"I believe in ensuring equality for women. And that includes transgender women, and transgender people in general. It was disappointing at the start of the campaign to see the Loyalist League include in their manifesto a commitment to ban puberty blockers for below 18s. I spoke out against this, at the time, as did many other politicians, thankfully, and the Loyalist League ultimately apologised.

But I still think that it is very important that I speak out on trans rights. My manifesto doesn't mention it, and I want to make it clear that I have no intention to simply fight for cis women and be silent on transgender women. As we all know, transgender women are more likely to be murdered, abused, and the victim of violence. They are not perpetrators, that must be made loud and clear.

One of the things that I believe should be done is abolishing spousal veto. When a married transgender person wants to have their gender recognised, they need the approval of their spouse. This is archaic, it’s disgusting, and it needs to stop. You should not need your spouse’s- you shouldn’t need anyone’s permission to have your gender recognised.

We need to ensure that non-binary and transgender individuals are fully recognised and embraced by our government. After centuries of oppression, they deserve better, and they deserve the potential to live their best like, just like all of us. Trans rights are human rights!”