Huey's half marathon for UK trans rights!

Hello, my name is Hubert, but my friends call me Huey. I am an NHS resident doctor who loves the gym and running in my spare time. I am a completely normal 26-year-old man who happens to be transgender.

 Like the rest of the LGBTQ+ community, I am still reeling from the UK Supreme Court decision on trans rights. The implications of this on my life are potentially huge; interim EHRC guidance suggests that employers and public institutions ban people like me from using any gendered spaces. That is to say, I am not allowed in the Gents or the Ladies. The practical outcome of this is as obvious as it is cruel. We are not allowed to exist in public spaces, simply for being transgender. This clearly violates the European Convention of Human Rights.

The way I look at this situation, I have four options. First is to leave the country. Given we are now in the company of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for legal gender recognition, bested in transphobic laws only by Russia and Hungary, I have given this serious thought. The second option is to simply not use public spaces and withdraw from society. The third is to go “stealth”. I am at the point in my transition where it would be possible to simply live as a cis man and not tell people about my gender history.

 All three of these options are unacceptable to me, so I choose option four. This is to stay and fight. I refuse to go abroad, go away or go back into the closet. I am a human being worthy of the same respect, dignity and access to public spaces as anyone else.

Good Law Project are assembling a legal team, including a trans barrister, to challenge the Supreme Court decision. This will start in the high court but could be escalated to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) if this proves necessary. There is precedent for this strategy. The Gender Recognition Act (2004) exists, in part, because of Goodwin Vs United Kingdom, which was heard by the ECtHR.

This legal fight will be long and expensive, but for trans people like me, this is a matter of existential importance. I will be running the Finsbury Park half marathon on 15th June 2025, to raise money to support this campaign. Should the Good Law Project Crowdfunder reach its goal, any remaining sponsorship funds will be donated to Gendered Intelligence, a UK based trans-led charity, that provides support for trans people and their families, as well as training resources for professionals and organisations.

I am a mid runner, and I have only allowed myself six weeks for training. I am aiming to complete the half marathon is under 2hrs 15min. Please sponsor me and help raise funds for this vital cause.