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Waterloo Road actress Miya Ocego discusses the anti-trans backlash to a recent storyline and her attitude towards haters.
Miya Ocego is used to dealing with haters, she’s been doing it since her school days. Like many queer people it’s where she first came across anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. So when she comes across it now, as a young adult, she’s able to swat it away almost as if it’s nothing. “I’ve grown numb to it, which is a strength to be honest,” she shares. “My mentality is: anything you say to me now is literally nothing that I’ve not heard before.”
It’s clear there’s a fire burning fiercely within Ocego, a steely determination and a resilience. It’s the kind that’s forged growing up as queer in a world that would often rather you assimilated. And when you dare to step outside the boundaries of ‘normal’ society you’re subjected to near constant abuse, questioning, and disapproval.
I’m speaking to Ocego following the backlash to a recent storyline on the fifteenth series of the BBC’s Waterloo Road involving her character, Lois. Like Ocego Lois is trans and that has been a part of her character since she was introduced in the fourteenth series. A recent episode sees Lois visit her grandmother who is living with dementia. But the grandmother deadnames Lois, upsetting her and leading her to think her relative, with whom she had a close relationship, has forgotten about her transition, or worse never accepted it. The episode ends after Lois finds an envelope of photos of her with her grandmother labelled ‘Me and Lois’ revealing that her grandmother had known and accepted her all along.
Miya Ocego as Lois in Waterloo Road (Photography by the BBC)It’s touching and emotional. Yet, predictably in 2025, it has angered many with some viewers taking to social media to denounce the show as “callous” and “depraved” for apparently making the grandmother look transphobic. Others labelled the episode “offensive” for its portrayal of someone with dementia while the Daily Mail referred to the episode as part of the BBC’s “woke trans agenda”.
Speaking on the storyline, which resonated with Ocego not only because of her trans identity but the close relationship with her own grandmother, the actress shares her reaction to getting the script initially: “It felt so authentic and heartfelt, and so personal to me so I instantly connected to the script, and I was so happy to bring it to life.” You may recognise Ocego from her roles in shows such as the BBC’s slasher-horror series Wreck, as well as I Hate Suzie and The Jetty. In Wreck, Ocego plays Rosie, who is also trans. This is referenced subtly in the first series but built on more in the second and sadly final series where it is more explicitly addressed. The actress goes on to explain how the two are different. “[Waterloo Road] delves a lot more into Lois’ trauma as a trans person, and it also incorporates the story of dementia, her relationship with her nan, and how that can complicate things in terms of her gender identity too.”
Another area where the long-running and popular show differs from the more niche Wreck, which was aimed by its creator, Ryan J Brown, at a more queer audience, is that Waterloo Road has a broader appeal and subsequently a bigger audience. Both things come as a plus when highlighting LGBTQ+ storylines, to which Miya agrees. “100 per cent. That’s one of the reasons why I took on the role as well. To be attached with a name like Waterloo Road, it’s something that everybody’s grown up with, and to bring that representation to a show like this is exactly the reason why I do what I do.”
When I ask if Lois was always intended to be a trans character, Ocego confirms she was. It was made clear to her upon joining the show that at some point Lois’ gender identity would be tackled. This excited Ocego, who saw the potential of educating the show’s young audience on issues around the topic. However, it also came with a sad acknowledgement. “I was expecting to get some hate,” laments Ocego. “Which is obviously shocking, and it’s mad in today’s society.”
It is a sad reality that we live in a world where many people spend a large amount of their time and energy into targeting the trans community, a relatively small percentage of the global population. In England and Wales, trans people make up less than one percent of the population though data from the 2021 National Census has more recently been called into question. And yet this tiny percentage of the population is fixated on by elements of the press, those in the halls of power, and on the streets. Go on social media on any given day and you can expect to see a new post about a vile verbal, physical, or legislative attack on an extremely marginalised group of people.
Miya Ocego (Photography by James Robinson)“Trans people get hated on for even just existing these days,” Ocego continues. And the data supports this. Trans Media Watch, a charity monitoring trans-related media coverage recorded a 12,400 percent increase in trans-related stories between 2012 and 2022 – from 60 to 7,500. What’s more, a 2023 Home Office report linked a 186 per cent rise in anti-trans hate crime over five years to the divisive rhetoric of politicians, mostly Conservatives. Seeing this behaviour exemplify at the highest levels of society gives permission to others to do the same, and can have real-world consequences. And what starts out as prejudice can evolve into active discrimination and violence, exemplified with the heartbreaking case of Brianna Ghey.
Ocego picks up: “It’s horrible that this is still happening. But on the other hand, it really does light a fire up your ass. It makes you want to do better. It makes you want to be in that space even more.” Somehow Ocego finds the ability to laugh at the situation. “I actually find it hilarious that people are getting so annoyed over other people just existing like people are. People, at the end of the day, are getting irate over nothing. They’re getting annoyed over a character, a made up character.”
Ocego is further comforted by the support she’s had from the trans community. Hearing from viewers who have seen her work and feel represented adds to her resolve to keep going. “I’ve had so many people messages, like, ‘You’re amazing!’ Getting one of those comments literally makes me forget about all the other hateful comments that I’ve received. It means so much to me, and, yeah, that is literally the reason why I do what I do. It means so much to me [to] bring visibility and representation on screen and bring a sense of validation to other people, which is crazy and I’ll never get used to that.”
As well as young people, Ocego has also heard from adults, sometimes parents of LGBTQ+ children: “I actually had a message from a parent of someone I went to school with and it was so nice to read. They said, ‘I always knew you were going to do so well,’ And, again, that gives me such a sense of validation. It’s healing the inner child within me hearing those things.”
Waterloo Road, generally, has been a healing experience for Ocego. From when she was undergoing her transition at school to now, she’s in a comfortable place with herself. She’s happy. As we continue she references some feelings of discomfort at the parallels between her own life and that of Lois, which were offset by the presence of trans director Amy Coop, who was able to add levels of nuance and sensitivity to the story. The experience with Waterloo Road has, thankfully, not deterred Ocego from approaching trans roles in the future. “100 per cent not,” she says with a firm defiance. But what about other creatives? Does she see any danger in a backlash such as this putting writers and producers off approaching trans narratives in TV and film? “I think people are scared of it because they’re aware of the backlash that they’re going to get if they do bring these kind of topics onto screen, which is sad, because if anything it should make you want to do it more, to normalise it.”
Ocego is one of a handful of out trans actors working today. Others include Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Yasmin Finney, Abigail Thorn, Ash Self, Bel Priestley and Zoe Terakes. Touching on trans representation in the acting industry, Ocego offers hope. Things are improving, she believes. Through her experience with Waterloo Road she has connected other working trans actors, which she says is “amazing.” She adds, “I know of several unreleased projects. There’s a pool of trans actors. Hopefully it’s the way that the world will keep on going. We’ll continue to show up on screens and hopefully just exist as people. So, yeah, you’re definitely going to be seeing more of us.”
Ocego admits that with the representation she can bring, comes a certain amount of pressure. “At the end of the day, we’re going to get hated for no matter what. That’s always in the back of your brain, and it has become the norm to receive this. But there is a sense of resilience as well.” Is it hard to keep that resilience up all the time? “It can become exhausting even existing as a trans person,” she replies. “It’s becoming a scary world to live in as a trans person, and at the end of the day, we’re just people trying to exist as well. It’s so confusing that these people with power have such a strong hatred towards one of the smallest and most marginalised groups of people ever. And yeah, you do wake up every day and the trans community is getting attacked.” Then Ocego resolves, “But we will always have this kind of fire.”
Miya Ocego as Rosie in Wreck (Photography by Peter Marley)For now, Ocego is content with where things are. At the same time she remains hopeful for more storylines around Lois’ gender identity going forward but we’ll have to wait and see. As for what message Ocego has for people reading? “Keep on being you,” she says. “Do not let the fears and judgements of others hold you back from achieving what it is that you dream of, because it’s never unachievable. At the end of the day, as long as you are happy in yourself, you’re living authentically, what does it matter what anybody else has to think but yourself?”
Miya Ocego is an actress and model, currently playing Lois Taylor-Brown in Waterloo Road on BBC One.
