cuts.

Let me give you two examples from July 2013 of the consequences of the lack of investment in equalities awareness and training:

A local authority started proceedings to evict a trans woman from her house. The tenant had informed them of her change of name and gender and the records were updated but the tenancy agreement was not reissued. Court papers for the eviction were issued in her new name but added “Formally known as” and then her previous male name, the name still on the tenancy agreement. 

A Social services team became involved in supporting a vulnerable teenager where one of the step parents is a trans woman. The case report, sent to all parties, referred to the trans woman as “the stepfather” and used male pronouns throughout.  This was interpreted by the natal father as supporting his transphobic language and behaviour and information in the report was then used in a derogatory manner when shown to other friends and family.

These may seem innocent enough mistakes but - Section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 makes it a criminal offense to disclose information about a person’s change of gender without their consent. 

Now whilst it is only a criminal offense if the trans person has a gender recognition certificate, there is no requirement for them to disclose that information, so no way for anyone to know. That means that from a good practice point of view you have to assume that all people who appear as if they may be trans have a gender recognition certificate.

Both of these incidents breach the Equality Act 2010; both have caused considerable distress to both staff and service users; both were the result of staff not receiving appropriate equalities training. These errors cannot be undone. The documents were both released to members of the public and by the time the mistakes were noticed the damage had already been done. 

One of these incidents may lead to a criminal prosecution.

One has resulted in disciplinary action against an officer.

Incidents like these often result in extensive investigations involving highly paid officers in long meetings, investigations, reports and expensive legal costs. The real cost of a single equalities complaint can easily exceed a reasonable budget for equalities training.

Changing the law and changing attitudes are two very different challenges but remember that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”.  The fact that staff had not received adequate training will not prevent them from being liable personally to a criminal prosecution – but that may result in them taking their own action against the employer.

Many of us are still celebrating the fact that The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 received royal assent in July, but the debate over than legislation really highlighted the homophobic and transphobic attitudes that still exist in the community and even amongst MPs and Peers.  We have had equal pay and sex discrimination legislation for 40 years and are still a long way from equality.  In fact there has been a disturbing increase in reports of sexual harassment just this last year.

In the past there were not that many transgender people accessing services but that is a big part of the problem. Because front line staff and managers do not have much contact with trans people they are often not sure how work with them and therefore the risk of mistakes is high.  More importantly, because of the huge changes in law, more trans people are now finding the courage to transition so the chances of contact are increasing

Government research quoted in the 2011 Transgender Action Plan shows:

1. Nearly half of transgender employees experience discrimination or harassment in the workplace
2. 88% of respondents said that ignorance of transgender issues was the biggest challenge they faced in employment
3. Transitioning at work was highlighted as one of the most significant triggers for discrimination
4. More than half of respondents said they suffered discrimination in accessing public services because of their transgender status
5. Between 2009 and 2010 transgender related hate crime increased by 14%

I have noticed over the past few months that equalities training is beginning to get a bit more attention and I suspect that after two years of austerity, even though there is still more to come, most organisations are now getting back to some sort of normality and hopefully Transgender awareness training is high on the agenda.

Gender Neutral Toilets in Brighton and Hove

Gender Neutral Toilets

I was's invited to participate in Peter Levy's lunch time show on Radio Humbersidte this afternoon to discuss a vexing problem.  Was it appropriate for Brighton and Hove City Council to be replacing their male and female toilets with Gender Neutral Toilets?

I have been delivering transgender awareness training now since 2006 and I still fail to understand why toilets are such a vexatious issue. I changed my gender from male to female which means that I present myself as a woman and therefore I use female toilets. Of course like many trans women I don't always pass and people can deduce from my appearance that I may not have been born a woman; my voice certainly does not sound particularly feminine. So for me gender neutral toilets are a good idea.

My concern however is that the row that has been stirred up over Brighton's gender neutral tiolets has focused entirely on the fact that this decuision has been at the recommendation of the Trans Equality Scrutiny Committee.  In Brighton and Hove because the city has a large and well supported LGBT community it has attracted a higher number of trans residents than other cities. But surely that is not the only reason for a sensible policy of gender neutral toilets.

Most disabled toilets are gender neutral, as are toilets on planes, buses and trains.  Many towns and cities have free standing gender neutral toilet units. Many public buildings like hospitals and art galleries have them as do cafes, shops, service stations and many offices. I am sure men taking care of babies and parents wth young children have often wished for gender neutral toilets. And of course anyone travelling in Europe will have often come across them there.

So this is not just a trans issue, it is a practical issue. Brighton and Hove boasts Britains largest LGBT community and there are huge numbers of tourists from Europe every year who will be used to gender neutral toilets.  I was actually visiting a friend in Brighton last weekend and I noticed many people who were  not trans but whose appearance breaks with gender stereotypes for whom I suspect gender neutral toilets will also be welcome.

I am concerned that the tone of the press comment has been designed to prompt transphobic and homophobic comment implying that this is a safety issue.  When new legislation was proposed in the USA to protect the rights of transgender people, the primery campaign against the proposals by religious fundamentalists was on safety suggesting that trans women (men dressed in female clothing) were all sex offenders dressing as women in order to attack young girls. In all the articles I have read about this proposal in Brighton and Hove the safetly issues has been highlighted

    Local residents, particularly women with children, would much prefer to use separate facilities as apart from anything else, it is safer. Daily Telegraph

Why is is safer?  Is it safe for a mother to send her young son alone into the male toilets or for a father to send his young daughter alone into the female toilets - both of which I have often seen happen. Interestingly I was using the female toilets today in Morrisons supermarket and there is a notice advising parents not to allow children to use toilets unaccompanied.

The other issue this proposal has highlighted is the use of the term Gender Neutral rather than Unisex. Brighton and Hove have decided on Gender Neutral and there are plenty of precedents for that. We tend always to talk about gender neutral language where copy is wrtten in a gender neutral style rather than the often used male style eg firefighter or police officer rather than fireman and policeman.

Also the term Unisex implies a gender binary where increasingly many people argue that there are more than two genders which favours the use of gender neutral. I suspect that people who are androgynous in appearance, masculine women and feminane men will all benefit. Of course the big downside to this is the smell often associated with male toilets. Perhaps the presence of women and children in the same toilets will will encourage men to improve their toilet hygene.

I will watch with interest to see if this story it anthing more than a storm in s teacup - however I suspect that with the Gay Marriage Bill presently making its way though parliament we will see the conservative press taking every opportunity it can to stir up homophobic and transphobic comment to try to undermine the passsage of that bill which significantly benefits trans people.

Unconscious and Hidden Bias and Prejudice

“How do you cope with it?” said my colleague leaning forward so as keep his voice down.

“Cope with what? I said.

“All the people staring at you, talking about you, sniggering... ?”

“Where?” I said, turning in my seat to survey the people sitting around in the hotel lounge, apparently getting on with their own meetings.

“Oh, they’ve stopped now you’ve looked,” replied my colleague.

“Who was making comments?” I asked, raising my voice a little.

“Leave it” he said quickly raising his hand a little, obviously mortified by the thought that I might make a scene and further embarrass him.

I relaxed.  “I cope with it because I don’t see it,” I said.  

“People do it behind my back – they hide their prejudice.” 

That was a real incident 10 years ago when I first changed my gender and started on my journey to change attitudes towards people who break the unwritten rules of gender. Since then the law has changed beyond recognition and most organisations now have in place equality policies to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and protected from discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

People have learnt over the past decade not to be seen to discriminate and rightly they will be disciplined if they behave inappropriately.  But changing the law does not change attitudes and beliefs.  That is much more difficult and the challenge organisations face today is the unconscious and hidden bias and prejudice that is impacting the way people are treated every day.

People still talk about me behind my back, refer to me a “he” instead of “she”, point and snigger when I pass and I still seldom see or hear any of it.  But my friends, family and acquaintances do. Where people hide their deep prejudice from me, they openly show it to people to know me, even confronting them for being with me. 

What they don’t understand is that my friends, family and acquaintances are just as hurt and upset by their behaviour and comments as I would be if they didn’t hide it from me.  And this is happening every day in most organisations.

So how can the issue be addressed? 

Well my experience over the past decade has demonstrated to me to me that the most people hold prejudices through ignorance. Many have never met and spoken to anyone who is trans or gay, and they have been hugely influenced by homophobic and transphobic comments from friends, family and the media.  They see and hear trans and gay people and being humiliated and ridiculed, often behind their backs.  They see the friends of trans and gay people receiving the same treatment and fear that if they befriend or stand up for someone who is gay or trans they will get the same treatment and feel bullied into silence.

Feedback from my workshops indicates that participants are much more likely to challenge homophobic and transphobic comments, contribute to creating a more harmonious and supportive workplace and treat all service users more fairly and equally after attending an awareness workshop.

If organisations do not run regular awareness workshops on this topic the chances are that anyone who is or is perceived to be in anyway gender variant or is associated with someone who is gender variant in the organisation will be subject to unconscious or hidden bias or prejudice.  

I trans friend of mine Michelle was shopping in a large retail clothes shop some time ago and was standing in one queue for the tills while her female friend was being served in another queue. The check out clerk spotted Michelle and made some really offensive remarks about her. 

When she was told about the comments Michelle was upset and mentioned it to me so I suggested that she contact the store management and complain.  She did and all credit to the store, the staff member was sacked the following day. But when I told this story to a number of other trans people they all agreed that they would not have complained and some said that they would probably have used the store  again perceiving it to be transphobic. 

If you would like more information on Sex, Gender and Equality awareness training please check out my GenderNetwork web site  

As one of the UK’s leading motivational speakers and trainers, I have been delivering equality and diversity workshops and keynote presentations for nearly a decade and work with over 250 organisations, particularly local authorities, housing associations, educational, NHS and criminal justice organisations.

My workshops and presentations are always highly interactive and entertaining, exploring the impact of the Equality Act in regard to sex, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and human rights, while demonstrating how the principles discussed apply equally across all protected characteristics.  I use a variety of presentation methods - video clips, music, lecture, discussion, groups exercises, questions and answer, case studies and where I use PowerPoint - it is a visual aid.  No death by slides presentations.

Most importantly my presentations are based on real life experience.  I take participants on a journey to help them to really understand what it’s like to grow up and cope with being trans or gay, and provide an open environment where they can ask any questions no matter how personal.