If the transgender community had a fairy godmother with a perfectly manicured middle finger to transphobia, it would be Charlie Craggs. Activist, author, actress, and all-around badass, Charlie has spent the last decade proving that a fresh set of nails can do more than just make you look cute, they can change minds, spark conversations, and fight bigotry one manicure at a time. Born in 1992 and raised on a council estate in Ladbroke Grove, West London, Charlie grew up navigating the challenges of gender dysphoria. Seeing Nadia Almada win Big Brother in 2004 was a turning point, it showed her that transitioning wasn’t just possible, it was powerful. Later, she studied at the London College of Fashion, where she first launched her now-iconic “Nail Transphobia” campaign. What began as a university project turned into a pop-up nail salon and a cultural movement. Because let’s be real, it’s hard to hold onto prejudice when someone’s making your cuticles look fabulous.
Her work didn’t go unnoticed: in 2015, she was named one of The Independent’s most influential LGBTQ+ people, and a year later, she topped the “New Radicals” list by The Observer and Nesta. She also rallied for a trans pride flag emoji (because let’s face it, we deserved better than copy-pasting the rainbow and a T), and in 2020, Unicode finally delivered.
Charlie’s 2017 book To My Trans Sisters, a heartfelt collection of letters from successful trans women, was a Lambda Literary Award finalist in 2018. She went on to front the 2021 BBC Three documentary Transitioning Teens, shining a light on the long NHS wait times faced by young trans people seeking care.
And when she wasn’t educating the masses, she was breaking into the world of sci-fi, landing a lead role in the 2022 Doctor Who spin-off podcast Doctor Who: Redacted. That made her the second trans companion in Who history, because of course, the trans agenda includes taking over time and space.
Charlie Craggs isn’t just making history, she’s making it fabulous.
