A TRANSGENDER TV star from High Wycombe has slammed plans to change the Equality Act as "detrimental".

On Wednesday, April 5, it was revealed that the UK Government is considering changing the legal definition of “sex” in the legislation, passed under former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, and coming into effect in 2010.

The EHRC, a government body set up following the introduction of the Equality Act, said such a change could bring “greater legal clarity” in the provision of single-sex spaces, in eight areas including hospital wards and sport.

However, LGBT campaign groups and activists have shared concerns over the move, with Stonewall warning it risks “opening yet another chapter in a manufactured culture war”.

The Equality Act aims to protect citizens from unlawful treatment resulting from discrimination due to a person’s characteristics - such as age, race, gender reassignment, religion or sex, amongst others.

If the UK Government changes the definition of “sex” then there would be no need for organisations or clubs to prove they have a “legitimate aim” when excluding transgender people. 

Tia Latham, a transgender intersex woman from High Wycombe has slammed the proposed changes as “disheartening for the community." 

She told the Bucks Free Press: "Rishi Sunak is saying we won't be allowed to use same-sex bathrooms.

"Now for me, a person post-operative who had sexual reassignment surgery over 10 years ago, to have him come into this position now and turn around and tell me we have to use male toilets but we have fully functioning vaginas is unfair.

"There is a petition at the moment to try and get as many signatures to stop the amendment of the current equality act.

"It's going to be such a detrimental thing not only to myself and to many people, even people who haven’t come out yet. This bill is coming very soon and we need to get as many people on board.

"He's taken us backwards instead of forwards.

"Forget about being trans, straight, black or you can be an alien. We need to treat people with humanity." 

Tia explained what it's currently like to be trans intersex in High Wycombe.

"I feel like there’s still more to be done, I do feel I've been doing most of my life in transition and without blowing my own horn I'm probably the most prevalent person as I identify as both.

"I do think Wycombe is safe but still a long way to go, even given the incidents that happened to me."

In 2019, Tia Latham, who appeared in ITV show Survival of the Fittest, was returning from a trip to pick up food for a movie night with her friend Charley Grabczak when the pair were set upon by a pair of thugs outside his house in Beechlands.

The horrifying attack, which happened on January 17, was caught on CCTV - and a hooded man can be seen chasing Tia and Charley after they got out of their car late that night.

Fortunately, the pair managed to get inside Charley’s house but the man – and his accomplice – turn their attention to Tia’s BMW which is parked outside.

While one attempted to smash the window with the pole, the other kicked and dents the door before kicking off the left-wing mirror.

The petition on Change.org has gained 134,025 signatures against the government amending the Equality Act to "make it clear that sex means biological sex rather than gender."