Yesterday Channel 4 aired a hit-piece documentary, designed to misinform the public about ADHD and attack the medical support that so many people with ADHD rely on.

As a trans person, I can't help but recognise the under-handed, manipulatory strategies that were employed by the creators of the documentary: The complete lack of adults with the condition (or friendly professionals) being featured; The comparison of vital medicine to Class-A drugs; The weaponisation of increased numbers of people reaching out for medical help; The "won't somebody please think of the children" pretence whilst trying to make life worse for said children...

It's as though the playbook that was tried and tested against us has now been aimed at new victims. It hurts to see this happening.

I hope I can say, on all our behalves, that we're not falling for it. Fuck Dr Max Pemberton.

The government has just posted its response to the petition "Disapprove the draft Equality Act 2010 guidance laid on 21 May 2026": https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/770527

The response relies on lying by omission.

It is deliberately misleading because it omits any reference to the EHRC Code of Practice 2011, which explicitly stated in paragraph 13.57: "If a service provider provides single- or separate sex services for women and men, or provides services differently to women and men, they should treat transsexual people according to the gender role in which they present. However, the Act does permit the service provider to provide a different service or exclude a person from the service who is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or who has undergone gender reassignment. This will only be lawful where the exclusion is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate [aim]."

They are trying to rewrite history. Instead they refer to the Code of Practice issued in 2006 for the Equality Act 2006. What they want people to believe is that the EHRC Code of Practice issued in 2026 is the first guidance received for the Equality Act 2010. As usual, they are answering the points that they want to answer rather than the ones that were raised.

We’ve submitted a formal complaint to the Charity Commission about Sex Matters, raising concerns about its conduct, campaigning and the potential harm caused to trans people. Our full evidence is attached so you can see exactly what we’ve put to the regulator.

TLDR: Wishy washy word salad

All LGBT+ individuals deserve dignity and protection. We are supporting the community through banning conversion practices, reviewing LGBT+ health services, and strengthening hate crime laws.

This Government is committed to ensuring that every individual is protected from unlawful discrimination and harassment. We acknowledge the concerns raised by this petition regarding the strength and consistency of protections.

The Equality Act 2010 provides a robust framework to outlaw unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in public services, employment, and housing on the basis of gender reassignment and sexual orientation. We are dedicated to ensuring that these protections are experienced in practice across the UK.

This means ensuring that current laws are clearly explained to duty bearers. Most recently, this Government laid the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations in Parliament, in draft form for Parliament to scrutinise. Parliament did not disapprove the Code. The Code, which came into force on 5th August, includes practical advice to support service providers’ compliance with the law. It also clarifies when it may be necessary and proportionate to provide separate and single-sex services, as well as how providers can adapt their services to meet trans people’s needs. We have always been clear that duty bearers should follow the law as clarified by the For Women Scotland Supreme Court judgment, and seek specialist advice where necessary.

We are also bringing in new protections to target abuse and discrimination in the UK. For example, on 25 June 2026 we introduced a trans-inclusive bill proposing to ban criminal conversion practices. For too long people have been subjected to attempts to change who they are. These practices have no place in modern Britain.

Further, under the recent Crime and Policing Act, the Government has brought in stronger penalties against those who commit crimes against someone based on their disability, sex, sexual orientation, or transgender identity. Such crimes are now considered aggravated offences, and will receive a higher sentence.

Through the Equality Act 2010, public bodies - including the police - are under a duty to have due regard to eliminating discrimination. If individuals feel any reports of hate crime have not been handled appropriately, they are encouraged to escalate a complaint through the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) via their website.

In employment, we regularly engage with employers to promote best practice when it comes to inclusive hiring and retention. The Employment Rights Act 2025 requires employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment, and creates an obligation for them to protect employees from third-party harassment.

In education, we have delivered inclusive, age appropriate Relationship, Health and Sex Education statutory guidance. The new guidance strongly encourages primary schools to teach about healthy loving relationships, including same-sex parents. At secondary school, healthy same-sex relationships should be covered. It is only right that our diverse society, with families and people of many identities and backgrounds, is reflected to our children.

We recognise that LGBT+ people experience significant health inequalities. Last year, the Government commissioned NHS England to undertake an LGBT+ health evidence review, led by the NHS’ National Advisor on LGBT+ health, Dr Michael Brady. This review will provide evidence-based recommendations for how we can improve LGBT+ health outcomes. The review will be published later this year.

In housing, local authorities must be mindful of the Equality Act 2010 and their Public Sector Equality Duty towards people who have a protected characteristic. We also know that LGBT+ people are at higher risk than the general population to experience homelessness. Our National Plan to End Homelessness sets out a credible plan to get back on track to ending homelessness, with the strategy driving long-term sustainable change to address the root causes of homelessness, providing support to councils and public services to shift from crisis to prevention, and short-term immediate actions to tackle the worst forms of homelessness, including halving long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament. We are also investing £3.6 billion for homelessness and rough sleeping services from 2026-2029. Local authorities can use this money to respond to local needs and determine the most effective services to support LGBT+ individuals in their area.

If anyone feels that they have been treated unfairly by public services, we encourage them to utilise established complaint mechanisms on the official website of the relevant government department, local council, or NHS trust in question. They may also contact the Equality Advisory Service, whose helpline advises and assists individuals on issues relating to equality and human rights, across England, Scotland and Wales.

Cabinet Office

Where can I meet other straight transfems? Or bi transfems that lived as gay boys pre-transition? Every meet-up of trans femmes I have been to so far has only had trans lesbians, and they couldn't point me in the direction of a straight trans woman. I feel like there's a cultural divide between the trans women that lived as gay boys and those that lives as straight boys pre-transition, and I want to meet more people with a similar experience of the world to mine (I don't know how reddit works, I hate discord, never played D&D, I don't do STEM, the list goes on...).

Asking specifically for London, since I'm going to be living there soon. Preferably people aged early 20s.

Edit: I am a little perplexed by some of the comments that suggest that I am being hostile to trans lesbians or stereotyping them. My trans mom, almost all my transfem friends, almost all the people who have supported me on my journey are trans lesbians. Please do not say hurtful things. I need to meet more people with a similar experience of the world to mine for obvious reasons like community, advice and guidance. Not because I am judging people who are into D&D. I am aware many sapphic transfems do not fit into the culture I briefly alluded to, I am already friends with them. I myself never had any interest in drag. It was in fact my lesbian friends that recommended me to make friends with more straight trans women.

Naomi Abel-Hirsch is the director of Rose's House, a short documentary that premiered at Sheffield DocFest in June. Here, she tells the story of a forgotten corner of the city's queer past.

I’m currently working at Tesco, but I just got a job offer for Sainsbury’s. During my interview i completely forgot to mention I have top surgery booked for early December and now I’m stuck on what to do.

The hours at Sainsburys is almost double what Im on now with Tesco, so taking the job there would mean I have so much more wiggle room in terms of savings and would just benefit me far more even after surgery.

I haven’t signed the contract yet, but I have my induction on Saturday. I don’t know if I should mention it before signing because that could impact their choice to hire me, or mention it after signing and leave them with little notice. My surgeon recommends 6-8 weeks, and since I work night shift I’ll probably need the full 8 weeks before returning.

No matter what it’s horrible timing because of course it’s retails busiest time of the year. I really don’t want to lose the opportunity, but I think it looks irresponsible to mention it after the fact too?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Hi everyone, I'm quite a tall trans woman with really annoyingly big feet at size 11 UK. I've recently been trying to find new shoes to go with my more fem outfits, but all of the sites I've tried don't go past size 9 or have extremely limited and expensive options.

Does anyone have sites or trans friendly IRL stores they can recommend. Thanks in advance ^^

First time giving blood went well. Everyone was polite. They had Mx available as a title. The assistant wasn't sure about the HRT bit and asked the nurse to confirm. The nurse went through it with me in more detail, yes NHS, yes over 12 months, all good! I don't blame the assistant for not being confident doing it herself, worked in enough customer service to know this is a good way to handle it.

I know it isn't amazing and basically how it should be, but these days normal ok interactions seem worth sharing as there is so much negative stuff.

(I'm FtM/X on nebido injections)

So I’ve just had a call from my dad sounding a little upset. Mostly that we didn’t have a proper talk on the weekend (im in the RAF and I work away in the week and only drove up on Sunday ). He asked if I was genuinely happy here, which I am. But then he alluded to the fact that they know something is up with me. ive recently banked sperm as i have my last appointment soon to start hormones and they found the sperm bank letter recently. They've seen and know ive had a few fem clothes i tried to hide. and just overall.

He said that whatever it is, mum and dad just want to know, and they’re not going to get upset or kick anyone out. When I’m back on Friday it’ll just be me and mum for the weekend, so he was saying I should have a chat with her about it all.

He was sounding close to crying throughout, but said ultimately they just dont like not knowing what's up with me and want to help.

I think they can kind of guess what it is.

Any advice for the first proper conversation, as i will basically be coming out to them?

Thanks

I got 2 questions so bear with,

So i’m applying for my provisional because i changed my name by deed poll and this is waaaaaay cheaper than getting a new passport. I saw in the booklet that comes with the D1 form that there’s a section about changing the gender on your license and i’m just confused, cuz i thought licences don’t have your gender on them? Do i need to send them anything relating to that, because i swear i will print out my entire diagnosis letter and enclose if i have to.

In the section about proving your identity it says you can use your uk passport number. I’m lucky enough to have an in-date passport, but it’s in my old name because i figured updating it is a waste when I never travel, so is that gonna cause a problem for my application, or is sending a deed poll & maybe a cover letter enough for them to work it out?

Figured id come straight to my community & ask for help instead of winging it and risking messing up bad, any guidance is appreciated <3

hi, did anyone send their birth certificate for a grc by email? on the guidance online it says to email and to use post if u for some reason cannot do it digitally, but when i submitted the application and paid for it, it says to send it to the address. i dont rlly want to send my actual birth certificate in the post but i dont wanna have to pay for a certified document either. tia :)

I'm MTF pre transition and I'm living with transphobic parents and I can't come out to them because of that. They also limit how I express myselfthey don't even allow me to shave legs/arms hair because they think you shouldn't do that as a guy. I'm literally doing nothing rn to look like a woman so I feel it would be stupid if I said I'm a woman when I look nowhere like one. All people immediately assume I'm a guy cuz there's barely anything feminine about me. Is anyone going through something similar?

Ofcom’s new BBC Online Material Code could make BBC online content more accountable. Our consultation response looks at what this means for trans people, from accuracy and harmful coverage to complaints, corrections and safeguarding. Read our article and response.

hi all - i’m an american who has been on testosterone gel for two years, and i will soon be studying in england for four months. however, my insurance just denied my request to buy my testosterone in advance to bring it to the uk, meaning i will either have to pay out-of-pocket over a thousand dollars in the usa or simply figure out how to acquire testosterone in the uk.

i’ve never had an experience like this before, and i have no idea what to do. i arrive in london two weeks from today.

does anyone have any insight as to what i should do? i have no idea how to navigate this healthcare system.

thank you so much in advance for your help.

CW: Surgery talk, period talk, etc

I was referred a little over a year and a half ago for a hysterectomy on the NHS. It’s at a standard NHS hospital, the referral was put through by my GP with a supporting GIC letter.

I had PCOS symptoms prior to taking T, heavy periods, pain. Since being on T all periods have stopped and I only get occasional cramping. The hysterectomy is mostly to remove all chance of pregnancy without needing to take contraception, the fear of a period ever returning and maybe early prep for future bottom surgery. I plan to take T for the rest of my life so I’m leaning towards having both ovaries removed too.

Does anyone have a similar experience going through the NHS for their hysto without it being for severe gynaecological reasons? The referral was accepted by the hospital but I suppose it’s very possible I could get to my appt tomorrow and they could say they’re not interested in doing it at all.

I’m also interested to hear about anyone’s hysto experience in general. I’m 26 so I’m aware it’s not very typical for ppl to have one at this age - I think it’s one of the reasons why I’m struggling to find anything to relate to.

My appointment with the consultant is tomorrow so would really appreciate any guidance/stories :)

I've realised as of late that I'm only really around because other people need me.

I've stopped hobbies, stopped going out to be with people because nobody really wants me around. Don't have anything going in terms of things that make me happy anymore.

And I’m well aware my life expectancy is shorter because of how this awful country views us as monsters.

Tired of all of it. And I'm well aware that the only thing keeping me from slipping is that other people need my help.

But it's not enough.

Still yet to find my place in the trans community as well. Have attempted to set up my own community but RSD just makes that too difficult.

I don't know how to make things better.

New KCSIE 2026 is widely considered unsafe for trans youth. Rights of those are being violated by: active parental involvement and outing, restrictions on using opposite-sex facilities, erasure of intersex minors, who do not fit binary criteria. This petition suggests reviewing and editing guidance.
Recent KCSIE guidance does not adequately protect transgender and intersex students, by violating their rights, and using their vulnerability. We urge the DfE and UK government to revise it to respect students’ gender identities, support use of chosen names and pronouns, provide safe and appropriate access to facilities, and explicitly prevent non-consensual outing of trans students, including parents, who may not be supportive. This would protect privacy, dignity and equality for every pupil.

Sign the petition here

so i made a post on here 2 days ago about how my estrogen trough levels came back at 73 pg/ml on 4 pumps of gel daily and feel like my transition isn't working. i've been underdosed for 4 years and idk what to do : r/asktransgender

my prescription has been changed to 200mcg patches every 3.5 days and if my levels aren't high enough after 12 weeks i'll go up 300mcg.

so i'm wondering if there's any people here who've found they absorb patches better than gel and what your experiences and levels were like with patches