Debbie Hayton in her controversial T-shirt. Right, members of the TUC’s LGBT committee respond with T-shirts that read ‘Trans men are men’ and ‘Trans women are women’

A transgender woman has been accused of transphobia for wearing a T-shirt saying she is really still a man.

Debbie Hayton, 51, a physics teacher in the Midlands, who transitioned from male to female in 2012, is facing expulsion from the LGBT committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for the slogan: “Trans women are men. Get over it!”

Hayton wore the T-shirt at an event organised by Fair Play for Women, a campaign group, in July. She has undergone surgery and hormone treatment and has changed her name, but has not sought a gender recognition certificate.

If she is forced out, it would mean that even people who have struggled with gender identity and undergone reassignment surgery can be accused of transphobia for declaring