Debbie Hayton (born 1968) is a British

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

science teacher and political activist.

Activism

Since 2016, she has been a vocal opponent of

gender self-identification Gender self-identification or gender self-determination is the concept that a person's legal sex or gender is determined by their gender identity, without medical or judicial requirements. It is a major goal of the transgender rights movement. Ad ...

, and supports laws which aim to define

women-only space A women-only space is an area where only women (and in some cases children) are allowed, thus providing a place where they do not have to interact with men. Historically and globally, many cultures had, and many still have, some form of female ...

s as being based on

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

rather than

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

. She has spoken at meetings for

Woman's Place UK Woman's Place UK (WPUK) was a British political advocacy group founded in 2017. The group was opposed to gender self-identification for transgender people in the UK, and has advocated restricting access to women-only spaces on the basis of "se ...

, a " gender-critical" group. At a July 2019 event hosted by

Fair Play For Women A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

, Hayton wore a T-shirt which (mimicking a slogan by Stonewall) stated that "Trans women are men. Get over it." She was criticised and threatened with expulsion from the LGBT+ committee of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

for her actions. Hayton had sat on the committee for five years. In 2020, the

National Education Union The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers ...

's Trans and

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

network criticised Hayton's appointment by the union for a role on the TUC's LGBT+ Committee. Hayton's inclusion in

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

resource materials caused controversy at

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

in 2021. Jayne Ozanne criticised the inclusion, describing Hayton as someone "outspoken in her denial of the very existence of trans people". Synod member Ian Paul supported Hayton, asking Bishop

Sarah Mullally Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally (; born 26 March 1962) is a British Anglican prelate and former nurse. Bishop of London since 2018,

about actions being taken to protect Hayton "from intimidation and from attempts to silence her". Hayton is also often criticized by other gender critical feminists such as Julia Long on account of Hayton's transsexual identity.

Personal life

Hayton is a

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

woman, who underwent

gender transition Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...

in 2012 and

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

in 2016. She is married with three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayton, Debbie English women journalists Living people English LGBTQ journalists English transgender writers Transgender women writers Transgender journalists 21st-century English LGBTQ people 1968 births British transgender women