A Transgender Student Is About To Make History At Her UK University

Anna Lee is about to do something massive.

The transgender Lancaster University student is all set to make history by running to become the National Union of Students’ women’s officer.

Anna, who describes herself as a “queer trans disabled lesbian woman”, will be the first openly trans woman to stand for election in a national role, and if she’s successful, she’ll be responsible for representing all female students across the UK.

She announced the news on her Facebook page, and credited her time as Lancaster’s students’ union VP for Welfare and Community for giving her an “unstoppable” passion.

She said, “I thought that was it for me; I never believed that running to be your national women’s officer was a possibility. I felt that I had hit a glass ceiling.”

“I know the Women’s Campaign is ready. I know NUS is ready. I’m not convinced that the rest of society is. But – when the transphobic “feminists” come and try to tear me down, I will just fight harder, and with the help of amazing activists we will show them, together, that the NUS Women’s Campaign demonstrates a progressive approach to inclusive feminism”.

Anna hit the headlines recently when she campaigned for gender-neutral toilets at a Lancaster nightclub, and she’s also given evidence at the Parliamentary Trans Enquiry.

This is a huge move for the trans community, and for intersectional feminism – as Anna explains in her Facebook post, “mainstream feminism constantly forgets about trans women”. She believes that the NUS should be “fighting for educational, community and social spaces that ALL women can be part of, not just a few.”

The students of Lancaster seem to be behind her (if the supportive comments on the post are anything to go by), so we’re wishing Anna the best of luck in her campaign.

- Jen Leeming