“I get, essentially, transphobic abuse”
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES BY ITV
Big Brother UK is back, and with it have come some powerful conversations about intersectionality and transphobia. Audiences saw Feyisola chat with trans personal trainer Zelah about the way transphobia is also impacting cis women too.
After being asked by fellow housemate Cameron about whether it was more difficult being Black or a woman, Feyisola opened up about the way she has been treated due to the fact that she’s bald.
“I get a lot of people who make comments that they probably shouldn’t feel comfortable saying. I get a lot of people shouting at me, ‘You’re always going to be a man’,” she told Zelah and Cameron in this powerful, candid conversation.
She added: “I get, essentially, transphobic abuse.”
Following the UK Supreme Court ruling in April this year, which stated that the terms “woman” and “sex” refer to biological women and biological sex in the Equality Act 2010, transphobia has been on the rise. Lesbians like Kate Osborne MP have raised concerns about the way this transphobia is impacting not only the trans community but also cis women too.
Big Brother contestant Zelah expanded on this further, saying: “With transgender policies and stuff like that, people say that being against transgender women, also hurts cisgender women. Because what happens is, society’s idea of femininity, usually white femininity as well – that’s usually what it’s based on – anyone that doesn’t match that, for example masculine lesbians, they then get a lot of hurt towards them.”
In September, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) handed over its final guidance about how institutions should respond to the UK Supreme Court ruling. Many have expressed concerns about the way this guidance could block trans+ people from accessing basic amenities in public like bathrooms.
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