Will Young has vocalised his support for transgender rights, calling out the Conservative government for stoking fear around the trans community.
The singer appeared on Channel 4 News discussing the findings in the 2021 census on the size of the LGBTQ+ population in the UK, which revealed for the first time how many transgender people there are in the country. According to the census, there are at least 262,000 trans people in the UK, representing 0.5 per cent of the population.
Young said that there is a “huge amount of misrepresentation of transgender people”, particularly in light of the Conservative government’s proliferation of anti-trans rhetoric.
“I think that you probably can see, going back to the gay rights struggles and particularly with AIDS and HIV, I think there’s a weird disparity. I feel like it’s very difficult for trans people to tell their stories,” he explained.
“Even, for example, I’ve been looking at doing, very much with transgender people, because I am a white, middle class gay man, a documentary on what is it like to be transgender? Who can tell the stories? And very few broadcasters want to touch it. I think that’s very interesting to me.”
“There’s a huge amount of misrepresentation of transgender people.”
Singer Will Young tells @krishgm “it’s very difficult for transgender people to tell their stories” because the subject has become so politicised. pic.twitter.com/tbL8SLtCLJ
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 7, 2023
He continued: “I think transgender people think the issue has been so politicised by the Conservatives and we see it when a minority group is picked up and people try to attack them and people then become afraid of them. It really worries me.”
Broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked Young if it was fair to say that the issue of transgender rights is politicised “just by the Conservatives”, to which he said: “No, it’s not fair, I agree with you. I think you see it with Labour as well, Lib Dems… I suppose I’m using the Conservatives because they’re in government. But what it does, it creates fear.”
“Yes, there is some unity with gay people and the struggle that they had, and a huge amount of empathy, and I’m constantly educating myself.”
Young also spoke about how he hopes the census results can have a positive impact. “Hopefully, people are more and more encouraged to be themselves and throw off the shackles of a life that perhaps you felt you should lead. We’re all unique, just be yourself and be kind to people.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reportedly planned to remove transgender people from protection under the 2010 Equality Act and exclude them from a proposed ban of conversion therapy. The UK government is also considering blocking Scotland’s new self-identification law that will make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender.
Young also recently expressed his disappointment in David Beckham for his involvement in the Qatar World Cup on the basis of the country’s notably poor record on LGBTQ+ rights, which was seen to be at odds with Beckham’s status as a “gay icon” and LGBTQ+ ally.