Lisa Nandy’s ‘protect the dolls’ T-shirt left a sour taste in my mouth

As Pride season draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on who has spoken up for the LGBTQ+ community during this difficult time.

It’s been heartening to see people like Kate Nash, Mariah Carey, Nicola Coughlan and others affirm their support for trans rights, even as attacks on us continue. 

But seeing Labour’s Lisa Nandy at Wigan Pride, wearing a T-shirt reading ‘protect the dolls’ – a slogan seen as being supportive of trans rights – left me with very mixed feelings.

Not least because of Labour’s horrendous approach to trans rights since taking power just over 12 months ago.

Nandy, as a cabinet minister, is being justifiably accused of hypocrisy because of her choice of T-shirt, and how it squares with her party’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues. 

When Keir Starmer entered government last July, many trans and non-binary people hoped things might finally improve for us – or at least not get worse after 14 years of the Tories.  

But that hope was quickly snuffed out.

Not only have they abandoned previous commitments to LGBTQ+ people, like self-ID for trans people, but in my view, they’ve taken some of the harshest, most exclusionary stances possible – whether on puberty blockers, sport, or the Supreme Court ruling on ‘sex’ in the Equality Act.

And at no point did we see Lisa Nandy publicly speaking out, challenging her government, or even resigning on principle. 

Wes Streeting’s decision to push through a ban on puberty blockers is a prime example. The Cass Report, which has been widely criticised since its publication, said that the case for the medication was ‘incredibly weak’.

This was a huge disappointment for the trans community, who have now seen hope taken away from younger generations that they can truly be themselves. 

Myself and my allies spoke out against the ban, and the Supreme Court’s recent decision on sex as it relates to the Equality Act. 

I didn’t see Lisa Nandy joining us. 

In fact, on trans and non-binary issues, the Wigan MP has herself also contributed to the noise. 

She claimed to feel ‘incredibly uncomfortable’ watching Imane Khelif box at 2024 Olympics, adding to a circus of misinformation surrounding the Algerian fighter – who online agitators claimed was trans, despite no evidence of that. 

It was a grim debate fuelled by misinformation and anti-trans panic, and for someone in Nandy’s position to amplify it by describing an athlete’s participation in the pinnacle of her sport as ‘uncomfortable’ is wrong.

It’s just another reason why eyebrows are being raised at Nandy’s apparent support for trans people. 

To her credit, Nandy has at times spoken up in the past – once memorably clashing with Piers Morgan over his own comments about trans women in sport, and, when a leadership candidate, signing a pledge by the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights.

But that was years ago, and for Labour, actions speak louder than words. 

With Keir Starmer declaring he doesn’t believe people like me are women, and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson saying I should use men’s toilets, it’s hard not to despair and feel completely abandoned by Labour.

So when I see Nandy marching in Pride with a ‘protect the dolls’ shirt, it feels hollow. How can you claim to protect us while the government you serve strips our rights away and undermines our identities and lived reality?

That isn’t allyship – it’s performative politics. I can’t feel that someone like Nandy actually supports me, when all recent evidence points to the contrary.

Meanwhile, trans people are living with the consequences of anti-trans narratives and a hostile political landscape – while members of the Labour Party show up and march at Pride like nothing has happened. 

There is a clear disconnect, and it’s deeply upsetting.

And although I want to believe there was sincerity behind Nandy’s choice to wear the shirt and march at Wigan Pride, it means nothing unless it translates into real action. 

And with a grim predictability, Nandy has received backlash not only from the LGBTQ+ community, but from anti-trans voices for wearing the shirt.

It shows just how toxic and emboldened anti-trans bigotry has become. Any shred of support for our community, whether sincere or otherwise, is met with an array of abuse and toxicity.

Maybe that backlash will be a wake-up call for Nandy and her colleagues – a chance to push back against the epidemic of transphobia sweeping this country. But I’m not holding my breath. 

Labour seems determined to fuel this culture war, tarnishing their legacy by targeting a vulnerable minority who threaten no one.

I’ve given up any expectation that Labour will support us anytime soon. But I hold onto a different hope: that one day they’ll look back in shame at what they did, and finally realise it wasn’t us who were the problem – it was them.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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