THEGAYUK

Author: Sophie Cook

  • COMMENT | They weren’t voting for a trans woman, they were voting for Sophie Cook

    As I stood on stage, a room full of expectant people looking up at me I was totally focused on the next words that I would hear.

    “Sophie Rose Cook, Labour Party, 20,882.”

    In the space of five short weeks, we’d achieved the seemingly impossible, taking a previously safe Tory seat and making it a marginal, increasing the Labour vote by 114% with one of the biggest swings in the country at 19.8 percent.

    At the start of the general election campaign, no one gave the Labour Party a chance, both nationally and here in East Worthing & Shoreham.

    The constituency had always been blue and the Tory incumbent, Tim Loughton, had been the MP for 20 years.

    He felt safe and secure that no one could ever challenge him, and I’m sure that the selection of a little-known transgender TV presenter as the Labour candidate only added to the feeling that he would increase his 15,000 majority.

    My selection caused a few waves, I was told that ‘this isn’t Brighton’ and that the people of the constituency wouldn’t warm to a transgender candidate.

    The press gave my campaign some coverage and despite being one of nine transgender candidates I was the one that got the most attention due to my profile from working in football and TV.

    “Labour candidate could become first transgender MP” said one headline whilst another mentioned the fight for LGBT rights, “Trans activist is fighting to oust anti-LGBT Conservative politician.”

    Being transgender and in the public eye, I was already used to abuse, both online and in the real world. I’d been trolled by various groups including receiving death threats on Twitter and as I stepped into the political arena I was bracing myself for a renewed onslaught of hatred.

    But then something unexpected happened.

    Instead of the abuse, I was greeted with love and support, sure there were still a few transphobic remarks online but nothing like I’d experienced previously.

    I’d heard first-hand accounts of trans people moving out of the constituency because of abuse and yet, when I started to talk to people, they responded with warmth and openness.

    My gender identity that had hit the headlines around the world seemed to mean nothing to the constituents that I met, it was never mentioned on the doorsteps, the street stalls or the hustings. The only people that made it an issue were the press, not the voters. They listened to the policies, my ideas, passion and belief and they embraced me.

    On June 8 nearly 21,000 of them chose to put their mark next to my name on the ballot paper.

    “They weren’t voting

    for a trans woman,

    they were voting

    for Sophie Cook”

    They weren’t voting for a trans woman, they were voting for Sophie Cook, they were voting for the Labour Party. They saw beyond the headlines and the things that made us different and in their way struck a massive blow for trans equality.

    We now have the most diverse parliament ever with 45 LGB MPs, I missed out on adding a T to that by 5000 votes. 

    We need transgender politicians, after all, everyone in society needs to feel represented. But the main reason why I believe that the time is right for a trans-MP has nothing to do with equality or diversity, it’s down to the constituents who put their faith in me to represent them, regardless of my gender identity.

    Since the election, I’ve spoken to hundreds of people who said that I’ve given them hope for the first time.

    That feeling goes both ways, they saw that there is more that unites us than separates us, they saw a person rather than a label, and they too gave me hope for a brighter tomorrow.

     

     

  • COLUMN | Why a transgender woman wants to be MP

    Why the time is right for me to stand for parliament.

    Sophie Cook and labour supporters

    In the 1980s at the height of the Cold War, I was stationed in West Germany with an RAF Tornado squadron.

    Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress having saved the life of a colleague following an explosion, I was filled with an acute sense of injustice at the way the world operated.

    This was Thatcher’s Britain, the miner’s strike, rioting on the streets, section 28 and a war in Northern Ireland.

    I would lose myself in political books trying to discover a more caring model of society, one in which people were treated with respect no matter who they were.

    I already knew that I was transgender, even if I didn’t have a name for it at that point. I know that there was something about my identity that just didn’t feel right.

    The mental anguish of my gender dysphoria coupled with the post-traumatic stress led to depression, and then self-harming and suicide attempts.

    As I became more aware of what my trans identity meant I realised that any political ambitions that I might have had, were out of the question, with politicians being outed for their sexuality what chance did a bisexual transgender person have.

    Even when I came out in 2015 I was still terrified that by being true to myself that I would lose everything, my career in football, my family and most of all, my children.

    By being true to myself I’ve lost a lot, my entire family turned their backs on me at the very moment that I needed them most, but my children have been amazing and I regularly see my two youngest kids.

    When I came out I faced a choice, to either hide or to stand up and try to make a difference.

    I began speaking about my journey and very soon found myself speaking at venues like Wembley Stadium and the TUC.

    My story moved people, not because it was unusual but because it included universal messages of fear, loss and redemption.

    I was offered a job in television and I saw this as an opportunity to continue the work that I’d done years before with my newspaper, to educate and inspire people to change the world around them.

    In 2016 I was approached to stand for local political office but was barred from this opportunity unless I gave up the TV work and so, reluctantly, I had to decline.

    And then Theresa May called a snap general election, the plans that I’d had to potentially stand in 2020 were thrown into overdrive and I declared an interest in becoming a candidate.

    The country needs a change, years of austerity have left whole communities desperate and lost.

    I’ve been out on the streets of Brighton, speaking to voters and they feel isolated and unrepresented by the Tory government.

    The reception to me, as a trans woman, has been positive with many declaring that it’s time for greater diversity in parliament.

    The time is right, the time is now and we must all work together to achieve a more caring, more diverse society where everyone can live free from fear and where no one suffers from prejudice regardless of their gender, sexuality, gender identity, race, religion, disability or wealth.

    And that is why I am standing to be a Labour Party candidate.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • OPINION | Trans people: It’s time to come out of the shadows

    Over the past few years, transgender visibility has improved greatly with a number of trans people becoming very public through the media and I was even featured on Match of the Day‘s Premier League football show recently.

    So why do we still need a Transgender Day of Visibility?

    Unfortunately, that visibility has also brought an increase in abuse and bigotry, following my appearances on the BBC the online trolling I received escalated to the point where I received death threats via Twitter.

    The fight for freedom from bigotry isn’t over yet and it won’t be until every trans person can walk down the street, use the toilet of their choosing and express their identity free of fear.

    For so many trans people our overriding aim is to ‘pass’ or to achieve invisibility, to go about our lives as if our transness never existed, we want other people to accept us in our chosen gender without question or judgement.

    But is this actually doing us all a disservice?

    My self-confidence and self-acceptance greatly improved when I let go of the concept of passing. The fear of being ‘read’ and the fear of people discovering that I wasn’t a ‘real’ woman.

    It’s now more important to me to be perceived as a woman, even if logically people see a slight anomaly. It’s important to me to be authentic to myself.

    That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be the most beautiful, feminine version of me possible and I do love it when people call me Miss, but I’m not scared of people realising that I’m trans, in fact, I’m very open and forthright about it.

    In the same way that gay rights and acceptance improved greatly after they stopped hiding in the shadows and stood up to express their pride is it now time for us to proclaim that we are trans and proud of it.

    Gender dysphoria can be a terrible thing that takes a huge emotional, mental and social toll on people, do those of us that have reached the stage of feeling comfortable with ourselves and our condition owe it to those that are still struggling to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel?

    Do we owe it to ourselves (and our younger, more scared selves) to stand up and fight for our rights to be recognised as valid members of society?

    Transphobia seems to be the form of social hatred and bullying that is still, if not accepted, ignored by society. Whilst racism and homophobia are abhorred by all but the very narrow-minded few trans people still get the sniggers, tranny jokes and, as happened to me last week, outright abuse.

    We go through hell to finally be our authentic selves and we should be proud of the fact that, even if we haven’t quite won the battle yet, we’re on the road to liberation.

    Why, just at your moment of self-realisation would you come out of one closet only to lock yourself in another, yet again in fear of being outed.

    So perhaps it’s today that we put on our best face, most amazing outfit and strut, proud as hell down our local High Street.

    I’m here, I’m trans and I love who I am, and no one’s petty minded bigotry is going to take that away from me!

    P.s. It’s just been confirmed that there will be an event today at 2pm at New Steine in Brighton including speeches (I’m one of the speakers) and music, all welcome.

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.