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BBC presenter launches new trans visibility campaign

A BBC TV presenter has launched a new campaign calling on UK workplaces and schools to make visible commitments to trans inclusion.

Dr Ronx Ikharia’s ‘Safe With Me’ initiative invites allies to wear a yellow badge with bold black text, signalling to trans+ individuals that they are safe to approach, especially when using public toilets or navigating other gendered spaces.

Launched by Dr Ronx – a Black, non-binary, transmasculine emergency doctor and BBC presenter – the campaign responds to the Supreme Court’s judgment that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refers strictly to biological sex, a decision that campaigners say has heightened fear within trans+ communities.

Dr Ronx said: “I have often been kicked out of toilets because people don’t know where to place me. But when I’m with someone, it happens less.

“This badge is about making allyship visible. It’s non-confrontational. It’s a signal to a trans+ person that they can come up to you and feel safe doing so.”

Dr Ronx is best known for presenting on the BBC’s Operation Ouch! and The Unshockable Dr Ronx, where they combine medical expertise with youth-focused storytelling.

Off-screen, the Hackney-native works on the frontline at Homerton Hospital while strongly advocating for inclusive healthcare and increasing representation for marginalised young people.

The campaign encourages badge-wearers to accompany trans+ people if asked, without needing to speak or intervene, and to simply be present as a silent form of solidarity.

Dr Ronx added: “Most people aren’t trying to deny our humanity, they just don’t understand what being trans+ means or how to help.

This is a way for people to step out of the shadows and into visible support.”

(L-R) Simone Ogunbunmi, owner of HAUS where the launch took place, with Dr Ronx Ikharia and Dino Portelli, who helped bring the movement alive.

They explained that although the Supreme Court judgment is guidance rather than law, many institutions have used it to justify excluding trans people or failing to protect their safety at work.

Dr Ronx emphasised feeling safe at work is crucial for trans+ people because, as for everyone, employment affects all areas of life and if workplaces are unwelcoming, it can then threaten one’s overall stability.

Dr Ronx added: “I want this to be everywhere. At schools, in NHS settings, at festivals, in shops. The trans community deserve to feel safe! Not just protected by law but actively welcomed and this badge is one small way we can all help make that happen.”

Up to 65% of trans people feel compelled to conceal their gender identity at work, up from 56% in 2016, a survey has found.

 A third of respondents reported facing discrimination at work with ‘deadnaming’ and deliberate misuse of pronouns being the most common forms of abuse.

Beci Kijko, Senior DEI Consultant at The Clear Company, warns these numbers will only rise in the months to come following the Supreme Court ruling.

Drawing from her experiences in collaborating with several companies, she believes the Supreme Court judgement has now facilitated some to freely express prejudicial opinions towards the trans+ community, which they likely would have not done in the past.

Kijko noted the urgency of visibly supporting trans+ colleagues, stressing that the workplace plays a crucial role in shaping identity and is where many people spend a significant portion of their lives nor should they be treated as a political issue in the environment where they earn their living.

She said: “A big concern within the allyship community is being confrontational. The badge allows everyone to show their support without shouting it at everybody.

“We, as human beings, don’t like to draw attention to ourselves generally.

“A lot of trans people also speak about the fear of being confronted and I have seen a greater concern among the community on ‘passing’.

“The badge is a perfect compromise. It quietly signals ‘I am an okay person to be with and I accept you’ without putting either party at risk.”

The soft launch, which took place in HAUS in Brixton Village, has fundraised raised more than £10,000 for the future mass production of badges and to distribute them for free across the UK.

Carmen Liu, founder of Carmen Lingerie and trans woman, hopes the badge will become a nationwide signal of trust and a way for allies to do more than gesture.

She said: “When I first heard the Supreme Court ruling, I couldn’t leave the house for four days. It made me feel like people had been given permission to hurt us.

“If you see someone wearing this badge, you know you can go up to them and they’ll stand with you. It’s more than a symbol; it’s action.

“Allyship isn’t just putting pronouns in your bio or wearing a badge. It’s standing up for us all year round, even when it’s not Pride season.”

Carmen Liu is the founder of the UK’s first brand to design flattening and tucking underwear. Image credit: Dunya Simões

The idea of the ‘Safe with Me’ movement emerged when Dino Portelli, founder of The Workplace Forge, reached out to Dr Ronx amid the Supreme Court ruling.

Initially, they felt too emotionally exhausted to respond but later shared the idea for the badge campaign which quickly grew beyond their expectations.

Portelli described the movement as a ‘slow build’, highlighting the goal is for the badges to be recognisable across the nation.

The workplace strategist added: “I’m still learning around the trans community, but it’s easy to be nice. Don’t listen to what other people are saying. Do your own research and then make a decision.”

The ‘Safe with Me’ launch fell on Dr Ronx’s birthday which they say “having everyone here for such an important cause is the best birthday gift”. Image credit: Dunya Simões

More than 1,400 people took part in a mass lobby in Westminster in last month, in what organisers say was the largest LGBT+ protest of its kind since Section 28.

Trans rights campaigners called on the government to scrap the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s draft guidance on single-sex spaces which, paired with the Supreme Court ruling, may fuel trans exclusion in spaces such as support services.

Featured image credit: Dunya Simões

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