Below is a copy of the open letter that we, as an organisation, have sent to policymakers across West Norfolk on the 30th of July 2025.

Sent via email to: 

James Wild MP – MP for North-West Norfolk. 

Terry Jermy MP – MP for South-West Norfolk.

Cllr Alistair Beales – Leader, BCKLWN

Cllr Andy Bullen – Mayor, King’s Lynn.

Fran Whymark – Chair, Norfolk Health & Wellbeing board.

Emma Flaxman-Taylor – Vice-chair, Norfolk Health & Wellbeing board. Suzanne Meredith – Acting director of public health, Norfolk County Council. 

Sent via post to: 

Prof. Will Pope – Interim chair, NHS Norfolk & Waveney ICB Ed Garratt OBE – Interim Chief Executive, NHS Norfolk & Waveney ICB

RE: Protecting the Rights, Safety and Dignity of Trans People in West Norfolk.

We at King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Pride are writing to you as a community group who are deeply afraid of the direction our country is heading with regards to the rights, safety and dignity of the trans community.

As KLWN Pride, we celebrate and support all LGBTQIA+ individuals in our area every day. But right now, trans people in the UK, and closer to home here in West Norfolk, are facing growing harm.

This is not an abstract, nebulous issue. These are the lives of your constituents and the people you serve.

What is happening? 

In July 2025, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued a red-flag alert for the UK. This should have been a wake-up call, but sadly, it appears to have gone unheeded.

They warned of the “legal erasure” of trans and intersex people, naming the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), judicial rulings and government policy as direct drivers of this harm.

In May 2025, ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Index confirmed what we already know. The UK has had one of the steepest declines in LGBTQIA+ rights across all measured countries, seeing us drop alongside Hungary and Georgia. We’re no longer being seen as a leader in equality; instead, we’re a warning to others.

These aren’t just abstract rankings. These numbers directly reflect the lived experience of people within your constituencies and the areas you serve.

We are seeing the effects of these decisions play out in real time locally, and have for some time.

How is this affecting people in West Norfolk?

1. Denied housing while fleeing harassment.

In 2020, as published in local newspapers, a trans couple here in West Norfolk experienced repeated harassment, including a sexual assault that was reported to police. When they asked to be rehoused, they were told by a council worker that they “did not count as vulnerable” simply because they are trans.

Let us be clear: The Equality Act of 2010 protects people who identify as trans as a legally recognised protected characteristic. Therefore, being trans does make someone vulnerable to targeted abuse. Ignoring this is not a neutral act; it’s a breach of duty.

They should not have had to live in fear, abandoned by the systems that exist to protect them, unable to access safe housing.

2. Removal of safe, affirming spaces.

Across Norfolk libraries and public buildings, trans-affirming materials have been removed from display. This sends a clear message to our community: We’re not welcome here.

This includes Norfolk Millennium Library, where posters showing support for trans people were taken down. These signs matter in spaces frequented by people who already experience social isolation. It signals that they belong here too.

UNISON condemned the move, saying it “amplified transphobia” in Norfolk and silenced visible support for young and vulnerable people. It cannot be stated loudly enough: Visibility saves lives.

3. Discrimination in healthcare workplaces.

Local NHS workers who are trans report not feeling safe using staff bathrooms or changing facilities. One healthcare worker has admitted that they plan their entire shift around avoiding the staff toilets. This is someone who shows up every day to care for others, but they don’t feel safe in their workplace.

The recent legal guidance has made it easier to exclude people from single-sex spaces. This has created stress, fear and isolation—just for trying to do their job.

They are afraid of being challenged, of being misgendered or even of being reported, and why? Because this legal uncertainty around trans access to single-sex spaces has made something as basic as using the toilet feel risky.

4. Medical rules that force impossible choices.

A member of our community shared how NHS rules required them to “live as a man” before accessing hormone treatment. This includes public, at work and in social settings. This formed part of the “real-life experience”, a stage that still shapes the NHS gatekeeping of gender affirming care today.

So they followed the rules, changed their name, dressed, and spoke in a way that reflected their self-expression. As directed, they started using the men’s toilets. The system told them to prove that they are real.

But now, that system tells them they can no longer safely use those toilets.

They told us: “We now have to break that real-life experience in order to use a toilet.”

5. GPs are refusing care, even with NHS backing.

We have heard directly from someone locally who is being refused a very low dose of testosterone by their GP, even though their treatment plan is backed by a specialist and falls within NHS England guidance.

The excuse? Their GP is “not confident in prescribing hormones”. No alternative has been offered. No monitoring. No shared care agreement. No help.

The guidance from NHS Norfolk and Waveney says that GPs should collaborate with gender specialists and support prescribing within their competence, but this allows GPs to decline care if they feel unsure about the treatment, even if that GP has no relevant experience or training in trans specific healthcare.

To quote: “They can pretend they don’t understand how basic hormones work, even though they prescribe them to cisgender people every day.” 

This isn’t about clinical risk; it’s about discomfort, and it’s leading to people being cut off from the care that they are legally entitled to. This forces people into self-medicating, and when they do, they find that GPs are refusing to monitor them. Even though this creates serious health risks, there is no accountability. No safety net. No recourse.

This is what it looks like when a system that should offer care, instead chooses to create distance, delay and deniability.

Trans people are falling through bureaucratic gaps within the NHS, and no one is being held responsible.

Something needs to change.

These examples make it clear: this isn’t a debate. These changes in policy and law are asking people to risk confrontation, humiliation and often violence. This is what happens when policy doesn’t just fail to protect people – it actively puts them at risk.

These kinds of fears lead to exhaustion, withdrawal and isolation, and it’s happening behind the scenes all over our county right now.

It’s about whether people can live safely, use public services, and access care without shame or fear.

These are not acceptable trade-offs. Not in 2025. Not anywhere, and certainly not here in West Norfolk.

What can you do in your role, and what are we asking of you?

For our MPs – James Wild MP & Terry Jermy MP: 

We ask that you: 

• Publicly reject the EHRC guidance that is encouraging trans exclusion. 
• Support legal efforts to restore these rights and protections. 
• Meet with trans people in your constituencies and commit to advocating for them in Parliament. 

We do note that neither of you have a record of supporting or opposing trans rights through your parliamentary votes. We would like to highlight that taking no action is not the same as support, and we call on you to make your public positions clear, and vote, where possible, in favour of trans inclusivity. 

We encourage you to speak out, asking questions in parliament, and work to challenge these harmful guidelines publicly. 

We are ready and able to facilitate meetings with local trans constituents, so that you can hear first-hand the lived experiences of those these policies are directly affecting. 

For council leaders – Cllr Beales & Cllr Bullen:

We ask that you: 

• Protect access to gender-affirming spaces in public buildings, and prevent the removal of any gender-affirming materials within these spaces. 
• Seek to fund and promote local LGBTQIA+ organisations. We are happy to support you in identifying these groups. 
• Ensure that all local services and policies respect an individual’s gender identity. 

For NHS Leaders – Prof. Pope, Ed Garratt OBE: 

We ask that you: 

• Audit and improve trans inclusion in primary and acute care settings. 
• Train all staff to respect and support trans patients and colleagues. 
• Listen to local trans people that are accessing NHS services, and commit to acting on what they say. 

For the Norfolk Health & Wellbeing Board: 

We ask that you: 

• Include trans health and safety on all future board agendas. 
• Fund mental health and peer support projects for trans and non-binary people. 
• Lead public messaging that affirms trans people’s right to exist safely in Norfolk.

We ask of all of you: 

Please use your positions to act, and to publicly affirm the rights and dignities of trans people in our community. 

Trans, non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming people live here. They work here. They contribute here. 

They are a part of our families, our workplaces, our schools and our healthcare service. They deserve to feel safe here, without exception, and without conditions. 

When these marginalised members of our community feel safe, supported and respected, they will thrive – just like everyone else. They contribute more to their communities, their workplaces and the local economy. 

But that’s not what should motivate you into action. 

These people are human. That should be reason enough. 

We welcome the chance to meet with you and discuss how we can work together, to protect and uplift every member of our community. 

Yours sincerely,

The King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Pride Committee.