Rishi Sunak’s Commons ‘joke’ will make life even more dangerous for trans people like me
Trans journalist Jess O’Thomson explains why the prime minister’s widely condemned remark has added to an atmosphere that puts trans lives like Brianna Ghey’s in jeopardy
On Wednesday, during Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak made a joke at the expense of the trans community about Keir Starmer’s definition of a woman.
The remark – about how Starmer has recently performed “99 per cent of a U-turn” over what he believed to be the definition of a woman, a reference to the leader of the opposition’s interview last year in which he said “99.9 per cent of women do not have a penis” – has since generated considerable backlash, not least because Esther Ghey, mother to murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey, was moments away from entering the House of Commons’ public gallery.
Last week, the two teenagers responsible for the murder of Brianna were sentenced to life imprisonment. I attended and reported on their trial and sentencing, and was, to my knowledge, the only trans journalist present.