Levels of violence against trans people “offend the human conscience”, says UN rights expert’.

This was the headline on a 25 October press release by Victor Madrigal-Borloz. He is the United Nations Independent Expert for protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Given the UK media’s ferocious interest in transgender issues, you would imagine that it might have been headline news? Or at least referenced in one of the numerous articles churned out by the national press in their quest for a ‘transgender debate’ in the run-up to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) consultation deadline?

But no. Not one single publication in the UK mentioned it. Was it that journalist’s consciences were ‘offended’ so much that they couldn’t even bring themselves to write about violence against transgender people, or was something else at play?

It was a week that brought transgender issues to the fore, with the news that Donald Trump was ‘erasing’ trans people in America, and the GRA Consultation was coming to a close in the UK.

You would think that the statement from the UN, an internationally respected body on human rights, that ‘the vast majority of trans and gender-diverse persons in the world do not have access to gender recognition by the State and live in a legal vacuum where stigma and prejudice create a climate that tacitly permits, encourages and rewards with impunity acts of violence and discrimination against them’ would have featured heavily given its relevance?

Yet, despite such a prominent and respected organisation providing such devastating claims, the UK news media remained silent.

So what happened?

The reality is that the end of October marked the end of an 18 month campaign by a small group of individuals on a mission to roll-back trans rights – all dressed up as ‘concern for women’s protections’ in response to the GRA consultation. Read more via Gay Star News