LIVING as a transgender person in contemporary Scotland is an exhausting experience, let me tell you. Every day comes with the knowledge that, somewhere, a grand clock is ticking down the seconds until another major newspaper, broadcaster or politician publishes a new story that, in some manner, equates transgender people with being a threat to women or children – a fresh twist on the homophobic stories of the 1980s and 90s that cast gay men and lesbians in a similar light.

And with that spotlight of misinformation constantly shining on my community, the odds of being the victim of violence and abuse rise too.

Transphobia is a stain on Scotland’s image as a progressive nation and if recent data is anything to go by, it is only getting worse. The latest police statistics have shown a near-77% increase in reported hate crimes against transgender people in this country, though the real numbers are likely to be even more damning.

Truthfully, plenty of hate crimes go unreported simply because the abuse is so common, or through simple distrust of the police. That’s an issue that exists with hate crime reporting across the board and not just for transgender people, and it is with that in mind that the figures as we have them cannot be viewed as particularly representative of the sheer scale of the problem.

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The world is watching, and has very much noticed the aberration that is British transphobia and how it has disproportionately manifested on our shores. The UK has become a global hotspot of intellectualised bigotry, and the data shows it.

Despite this, so-called gender-critical organisations and activists, the main drivers of misinformation, refuse to accept any connection between their constant fearmongering around a minority group and rising intolerance toward them. Indeed, they are barely willing to acknowledge that such intolerance exists at all.

Since The National published an exclusive report on how hate crime statistics have jumped for the trans community, plenty of voices from the gender-critical community have done their best to downplay the natural outcome of consistently painting an entire section of society as a threat.

Like the homophobia of our press and politicians of yore, it’s telling that the arguments being used to minimise this data are the same arguments used against countless other groups throughout history – that trans people are too emotional, that we are simply complaining about having our precious feelings hurt and that we can’t really be trusted to report on the harassment we face accurately.

That transgender people who report being the victim of a hate crime shouldn’t be believed.

That these arguments are being so readily deployed by supposed feminists is maybe the most galling of all, if unsurprising.

Even Scottish Police Federation chief Calum Steele weighed in on the discussion, claiming that he expects “large parts of the rise will be people taking offence at things they read on Twitter and don’t agree with.”

Can you understand now why trans people may not feel comfortable reporting incidents of hate to the police?

This is hardly the only incident of anti-trans activists gaslighting the trans community and its allies over the abuse they face. Moving through online forums and Twitter threads, you will see plenty of examples of accounts that claim River City actor David Paisley, an outspoken ally of the trans community, was so upset by seeing some ribbons in the colours of the suffragette movement that he had to flee his home. In reality, he had personal details leaked online and received threats from someone who claimed to know his home address.

There has always been a concerted effort to dismiss the voices of marginalised groups as “hysterical” or “over-reacting”, so it isn’t unexpected to see the same methods used against the trans community these past few days.

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One of the issues is a severe lack of accountability: Accountability for the fact that constant attacks on the trans community are leading to an increase in hate crime, and a lack of accountability from the organisations that turn a blind eye to it within their ranks. Former Moray councillor Paula Coy resigned from the SNP just yesterday, accusing the party of inaction on the behaviour of an SNP MP, who also took to Twitter to apparently downplay the significance of the dramatic spike in reported hate crime against the trans community.

There was a time that the Yes movement was defined by its progressive outlook in the world – not by the bitter reactionary stances that have recently filled its channels. Knowing that taking part in pro-independence events in the future now comes with the threat of hostility for living openly and authentically as a non-binary person is a deeply sad revelation for me.

Misinformation abounds as frustrated activists share the unfounded belief that the SNP are more focused on trans people than independence – a statement that just isn’t borne out by any of the actions of the party in recent history. We have been twisted into another scapegoat for the ego-driven factionalism of the past few years.

And with more misinformation, comes more opportunity for violence and abuse.