A trans-identified male who works for a UK-based charity to provide “diversity training” has been selected as a UN Women UK delegate to work with the United Nations Commission on the status of Women — despite his troubling history of publicly discussing his enjoyment at stealing his sister’s underwear in his youth.
Martin ‘Katie’ Neeves, who offers professional employment gender identity training services, prompted outcry on X after announcing his appointment to a role for women’s representation, with some critics pointing out his past admission of a fetishistic motivation for identifying as transgender.
“I’m happy to announce that I’ve been accepted as a UN Women UK delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women,” wrote Neeves.
In 2022, Neeves caused controversy after footage of himself discussing stealing his sister’s underwear during a diversity training webinar was leaked online.
In the footage, he can be heard describing how, as a youth, he would steal his sister’s “knickers” and try them on. Clips from the webinar were originally posted by Twitter user @SarahSurviving, who said she had been instructed by her employer to attend the webinar session.
“My earliest memories were of my mum catching me trying on a pair of my sister’s knickers. I remember when I did it, it felt so right. But then my mum came in, and she caught me and told me off,” says Neeves in one of the clips.
“In my childhood, I used to secretly dress in my sister’s clothes whenever I had the opportunity. And whenever I did it, it felt so right. But then those feelings of being right were very quickly overtaken by feelings of guilt, shame, and self-loathing. Because what I was doing was wrong, it was dirty, it was naughty, and not what respectable people did,” he continued.
In January 2018, at the age of 48, Martin Neeves declared himself “Katie,” the alter-ego he says he used when crossdressing in private.
Neeves has on several occasions elaborated on how his crossdressing fetish led him to pursue a transgender identity. In an interview announcing his self-declared identity, Neeves told Leicester Live, “My earliest memory is when I was about three, I preferred to wear my sister’s knickers, not realising this was anything to bother about – until mum found out and chastised me.
“I still kept borrowing my sister’s clothes (and my girlfriend’s), in secret though, all through until my early 20s,” Neeves added.
The interview describes Neeves as having “soft skin” as a result of taking female hormones, and as “a naturally slightly-built person” with “an enviable figure.”
In 2019, Neeves recorded himself admonishing his sister for refusing to accept his gender identity. In the video, he reads a letter he had written to her to provoke her to respond.
“I’m writing to you to let you know how saddened I feel that I didn’t hear from you for my birthday… because it indicates to me that you don’t accept that I am transgender. That makes me very sad indeed. We were so close as children,” Neeves said.
In the leaked video clips of the 2022 Cool2BTrans training webinar, Neeves goes on to state that he now describes himself as a lesbian. “Previously, I was labeled as a heterosexual man, now I’m labeled as a lesbian… but obviously for my wife, her label hadn’t changed.”
Neeves had previously disclosed how his relationship with his wife deteriorated as a result of his sexual fetish. Speaking with Leicester Live, he describes the moment he confessed to his wife while watching a television program about a woman whose husband was a cross-dresser: “My wife at the time said jokingly, you’d never do that to me would you? I said, ‘well actually, I do’ … We patched it over and managed 13 years together but it was always there, and we finally divorced,” said Neeves.
Neeves decided to announce his new identity publicly and created a series of videos that he sent to all of his photography clients. In the videos, Neeves again tells of how he began crossdressing as a fetish and “envied the girls,” but began to “embrace” it as a hobby during his twenties.
Neeves explains that he was first able to “admit” to himself that he is actually a woman after consulting a “clairvoyant” who communicated with a “spirit.” He also has shared updates on his disappointment with his “boob growth” in a video he published to YouTube, telling viewers that “my breasts now are up to about an A, B cup — this is probably too much information, but what the hell.”
In a 2022 video, Neeves advocates for medically “transitioning” children via puberty-halting drugs in song format, while implicitly suggesting that children could begin the process as young as 3 years of age.
Neeves has claimed to be on “both ITV’s and the BBC’s lists of experts,” and has campaigned against women-only services and facilities.
Last September, Neeves was handed an Outstanding Female LGBTQIA+ Champion award, presented at the at the East and West Midlands Women’s Awards. According to its official website, the purpose of the Women’s Awards is “to raise awareness, recognize and honor the hard work and valuable contribution women of all cultures, communities, races, and beliefs, in all sectors make.”
In social media posts where Neeves shared the news, he also boasted about several other awards he’d received in the past twelve months.
“It’s been the most amazing year for me, as in the last 12 months I have won the British Diversity Awards Hero of the Year 2023, the Trans in the City Trans Community Champion Award 2022 and the This is Us Awards Training & Development Award 2023. Also, I was listed on the DIVA Power List 2023, I was a DIVA Awards Unsung Hero of the Year Finalist 2023 and I was named as a LinkedIn Top Voice as well as becoming a co-presenter of BBC Sounds series ‘Time for some LGBTea,’” Neeves wrote.
UN Women UK came under scrutiny from women’s rights groups and campaigners last month, after the news circulated that trans activist Munroe Bergdorf had been selected as a women’s delegate.
Bergdorf had previously been let go from a UK children’s charity over safeguarding concerns. The trans model had been hired as a campaigner for the UK National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NPSCC), but was removed from the role soon after when it was discovered that had invited children to message him privately on social media in a violation of safeguarding ethics.
During the controversy, it was uncovered that Bergdorf had posed for a professional photographer’s portrait series on “sex workers.” His portrait depicted him in the nude, and revealed that he had intact male genitals.