2019 may, with luck, go down as the year when the tide began to turn against the bizarre worldview of transgender activists. In the run-up to the General Election, Jo Swinson found herself flummoxed by the question 'What is a woman?'. Days later, she was unceremoniously dumped by voters. Meanwhile, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was busy introducing himself to the crowd at the Pink News Awards: 'My name is Jeremy Corbyn, pronouns he/him.' That was met by a big fat 'no' from the electorate, too.

Despite this recent pushback, 2019 has also shown what happens when senior members of the medical, educational and legal professions not only succumb to the demands of trans activists, but use transgender ideology to shore up their own moral authority. The victims are children. Figures released this year revealed a huge increase in the number of children seeking medical help over concerns with their gender. The number of 13-year-olds referred to the NHS's gender-identity service rose by 30 per cent on the previous year, while the number of 11-year-olds was up by 28 per cent. The youngest patients were just three years old. Three-quarters of all children seeking help to change their gender are girls.

Gender self-identification – that is, treating someone who simply says they are female as if they are female – has also had a disastrous impact on the lives of many women. One in 50 prisoners – 1,500 inmates – now identifies as transgender. This is massively more than the number in the general population. Transgender prisoners not only get perks, such as being able to shower alone or have their own cell – crucially, they can also apply to switch between male and female jails. One woman prisoner – assaulted by a transgender inmate while incarcerated in the same institution – is now taking the government to court over this policy.

Women's sport has also suffered from acquiescence to the demands of trans activists. Maxine Blythin became Kent's first trans-woman cricketer. Maxine had a batting average of 15 when playing on the men's team, but averages 124 playing in the women's team. Kelly Morgan has had similar success playing for a Welsh women's rugby team. Concern has been expressed that, despite taking drugs to artificially lower his testosterone levels, Kelly's superior physical strength could inadvertently injure his female opponents.