I have spent a lot of time chatting to cis people about what it's really like to be trans and the fact is that most people are, unfortunately, entirely ignorant of how hard it is to be trans in the UK.

So here is a thread of things you probably ought to know:

The UK is so transphobic that at least one trans person has been granted asylum in a foreign country because of it.

They didn't just move (though many of us do), they were Granted Asylum.

Most trans people experience hate crimes. And most trans people don't bother reporting them to the police. Mostly because when they do, the police either don't understand, are transphobic themselves, or simply don't care.

Once I reported a hate crime to the police. They dropped the case without telling me, and then when a hate crime advocate called them out on it they took no action AND blamed it on me being open about being trans.

I've not reported a hate crime since.

The irony of the police telling me not to tell people that I'm trans so I do t get hate crimed (again, not how hate crime law works) is that there's precedent for trans people to be charged with sexual offences if they have sex with someone without disclosing that we're trans.

The above is something that causes a huge amount of stress in the community. Who else has to disclose their private medical history to a one night stand or face prosecution?

Trans people in the UK struggle to get jobs due to illegal and discriminatory hiring practices. This leads to higher levels of poverty for trans people.

The higher levels of poverty trans people experience compounds the issues trans people face when it comes to accessing housing, with 25% of trans people in 2017/18 being discriminated against when looking for a place to buy or rent.

As a Trans man with very little money, trying to find a flatshare in my budget was hard enough, and compounded by a combination of people just ignoring my application because I'm trans, and people outright saying they don't want my 'drama' (I'm not dramatic, I'm just trans).

This is a problem so many trans people go through, and it's why rates of homelessness and hidden homelessness are so so high.

Trans people trying to access a Gender Identity Clinic, through which all NHS transition is provided, face wait times for a first appointment (just a chat) that have increased from months, to years, and which at a number of clinics are currently represented by the nfinity symbol.

The infinity symbol.

The wait times are literally infinite.

It's basically torture.

If you do manage to get through the wait lists at an NHS clinic treatment is not guaranteed, and still relies on your GP and local hospital not being transphobic.

I spent years fighting every month against a doctor who made receiving my medication as hard as possible.

Trans people are terrified of moving house, in case they get a new GP who won't prescribe their hormones. This happens so regularly that there are standard protocols used by gender clinics to attempt to deal with it.

Because I no longer produce my own sex hormones, I constantly worry that I might end up with a transphobic GP - because if I suddenly went off my hormones it would cause serious cardiovascular issues and severe osteoporosis. I could, quite literally, die.

Trans people in the UK have died because emergency staff don't know how to treat trans people. A friend of mine nearly died recently because they were repeatedly sent home instead of treated.

The stakes are life and death for us, and nobody is listening.

A lot of the problems trans people face is that often our paperwork doesn't all match up - everywhere has a different, complex, bureaucratic, process - and it's hell to navigate. Not having "the right stuff" means I've been denied banking services, housing, medical care, etc.

But it's okay! The UK like to use utility bills as proof of ID - except, remember, trans people face high levels of homelessness and unstable housing. They've not got that kind of thing.

Then maybe a bank statement? Tell that to the bank that to this day won't change my name.

If you manage to get enough paperwork sorted and live as trans for long enough you get to spend lots of money and send in lots of "proof" to get a certificate that lets you change your birth certificate. Finally all your paperwork will match and you won't have to fear being outed

But wait! Getting a Gender Recognition Certificate means explaining and justifying your existence, and the current state of your genitals to a panel of judges who will never meet you and who (uniquely) you have no right to know the identities of.
How dignified and not horrifying.

I will never forget the look on my ex's face when I said to him "did I ever tell you about the time I had to explain my genitals to a panel of judges in order to get a piece of paperwork."

That's literally a thing that happened as part of a bureaucratic process in the UK.

Trans people in the UK struggle to participate fully in public life, because 50% of us are afraid to use public toilets due to the danger of hate crimes (I myself have had my head kicked in in a public toilet). It's very hard to go out and do things when you cannot go to the loo.

Trans people face higher rates of domestic abuse than the average UK citizen - this is compounded by the housing issues I mentioned upthread which make it harder for us to leave those situations.

The high levels of domestic abuse trans people face are even more troubling when you consider that the spouses of married trans people have a "spousal veto" and can block us getting a Gender Recognition Certificate.

Trans people in the UK aren't necessarily safe in LGBT spaces either, with 40% of respondents to a recent study by GALOP stating that the hate crimes they were a victim of were perpetrated by other LGBT people.

Though getting a Gender Recognition Certificate seems to be the answer to many of the problems trans people face, most of us don't have one because the process of obtaining one is both complex, expensive, and dehumanising.

Also, if you do manage to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate it means you're on an official government list of trans people. Which isn't at all worrying.

The current UK Equalities Minister has made numerous statements which have concerned trans people and organisations that support and fight for our rights - so it's unlikely things will get better soon.

I know reading this thread is hard, but living this reality is harder.

Please remember all of the above - and remember that all of this is just a short snippet of things that are easy to explain in such consise tweets - there is so much more we face every day.

So forgive me, if I have little patience to deal with people who want trans people barred from domestic violence refuges and homeless shelters. Who question our right to a family life, and our ability to be parents. Who want our rights rolled back and for us to be quietly erased.

Perhaps, unlike in other countries, trans people in the UK are not forced to undergo fired sterilisation - nor is the simple fact that we are trans a recognised defense used by those who murder us. But we are far from equal citizens.

If you're wondering why you haven't heard about any of this - why you didn't know - this might give you a clue: https://twitter.com/JayHulmePoet/status/1310145602039287809?s=19

Anyway, I'm absolutely terrified of growing old, or becoming incapacitated, and being unable to effectively advocate for myself, because in the world as it is that would Not Go Well.

Have some Trans Joy after all that: https://twitter.com/JayHulmePoet/status/1329036795594608641

Here is a thread of someone providing sources for all of this because they're clearly excellent and anticipated the influx of transphobes trying to make out none of this is true, when, in fact, this is barely scratching the surface: https://twitter.com/helenaloulah/status/1329191146581614604?s=19