‘I knew it wouldn’t end’: Trans journalist files complaint with barrister regulator

Content warning: suicide

When Kate*, 39, started an online petition focused on trans rights, she says it was “like poking the hornet’s nest”.

As a trans woman, Kate says she had sometimes experienced transphobia both on the street and online. But it was not until March last year that she met what she describes as more “focused” hatred.

Kate says the online attacks shattered her confidence, particularly around her appearance, and left her too scared to leave the house for weeks. She called the police multiple times, including when her address was shared online, but they took no action.

Eventually, one night she tried to take her own life. “It was the fact that I knew it wouldn’t end,” Kate says. “I knew that the transphobia would not stop.”

According to Kate, the onslaught has been led by Sarah Phillimore, a barrister and gender-critical activist with over 40,000 followers on X.

From March 2024 to August 2025, Phillimore has written more than 50 posts across multiple social media platforms that refer to Kate, frequently in derogatory terms. At first Kate tried to respond, but after a few weeks she decided to keep quiet because whatever she said “wouldn’t get through or wouldn’t help”. Almost half of Phillimore’s posts about Kate were published after the UK Supreme Court “definition of a woman” ruling earlier this year.

Phillimore has repeatedly misgendered, deadnamed and shared photos of Kate, and used graphic language about her genitals.

As a barrister, Phillimore is held to high standards by the Bar Standards Board. The board’s handbook makes clear that barristers must not “behave in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you or in the profession”.

This week, Good Law Project has filed a complaint to the Bar Standards Board with Kate’s support.

The complaint acknowledges the importance of free speech, including the right to express gender-critical views, but says that Phillimore’s conduct towards Kate amounts to “harassment, bullying and/or discriminatory behaviour”.

“Phillimore’s social media posts about Kate are vile,” said Matthew Gill, defamation lawyer at Good Law Project. “Barristers are held to higher standards to ensure that the public can have confidence in their profession. We believe that Phillimore’s repeated misgendering and deadnaming of a trans person amounts to harassment and the Bar Standards Board must make clear that such conduct will not be tolerated.”

When contacted by Good Law Project about this complaint, Phillimore doubled down on her attacks, misgendering Kate again and declaring that she has “no fear that my conduct will survive regulatory or police scrutiny, as it has to date”.

“It is not harassment or in any way unlawful to refer to a man, as a man,” Phillimore said.

She accused Kate of referring to women in “crude and disgusting terms” and suggested that she should reflect on the “impact” her language “may be having on others”. She did not address the gap between the freedom we all have as individuals to speak our mind, and the duty on barristers to maintain public trust.

Meanwhile, Kate is worried about the impact Phillimore’s posts are having on the debate around trans rights and other trans people.

“They wound you with their constant hatred and abusive messages,” Kate says. “It wears you down and it wears other people down. And it also prevents others from getting involved in the discussion.”

A 2021 employment tribunal found that gender-critical views are capable of being protected as a belief under the Equality Act 2010. However, the judgment makes clear that this does not mean those with such beliefs can “indiscriminately and gratuitously refer to trans persons in terms other than they would wish” and adds that such conduct could amount to harassment or discrimination.

Kate says she has seen an “emboldened, entitled attitude” from gender-critical actors such as Phillimore since the Supreme Court judgment.

“She’s more upfront,” Kate says, “like she has no fear.”

And the hostility towards trans people has only increased. In June, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued a red flag alert on trans and intersex rights in the UK citing “evidence of genocidal intent and actions targeting these communities”.

With the stakes so high, Kate is determined to keep fighting, particularly for younger generations of trans people.

“I don’t want these bullies to win,” she says, “because I don’t want other people to go through what I did.”

• Kate’s name has been changed because of concerns about her safety.