When I was the victim of a transphobic hate crime

The question was direct and to the point, ‘Are you one of them blokes?’

With those six short words, I was the victim of blatant transphobia.

We have been advised to report such attacks. ‘We need the stats,’ explained one transgender campaigner in 2018. That was in response to ‘hateful’ stickers which read ‘Female is a biological reality’ appearing in Edinburgh. This attack was personal and in my face.

But if this was transphobia, I was in no danger. The woman who asked the question was in her 60s, laden down with groceries and she would have needed to stand on a box for it to be truly in my face. I towered over her.

I decided that the situation called for a straight answer, ‘Why yes, so I am!’

‘You’re very convincing,’ I was reassured.