I've long had at least some sense of how long wait times are for trans health care in the UK, and of the negative outcomes resulting from queing for years for even basic services.

So, what's really striking is how this lack of access so strongly contrasts with anti-trans talking points that advance a fever dream of "trans contamination," to echo Julia Serano's recent terminology.

Listening to to critics, you'd come away with the notion that the number of trans people in the UK is exploding, representing a threat to the public, particularly to women. You'd believe that hormone therapy and surgery were surging, being offered willy nilly in massive numbers to people who barely understand the consequences and who will likely be harmed.

Reality, like your personal reality related here, bears no resemblance to that false picture.

Not only is trans medical care hard to access, but the only thing "surging" is harassment of trans people in the most routine settings – as Pink News just reported in the case of a University Challenge contestant being dogpiled on social media merely for being (or perhaps more importantly, looking) transgender. She doesn't pass very well, but she makes a serious effort to, and that's been enough to bring down mad amounts of hate.

Thanks for the reminder that real life is very different from agenda-driven narratives.