Gender Recognition Reform one year on: How have trans lives in the Highlands been affected?
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One year ago, the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill was dominating headlines and political discourse in Scotland.
The bill would eventually be passed by a more than two-thirds majority (86 for to 39 against) with representatives from all parties voting for it to pass.
However, the debate around the GRR – in Holyrood, news outlets and on social media – was at times toxic, and saw trans people become targets.
Statistics show that hate crimes against trans people in particular grew again this year around the UK, with Scotland specific-figures showing that the numbers have more than doubled compared to a decade ago.
With the bill passed, but then blocked by the UK Government in Westminster, the impact was felt by trans people on the ground if not legislatively.
However, different people have had different experiences of exactly how much has changed in day-to-day life throughout 2023.
"It was such a bad time to be transitioning – the whole world just went crazy!" one trans woman in Inverness said.
"There has absolutely been a shift. Gender has been talked about a lot more in the last nine years.
"It has exploded, and it's good that it has because it needs to be talked about, but the way that has happened – being misconstrued and toxified – is absolutely responsible for the rise in hate crimes, which is desperately sad.
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"Apart from the Inverness Kiki Family, I don't really socialise or go out much, so I haven't really seen it in my own experience. I haven't had anyone actually talk to me about the GRR.
"Inverness is quite a slow-paced place and most people just mind their own business for the most part, which is good. It's actually quite tolerant, but I still think it's a bit closed-minded too when things want to open up a bit.
"I have noticed that, even in the last few months, more LGBTQ+ stuff is happening and becoming visible, and I think it's being very positively received.
"Inverness as the capital of the Highlands has so much potential, and I think it is just about getting the right information out there in the right way that is going to help with progress. I think the Highlands and Inverness is a relatively good place to be."
While some have not seen much backlash personally, others have seen an increase in verbal abuse.
Of course, with the ever-rising tide of negative headlines, and Trans Day of Remembrance last month providing a reminder of how many people lost their lives as a result of targeted violence, the fear is that it will escalate into something more.
"To say that Brianna Ghey's death had nothing to do with the debate is completely ignorant," Hartlee said.
"It's terrifying. I'm scared I'm going to be the next one, or people I love are going to be next.
"People will make comments and call us names so frequently now, more than it used to. It happens so often it's just normal. People say it must be so distressing, but it's just a Tuesday – it's not even distressing anymore until people are threatening us with violence.
"Every time we hear about another trans person getting hurt, we check the news to make sure it's not someone we know.
"I'm scared I'm going to be the next one, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take off my pin badges or my pronoun badge.
"If I'm going to go out, I'm going to go out as loud as possible because that way they won't be able to pretend it wasn't a hate crime.
"People who aren't queer don't understand that nothing changed. Things got better briefly, and then they got worse again because – frankly – none of them are standing up for us.
"I know so many people who aren't homophobic, but will vote for homophobic politicians because they think the person has a good policy on economics. Vote for whoever you want, but if you vote for someone who wants to harm other people, you are part of the problem.
"I think that people need to be aware that their actions are having real consequences. If we are just a sub-group to you that doesn't really matter all that much, you are doing just as much harm as the people who actually want us dead.
"You can't vote for people who hate queer people, and then be surprised they hate queer people."
Meadow continued: "If Brianna Ghey's death doesn't get ruled a hate crime that's because of cultural and systemic transphobia. That will be people not wanting to admit this little girl got murdered because of them, but it's true.
"In media, hate crimes are such a specific things that are portrayed. You always get beaten up, but in reality you just get called names. It happens so often that I forget it happens.
"I wouldn't say I feel more scared, I would say very specifically that it has become so common it feels normal. Hate crimes are part of my weekly life – it happens at least three times a week.
"It's getting ridiculous, and I don't have the energy to be upset or angry about it anymore. I think that's worse than being distressed about it.
"We're just chronically used to hate crimes, and that's really bad. Being called a lesbian on the street as an insult is something that would have happened 10 years ago, and it's really weird that it's happening again.
"Everyone has a queer cousin, right? If you vote for the wrong person, you are not my family anymore, you just want me dead."
One of the most striking parts of the Trans Day of Remembrance vigil in Inverness was the list of names of trans people who died in the preceding 12 months being read out.
392 names were on the list – more than one a day – so it is understandable that there is concern from the trans community about whether they might be the next ones to become a victim.
Still, as far as organiser Roz White believes, the way forward is not to live in fear, but to become even more visible.
"I would assess that there has really been no change on a practical level over the last 12 months," she explained.
"In my corner of the world, the reaction to it has been pretty muted. I work for Royal Mail, which is a large organisation, and I cover the entirety of the Highlands.
"I am in contact with potentially thousands of posties, and I have not been asked a single question about it anywhere. They are just not interested – they only care if I'm there to fix the lights, and I crack on.
"On a grassroots level, providing I'm not impacting directly on their lives, most people really couldn't care less. They are far more concerned about paying bills, paying their mortgage, putting food on the table.
"The cost of living crisis has taken everyone's main focus away from this little marginalised, fringe group – which is what trans people really are, despite other people claiming otherwise.
"The impact of the GRR on the average Joe in the street is precisely zero. It's so low down on there radar that they're really not fussed. If you ask most people what they think of gender reform, they would probably say 'what?' It doesn't impact them.
"Some people make a career out of being worried, some people spend far too much time looking for things to worry over. When we had the memorial for Brianna Ghey in Falcon Square back in February, there were lots of people who came up and took the mic saying they were worried or scared.
"I was the only one who took the mic and told people to get off their bums, get out there, be visible and loud and show them they haven't won. Otherwise it was just going to be a long downward spiral into despair and negativity, and we would have ended up having to pick the bodies off the streets afterwards. You can't live your life frightened. I refuse to live my life frightened."
