Jamie Wallis came out as the first openly trans MP in a heartfelt post shared on Twitter early on Wednesday morning.
Following a dinner with the parliamentary party on Tuesday, Wallis explained why he has lent on the Conservative Whips heavily since being elected to the Commons in 2019, but “not for the reasons you might think”.
He wrote: “I’m trans. Or to be more accurate, I want to be.
“I’ve been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and I’ve felt this way since I was a very young child.
“I had no intention of ever sharing this with you.
“I always imagined I would leave politics well before I ever said this out loud.”
The Conservative MP for Bridgend in Wales explained he was blackmailed in April 2020 when someone “outed me to my father” and sent photographs to other relatives, asking for £50,000 in exchange for silence.
Wallis said that this person was arrested, pleaded guilty and sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
He then skipped to September last year, explaining: “I ‘hooked up’ with someone who I met online and when I chose to say ‘no’ on the basis that he wouldn’t wear a condom he chose to rape me.
“I have not been myself since this incident and I don’t think I will ever recover.
“It is not something you ever forget, and it is not something you ever move on from.
“Since then things have really taken a tumble. I am not ok.”
Wallis explained that he fled the scene after crashing he car on November 28 last year “because I was terrified”.
The statement was met with messages of support from MPs from all sides of the Commons.
Wallis made headlines after hitting a wooden post in a Welsh village, triggering a brief internet outage – no-one was injured in the crash and no other vehicles were involved.
Wallis was arrested after the crash on suspicion of driving while unfit.
He added: “I have PTSD and I honestly have no idea what I was doing except I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of fear. I am sorry that it appears I ‘ran away’ but this isn’t how it happened in the moment.”
Wallis also expressed his gratitude for the support from their colleagues, and said it reminded him “how important it is to be yourself”.
He concluded: “I have never lived my truth and I’m not sure how. Perhaps it starts with telling everyone.”
In a later post, Wallis confirmed that he will continue using he/him pronouns for the time being because “I remain the same person I was yesterday”.
Help and support:
- Rape Crisis services for women and girls who have been raped or have experienced sexual violence - 0808 802 9999
- Survivors UK offers support for men and boys - 0203 598 3898
- The Gender Trust supports anyone affected by gender identity | 01527 894 838
- Mermaids offers information, support, friendship and shared experiences for young people with gender identity issues | 0208 1234819
- LGBT Youth Scotland is the largest youth and community-based organisation for LGBT people in Scotland. Text 07786 202 370
- Gires provides information for trans people, their families and professionals who care for them | 01372 801554
- Depend provides support, advice and information for anyone who knows, or is related to, a transsexual person in the UK
