David Tennant gets emotional reflecting on trans allyship in TV interview

They asked: "All the work you do for my community, it's amazing. My questions are based around that, so I hope that's OK.

"What made you want to start work, like, [to] become an ally to the community? What prompted you to say, 'Do you know what? This injustice has gone on long enough.'"

As Tennant went to respond, he became slightly emotional, and said: "When I was a teenager, there was this thing that Mrs Thatcher's government introduced called Section 28, which was about stopping the 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools.

"Which was a weird umbrella term which was basically saying it was illegal to talk about being gay in school or to suggest that that might be a normal way of behaving.

"We look back on that now as a medieval, absurd thing thing to try and say. And I think the way the trans community is being demonised and othered is exactly the same. It's become this kind of political football."

Tennant has a long history of supporting LGBTQIA+ rights, from sporting a trans flag-themed TARDIS badge during interviews and red carpets to delivering messages of solidarity to the community.

During an appearance on the Ed Miliband's Reasons to Be Cheerful podcast in 2023, Tennant praised Pride Month, telling the former Labour leader it was making him cheerful.

He said: "The fact that Pride Month is existing and is flourishing and is something that’s happening at a time when the world seems to be getting, in some corners, worryingly intolerant and weirdly backward.

"We can't take our foot off the gas. We can't expect that we will always travel in the right direction towards acceptance. We've all got to be fighting that fight every day."

Speaking further in The Assembly, Tennant added: "I hope that we can all, as a society, just let people be. Just get out of people's way!"

The Assembly is showing on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.