If you support the EHRC guidance issued 21st May 2026 you are contributing to the very real risk of harm to trans people like my daughter. Alice took her own life on 26th May 2022. It’s been a very tough week. l adored her, her friends adored her. She had so much to give. If you are affected by the news and this reel please reach out for help. transactual.org.uk/wellbeing links to many orgs including these and more MindLine Trans+ – trans-specific mental health helpline 0300 330 5468 Switchboard – LGBT+ helpline 0300 330 0630 Mermaids – for trans young people (under 20) & families 0808 801 0400 MindOut – LGBTQ+ mental health service mindout.org.uk Galop – if you’ve experienced abuse or hate crime 0800 999 5428 Samaritans – 24/7 crisis support 116 123 Shout – free 24/7 text support 💬 Text SHOUT to 85258 #EHRC #suicideprevention #translivesmatter #hernameisalice #grief

It's not my place to dig into the legal implications of the recently H. R. C. guidance, but as an ex-NHS psychiatrist the mother to Alice, who died by suicide, I will share my fears for the impact of it on the mental health of trans people, especially young people and their families. It's been really hard to follow this news which has spanned the fourth anniversary of Alice's death. Whenever Alice and I were out before too long, she was tired, she had something to get back to. I knew Alice for three years as Alice and in all that time we only once used a public lieu together. It never dawned on me that she needed to appear and that's why she couldn't stay out with her mum. This was four or five, six years ago and things are so much worse now. The Samaritans has revealed that after the Supreme Court ruling and the first EHRC response around a year ago, calls to their suicide crisis line for untrans people went up 40%. Yet the government proceeds. I've had messages this week from parents saying their child's becoming more withdrawn and retreating, not just into the home but into their room, into themselves away from their family. This is the real lived impact of guidance that tells young trans people their government, the equality and human rights commission for fuck's sake, think of you as other and less than and that you don't really belong. The guidance is unsafe for trans people. The anti-trans movement frames it as protecting women and girls when there's no evidence women are at risk from trans people. Framing trans people as predatory encourages abuses to be enacted upon them. It might start with a stare or a name call but it progresses to harassment and assault. Alice was assaulted twice just for existing as herself. She never assaulted anyone. The people at risk are trans people like my daughter for this there is evidence. If you support this guidance you're choosing to harm innocent people you're pushing them towards risk of abuse and poor mental health. Yes you've recently acquired the right to hold your gentle critical beliefs but it doesn't give you the right to use them to denigrate trans people and limit their lives. Everyone except trans people seems to have forgotten that gender reassignment has been a protected characteristic for almost four times as long as we got to this fucking mess in this country. Where abusing trans people has become the acceptable past time of the day modelled by the elite in Westminster. I'm exhausted. I can struggle to get out. I'm not working. I could be joining new clubs meeting new people but I don't because as someone who loved and grieves a trans person I'm afraid of hearing transphobic nonsense in the club or pub or on the train but I'm not afraid for my literal physical safety and that's what I think Alice feared and it doesn't take much to tip that fear into an overwhelming despair as to how you were supposed to fit in a world that doesn't seem to want you. I don't know how you can listen to this and not feel empathy. Like I do get that you don't understand why someone born a boy says they're a girl and vice versa. I don't understand or know exactly why they do but it happens and for decades centuries they've been doing this without the sky falling in. Many trans people live full successful lives. They fall in love. They marry. They have children. They raise families. The resilience of the trans community is remarkable. The fact so many thrive with dignity and compassion in the face of the current onslaught of hate against them is a superpower but Alice didn't thrive. She was one of those who struggled. Trans youth suicides rates are up to 14 times higher than that of the general population and Alice was one of the ones who didn't make it. I always say I'd have her back in a heartbeat but sometimes I catch myself thinking at least she's not here to see where we are because if I couldn't protect her in 2022 how could I keep her safe now. The way to keep trans people safe is acceptance and support not just within families but within communities. Transphobes are pushing intolerance and hate. The EHRC is pushing intolerance and hate. And the thought of another young person leaving the world the way Alice did and another family grieving the way Mind does fills me with dread and that's why I won't stop talking about Alice and my love and support for the trans community whenever I feel strong enough. Thank you.