I wanted to take a few minutes to stop and think about what this actually means to me, being out as transgender in 2025. I’ve got past the initial embarrassment and awkwardness that I had when I first came out a few years ago. The fear of being rejected just for being different. I don’t think about that part so much these days. Obviously, I’m very lucky that my place of work is supportive and understanding in letting me be myself. But even in the nearly six years since I came out, the landscape has changed, and the general understanding and perspectives have changed too. 

In the last few years it felt like there was a wave of people coming out as openly trans, that broke a barrier of ignorance in western cultures. Which meant that I could almost casually stroll into an understanding environment. Obviously, it didn’t feel like that at the time, and I don’t think I would have come out at all if I didn’t feel that I might – to some extent – just be accepted, and have people move on with their lives. Actually, this is pretty much how things went. I was extremely lucky to have supportive colleagues, family and friends, that on the whole just accepted me and moved on. This is what I’d always hoped for, but at the beginning never dreamed would actually happen. In the media, LGBT+ support in general was seen as a positive thing. I was also aware that big business was riding on the back of this popular cultural wave and likely cashing in on what was for them, a very lucrative thing to support. Even if the reasons for support were for self-interest, I didn’t mind too much if the outcome was positive for the LGBT+ community. It felt like a period of enlightenment and acceptance for the LGBT+ community, for which I was very happy to be a part of. 

Obviously there have always been people who don’t support the trans and non-binary community, they didn’t go away, they would still have been making their views known, through words and violence. But it wasn’t long before it felt like supporting LGBT+ was old news and people didn’t care so much about being seen to openly offer support. And indeed, it didn’t take long after the coverage of Isla Bryson – a transgender rapist – for more people to vilify the entire transgender community. Suddenly I felt that people might look at me in the same way – that my coming out as trans was simply an excuse for unacceptable behaviour, then using the transgender identity as some kind of diplomatic immunity. 

Back when I first came out, I decided that I didn’t want to make a thing of using the women’s toilets, but I also didn’t feel comfortable going into the men’s toilets anymore. Luckily most buildings at Loughborough University have at least one single cubicle, accessible toilet. So, I chose to use this rather than risk making either male or female colleagues feel uncomfortable by my presence. Yes, I realise I’m jumping on the typical trans points of conversation – either toilets or tablets! – but it’s true, something that most people take for granted feels like a potential battleground. On occasions where a building doesn’t have an accessible toilet, I then have to decide carefully whether I feel comfortable enough to go in the men’s, women’s or disabled toilet. Or to hold it in until I can get to somewhere I feel safe to go. This challenge is then multiplied if I choose to go on a night out. In short, I do my best to try and be a ‘nice’ trans person. Someone who people might think ‘yes, I know a trans person and they aren’t evil’. 

Jump forward to the election of Trump as the new President of the USA and the rise of the ‘anti-woke’ brigade that followed. The future felt bleaker than ever. Anyone with a voice against the LGBT+ community suddenly looked like their day had come and they could openly condemn anything they disagreed with, under the banner of freedom of speech. These have become scary times indeed, with comparisons being drawn between current world leaders and past dictators. However, one unusual comfort that I’ve been able to draw upon, is that there now seems to be a rebellion against this unkind perspective. Even humorous lampooning, calling out the idiocy of it all. Creating one of my favourite satirical quotes: ‘Everything I don’t like is woke.’ Suggesting a childish reaction to something they don’t understand and putting it under a term they probably don’t understand either. This has also led to what feels like a better camaraderie with fellow minorities under the umbrella of EDI or DEI. 

To conclude this rambling post, I feel that we’re in significant a depression of acceptance, and that things are worse than they have been for a long time. But I also feel confident that these things come in waves; that things will improve, as a reaction to the negativity being experienced now. And with a new generation carving their way into the world – I count my own children as part of this – as they were raised with an understanding of what life can be. And so I hope they will fight not just for acceptance, but for improvement and celebration of uniqueness. So, I choose to wear my rose-tinted glasses in looking forward, and hope that others do too. 

Written by Stevie Ashurst, Senior Web Designer and LGBT+ Staff Network Chair