Sadiq Khan considers TfL gender-neutral announcements after trans woman abused
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is considering removing gender-specific terms, such as ladies and gentlemen, from Transport for London announcements after a trans woman was mocked by staff.
19-year-old trans woman Aimee Challenor claimed she was ridiculed by TfL staff when she called to discuss a situation with her Oyster card. She was told she “didn’t sound like a miss”.
Speaking to the Independent, Miss Challenor has called on Mr Khan to do more to ensure staff are trained on gender equality.
“I knew it wasn’t right,” she said.
“London is massively diverse and it’s something we should be incredibly proud of so I knew it had to be raised. If it affected me it could affect anyone.”
The Mayor has since apologised for the incident and called for TfL to launch an investigation.
Although TfL does not offer specific trans awareness training, he has also asked the organisation to review its processes to ensure “staff put equality and fairness first”.
He said: “TfL and I unreservedly apologise for the inappropriate remark made to a customer earlier this month.
“I have asked TfL to investigate this incident to ensure this does not happen again, as well as to apologise directly to your constituent.
“The lessons learnt here will be applied to all the functional bodies that make up the GLA family.”
Mark Evers, Director of Customer Strategy at Transport for London, said: “London is a diverse city and we want every customer to feel welcome on our network.
“We are currently reviewing the language that we use at our stations to make sure that it is inclusive and addresses every customer, regardless of their race, gender identity, disability, age, sexual orientation or religion.”
A survey recently revealed that the majority of trans Americans now avoid public bathrooms over fears of confrontation.
Recently, Labour MP Caroline Flint said there shouldn’t be gender neutral bathrooms because “men pee in the sink”.
