Paris Lees

[3] She founded the first British magazine aimed at the trans community, META,[5][10] and was the acting assistant editor of Gay Times.

[1][10] Lees has also written for newspapers and magazines, including The Independent, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, PinkNews, and Vice,[14][15][16][17][18] as well as for Channel 4 News.

[18] Critics praised Lees for doing "a fine job of provoking her listeners"[20] and for seeming "genuinely interested in the opinions of the young people she interviewed".

[23] On 31 October, Lees became the first openly transgender panellist to appear on the BBC's Question Time programme, drawing praise from commentators who included former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and the Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman.

[25][26] She has worked with several media outlets to guide the covering of transgender people; in its 2013 Pink List award coverage, The Independent on Sunday said "It was noted by our judges that the Daily Mail's coverage of trans issues has improved noticeably since she had lunch with its managing editor".

[10][27] In 2013, Lees topped The Independent on Sunday's Pink List, naming her as the most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender figure in the UK; she was a judge for that award in 2011 and 2012.

[28]Lees also expressed objections to "#fuckcispeople", a controversial trending hashtag on the social networking site Twitter referring to cisgender people, which she thought was counterproductive: "It is much better to engage in a positive dialogue than through angry abuse".

[29] On 11 August 2014, Lees was supposed to be on air with BBC Newsnight recording to talk about the impact of Kellie Maloney coming out as a trans woman.

However, Lees refused to be a part of the show as she tweeted that "I've turned down BBC Newsnight as I'm not prepared to enter into a fabricated debate about trans people's right to exist/express themselves".

In May 2016 Lees, alongside Brooke Magnanti, was called to give evidence about conditions for sex workers in the UK to the Home Affairs Select Committee investigating prostitution laws in Britain.

[31] The resulting recommendations by the committee headed by Keith Vaz, released in July 2016, implemented Lees and Magnanti's suggestions.

[36] After her release from prison and being turned down for a part-time job answering phones, Lees described having an epiphany: "When I realised I would like to change society, not myself, all these good things have come into my life".

[10] She subsequently received a referral to Charing Cross Hospital's gender identity clinic, and met her boyfriend shortly after beginning hormone replacement therapy.