Angela Clayton

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Angela Helen Clayton MBE, is a campaigner for the rights of transsexual people. Based in the United Kingdom, she is a physicist by profession.

After early traumatic experiences when she approached medics for help with her transsexualism, she finally transitioned without medical support and only engaged once more with medics to obtain surgery after several years living as a woman.^[1]

Ms Clayton has been working with the trans campaigning organisation Press for Change since 1999. She took a close interest in the role of trade unions in promoting equality for trans people in the workplace and in 2002 became the first “trans observer” to the UK Trades Union Congress (TUC) LGBT Committee^[2] when it added trans people to its remit. She has continued to work with trade unions and has served three terms as a member of the TUC LGBT Committee.

In 2003 she became Chair of the trans support charity the Gender Trust^[3] and in the next two years became closely involved in supporting many trans people in their workplace transitions and representing their needs to employers and government.

She was closely involved in development of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 which for the first time gave trans people in Britain legal recognition in their lived gender. She served as a member of the implementation team for the Act, along with her colleague Stephen Whittle, presenting the views of trans people on the implementation process.

She was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2005 for her services to gender issues.

Ms Clayton continues to campaign on behalf of trans people within Press for Change.