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Kick the tires and light the fires

3 min readApr 20, 2025
Photo by Justin: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-switching-lighter-568785/

In the words of the immortal Captain Jimmy Wilder, it is time to kick the tires and light the fires. Trans inclusive protesters have taken to the streets of the UK this weekend showing that overwhelming the UK public is in no mood of gender critical beliefs. In the US the Trump regime’s kakistocracy has brought millions out in protest, and like the gender critics have completely misread the room. It would be remiss of me not to draw the direct parallel between the kakistocracy of Trump and the cack handedness which the gender critics have played their cards over the last week, as both seem in capable of grasping the enormous hornets’ nest they have kicked over.

Back in my errant youth I stumped for trans rights in the dying embers of Section 28 between 2000 and 2003. I fought to get the T included in LGB spaces, and won because people genuinely wanted to build an inclusive space which embraced trans people in all their forms. Being trans has always been political as often you are the only trans person in the room, which in turn means that you are the role model by which all trans people are judged by. Being perceived as a problem or troublemaker has long been enough to get you ejected from a space, so fighting for trans rights has been a cautious towing of the line and breaking bad when pushed.

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Rachel Saunders
Rachel Saunders

Written by Rachel Saunders

Writer, researcher, and generally curious

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