A heartbroken mother is issuing an urgent plea to the UK’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, warning that more young lives could be lost if he doesn’t reverse certain policies affecting the transgender community.
Caroline Litman, a former NHS psychiatrist, lost her 20-year-old daughter Alice to suicide in May 2022. Alice had spent 1,023 days waiting for gender-affirming care before her death.
Speaking at this weekend’s Trans Pride march in London, which drew an estimated 150,000 people, Litman said circumstances for trans people have only gotten worse since she first spoke out.
Her daughter faced what she described as a “litany of errors” while trying to get healthcare, including name-calling, deadnaming, and biphobia.
“I just keep fighting, but it very often feels like nobody is listening,” Litman told the Press Association ahead of the march, which started at BBC headquarters and ended in Trafalgar Square.
She shared her frustration that her family went public with Alice’s inquest to raise awareness about dangerously long waitlists, only to see things deteriorate further.
“It’s just got worse and worse and worse since that happened, and it’s just so disappointing,” she said. “I feel like we have failed in our aims.”
Litman pointed to two specific policy changes she believes are harming trans people.
One is the new Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on single-𝒔𝒆𝒙 spaces, set to take effect August 5. Following a Supreme Court ruling, the updated code of practice will require facilities like public toilets and hospital wards to be used based on a person’s birth 𝒔𝒆𝒙 rather than their gender identity.
The other is proposed guidance on keeping children safe in education, which Litman called “Section 28 mark two.” Critics say it could out trans students to parents and force segregation in toilets, changing rooms, sports, and school trips.
Addressing Burnham directly, Litman said: “The new prime minister needs to completely reverse Labour’s policy on trans rights, trans existence.”
But she added with a laugh, “That’s not going to happen, is it?”
As a co-founder of the advocacy group Transparent Action, she warned Burnham: “More children are going to die on your watch if you don’t do something to reverse the anti-trans policies that your predecessor has overseen. It will happen, and you will be responsible.”
She noted that research shows gender-affirming care is life-saving, especially for minors.
When asked about the EHRC guidance back in May, while he was still Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham called for a “live and let live” approach and said the “time has come” to implement the Supreme Court ruling, but with fairness and compassion.
Other voices at the march echoed Litman’s concerns. Author Juno Dawson, who writes for Doctor Who, reminded Burnham that Manchester is a city that loves trans people. “If he’s going to be a Manchester prime minister, he really does need to speak out,” she said.
Dawson added that Burnham should ignore media backlash and “go with what’s right and actually what most women believe.”
Meanwhile, the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance reports that trans people are “self-excluding” from workplaces in worrying numbers due to what advocacy lead Alfie Bailey-Bearfield calls a “hostile environment.”
With the clock ticking on new policies and emotions running high, the question remains: will the new prime minister answer a grieving mother’s call before more lives are affected?
