Local activists have described comments made by the Prime Minister about gender identity as 'frightening' and 'damaging to young people'.

In his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared to assert his stance on gender identity, stating: "A man is a man, and a woman is a woman; that's just common sense."

He also weighed in on men entering women-only spaces including hospital wards, telling Tory delegates: "Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women, and we shouldn't get bulled into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can't."

The comments, which coincided with the Home Office's release of data revealing that transgender hate crimes rose this year by 11 per cent, have sparked a backlash from LGBT campaigners who have accused the speech of "stirring up divisive rhetoric and hatred" towards an already marginalised societal group.

Tia Latham, an intersex model and reality TV star from High Wycombe, who has been vocal in the past about transgender rights, said the Prime Minister's speech was "frightening" and would "incite violence against people like me".

Adding: "People in positions of power should have a duty of care over the most vulnerable. Trans and intersex people make up less than one per cent of the British population.

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"It's disheartening that the government is pursuing a culture war and attacking vulnerable groups to secure votes for next year's general election." 

Toni Brodelle, the parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats in High Wycombe and co-organiser of Wycombe Pride, also spoke out against the comments, which she said were "using a marginalised community of people" to "deflect from policy failures in the Conservative party".

She said: "The issues that Rishi Sunak is raising about men entering women's spaces have more to do with predatory men than with the transgender community. Trans people already have much higher rates of suicide and self-harm than the wider population, and using them as a means of political point scoring is despicable."

Toni, who is also a teacher, added that she works with young people day in and day out who are "trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into society" and for whom the Prime Minister's comments will be "incredibly damaging".

"To hear the person who is leading your country say, 'If you are this, then you don't belong' is really sad. When you have the government using this kind of national stage to throw a vulnerable part of the community under the bus, it doesn't feel like anyone is safe."