The Senior Rabbi of the Reform movement, Laura Janner-Klausner, has spoken out against the denigration of trans people.

In a joint statement with the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, they voiced sadness at the “the increasing use of the term ‘transgender’ ideology and other derogatory terms about trans people”.

As faith leaders, they said, “we believe that trans people, like every other person, have every right to be cherished and protected by society and the gender in which they choose to live.”

Bishop Bayes chairs the Ozanne Foundation, which was set up to tackle discrimination and prejudice within religious organsiations on the grounds of sexuality, while Rabbi Janner-Klausner is a foudning member of its inter-religious advisory board.

“Our faith compels us to speak up for those on the margins, those whom others would seek to silence or misrepresent,” they said.

“We believe that the time is long overdue for a softening of the rhetoric in this area of our common life, so that trans people may indeed be seen as people, people who long to live their lives without prejudice or fear.”