A Tory MP has announced he is trans in a highly personal Twitter post that also sets out his experiences of rape and blackmail.
Jamie Wallis, MP for Bridgend, said he had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria adding: “I’ve felt this way since I was a very young chlld”.
Mr Wallis also detailed a catalogue of traumatic incidents including a blackmail attempt in 2020, an incident last September when he was raped by a man he met online, and a car crash in November when he fled the scene.
MPs from across the political spectrum sent messages of support following the Twitter statement.
The message was posted online shortly before 3am, following a gathering for Tory MPs at which Boris Johnson reportedly made a joke about trans issues.
According to Politico, Mr Johnson said: “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, or as Keir Starmer would put it, people who are assigned female or male at birth.”
The Prime Minister later published a supportive tweet about the message saying that sharing the story “would have taken an immense amount of courage” and adding: “Thank you Jamie Wallis for your bravery, which will undoubtedly support others.”
Mr Wallis said in his Twitter statement: “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 MP has not yet specified a preference for whether to be known as “he” or “they”.
In his statement, Mr Wallis said that in April 2020 “someone blackmailed me, outed me to my father and sent photographs to other family members”, demanding £50,000 “to keep quiet”.
Mr Wallis said the man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
He added: “For a while it seemed as though I would be able to get on with things and move on.
“Being an MP and hiding something like this was always going to be tough, but I arrogantly assumed I was up for it.
“Well I’m not.
“A few months back, in September, 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.
“When I crashed my car on 28 November I fled the scene. I did so because I was terrified.
“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.”
Mr Wallis said he had received “a lot of support” from Conservative whips since he was elected.
Responding to the statement on Twitter, Labour MP Wes Streeting described it as “hugely courageous” and Liberal Democrat Layla Moran said: “I hope you’ll be overwhelmed by love for taking the plunge and revealing your truth.”
Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said it was a “brave and honest statement” and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Well done Jamie Wallis for speaking out.”
Former chancellor George Osborne, also praising Mr Wallis’s bravery, said: “We comment on the things that have got worse in politics, but many things have got better.
“If a Tory MP has said this when I was first elected 20 years ago they would have been hounded not applauded and supported.”
South Wales Police said in December that Mr Wallis was “assisting police with their enquiries” following a crash in November when a car hit a lamppost in Cowbridge in the early hours of the morning.
The force said there were no reported injuries.
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