Olly Alexander says 'trans women are women,' after being asked about women-only spaces

Years & Years' Olly Alexander has defended the rights of trans women to be included in women-only spaces.

In an interview Channel 4, the frontman was questioned about his views on trans women and women-only spaces.

He responded: “I do believe that trans women are women, so I sort of get confused where those two issues, how they are supposedly meant to conflict with each other.

"Because I think trans women are women and they need safe spaces too."

A number of trans-exclusionary feminists have recently argued that trans women should not be allowed in women-only spaces, with some mocking transgender people's gender identities and arguing against the government's proposed reform of the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. 

Speaking to PinkNews in May, a number of trans campaigners rebuked a group of women, who claimed they were 'self-identifying' as men for the day,  after they jumped into the men's lido at Hampstead Heath in protest against a new rule allowing trans women to swim in the women's pool.

Alexander also discussed the results of the government's LGBT survey, published  on Tuesday , which revealed that more than two thirds (68 percent) of LGBT+ respondents said they avoided holding hands in public with a same-sex partner for fear of a negative reaction.

Responding to the results, Alexander, an outspoken supporter of LGBT+ issues,   told Channel 4 News : "You ask any gay person, they’ll tell you that it doesn’t feel safe to hold hands with their partner in public, really, I mean I know that, I’m a gay person.

He added: "So I’m not surprised by the results of this survey, I think it’s just highlighting an issue that’s been there for a very, very long time."

The survey also showed that seven percent of LGBT+ people had been offered or undergone gay ‘cure’ therapy, and that seven in ten of respondents had avoided being open about their sexual orientation because they were afraid of a negative reaction.

More than 100,000 people responded to the survey, making it the largest national survey of LGBT+ people conducted in the world to date.

Alexander continued: “How do you undo, sort of, like, decades, if not longer, of oppression, I suppose, and discrimination? And feeling like you aren’t, it’s not comfortable for you to be your authentic self, or that the wider world doesn’t accept you. 

“You aren’t going to flick a switch and suddenly everything’s okay."

He added: “It’s undoing a lifetime's worth of TV shows, of seeing people in public, you know, like growing up in a culture that tells you you have to be one way and not another. So I think we’re still suffering from all that."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2abTTJT6T_0

Following the results of the survey, the government also published its LGBT+ action plan, pledging to end conversion therapy.

However, Alexander said gay 'cure' therapy "should have been banned a long time ago."

Commenting on the LGBT+ action plan generally, the frontman said: “I’m happy to see that it’s been put out there. But, reading through it, I just feel like, especially this government, will just say whatever they like, and actually I have yet to see the actions sort of, you know, the follow-up actions take place."

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Olly Alexander said he was "not surprised" that more than two thirds of LGBT+ respondents in the government's survey said they were afraid to hold their partner's hand in public. (BBC)[/caption]

Asked what improvements he would like to see, Alexander responded: "I’d love to see a commitment to LGBT+ inclusive sex and relationship education across all schools."

Alexander's second album with Years & Years is out on Friday.