Back in 2022, I wrote my first piece for Lib Dem Voice, titled “We must adopt a Jenkinsite approach to support trans people“. As part of the piece, I discussed Roy Jenkins’ achievements as Home Secretary under Harold Wilson, from abolishing theatre censorship and legalising abortion, to decriminalising homosexuality and banning racial discrimination in the workplace. I also discussed the ideology Jenkins brought to the role of Home Secretary: social libertarianism (the idea that if you are not breaking the law or causing harm to others or yourself, then the government should leave you alone).

Unfortunately, the argument I made then of anti trans groups opposing this ideology, and instead choosing to support state-backed renewal of the patriarchy to attack trans people further, is still a pressing issue in our society. The most recent case of this urgency is the Supreme Court’s ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, regardless of whether a trans woman has a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), with gender critical campaigners such as the author JK Rowling claiming the ruling meant “protection for women“.

While hailing this ruling as a win for women, these same campaigners conveniently ignore the fact that the very same legal system is failing to protect women from violence committed by cis men, with campaigns such as End Violence Against Women reporting on the multiple state failures that contributed to the sexual assault and murder of Zara Aleena by Jordan McSweeney, who in turn has had his life sentence reduced to 33 years.

Meanwhile, the same trans people whom gender critical activists claim are a threat to women’s safety are four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime. According to research conducted by the UCLA School of Law William’s Institute, trans people are more likely to experience “violent victimisation, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault”, in addition to households with a transgender person experiencing higher rates of property victimisation than cisgender households.

This isn’t to say that cisgender women don’t face violence; on the contrary, it’s highlighting that violence against women, whether trans or cis, along with non-binary and gender non-conforming people, is a shared struggle in our society. And when we break down the population rates in Britain, according to the latest (2021) census, just 0.54% of people aged 16 years old and over in England and Wales identify as trans; that is 1 in 200 people. Among those statistics, roughly 0.10% identified as trans men in England and Wales, with 0.07% in Scotland, 0.10% as trans women in England and Wales, with 0.07% in Scotland, 0.06% as non-binary in England and Wales, with 0.20% in Scotland, and 0.04% as gender non-conforming in England and Wales, with 0.03% in Scotland.

When you consider how so few people are even willing to speak up about their gender identity, given the optional nature of the census, it is disgraceful to see the state and all its facets, as well as people who have faced so much discrimination already, add to their struggles instead of standing together to fight for a better tomorrow.

A Jenkinsite approach to supporting trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people doesn’t just help the LGBTQ+ community. It helps society as a whole prosper, it protects our individual liberties and protects us from injustice. By embracing this approach, we can create a more inclusive and just society for all.

* Jack Meredith is a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and an active campaigner and canvasser with Swansea and Gower Liberal Democrats. His writing focuses on democratic reform, social justice, trade unionism, economic democracy, and the institutional foundations of effective government. He has written for the Fabians, Lib Dem Voice, Liberator, Nation Cymru, Bylines Cymru, and Centre Think Tank.