Oxford ‘one of the most trans-friendly cities’ - but what about those stickers?

The revelation may come as a shock to some LGBTQI+ supporters who highlighted a row earlier this year involving a war of words fought out using stickers.

In October, after a series of transphobic stickers started to appear on lampposts and other street furniture, supporters of the transgender community removed them and put up their own stickers showing defiant messages.

Thames Valley Police officers investigating after Oxford Pride said the transphobic stickers were 'inducing hate crime' but no one was arrested.

Oxford’s trans-friendly status is revealed following a nationwide poll of 21,000 people carried out by the publisher UnHerd in association with pollster FocalData, which found that more than a third of the British public supports the rights of transgender children.

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Of the two constituencies that are in, or cross over into Oxford, the one considered to be the most trans-friendly was Oxford East – 45 per cent support gender freedom for children, compared to 27 per cent who do not, with the rest undecided.

Of these, 12 per cent strongly agree with the statement, while 33 per cent said they simply agree.

James Kirkup, from Unherd, said the poll showed public opinion on the issue did not follow conventional political party lines.

He said: “The politics of transgenderism are under-explored for several reasons. Politicians’ timidity in the face of activists’ ferocity is one big factor.

“But there’s another – that it’s a fiendishly complex issue that doesn’t fit easily into the narratives and categories that structure so much of British political debate.

“This poll shows that the debate about gender in 21st century Britain is not just unresolved. It has yet to even begin in earnest.”

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Unherd said the results showed the debate about gender needed to continue.

Participants were asked how much they agreed with the statement ‘it is acceptable for adolescent children to make their own decisions about their gender identity’.

The responses were then analysed to create a model for each constituency, based on the characteristics of people living there, including age, voting record and employment status.

The constituencies were ranked based on how many agree versus disagree, with the top ranking being considered the most supportive of gender freedom.

Oxford East came 57th out of 632 constituencies – not including the 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland.

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In the constituency of Oxford West and Abingdon just 39 per cent of people were pro-trans rights, compared to 30 per cent who were not – placing it at 213th nationwide.

Across the UK, 37 per cent of people think children should be able to make decisions about their gender, 30 per cent do not, and 33 per cent do not have an opinion.