A Doncaster church minister has described a Conservative mayoral candidate’s attack on the transgender community as “little short of criminal” – and says that if she’d heard him say it in public she would have reported him to the police for a “hate crime.”

Former Don Valley Tory MP NIck Fletcher, who is running to replace Labour’s Ros Jones at the mayoral election on May 1, sparked uproar when he claimed that crumbling Doncaster Royal Infirmary could be rebuilt – if “sick and evil” transgender “nonsense” was stopped.

A fuming Mr Fletcher wrote: “If we stopped paying for this nonsense (transgender treatments) now, we could use the £100million a year to build a new hospital.”

But his “extremist” words have come under fire from the Rev Stephanie Bisby of Doncaster Unitarians Church in Hall Gate, which is a keen supporter of the LGBT+ community and which has carried out a number of same sex and transgender wedding ceremonies.

Church minister Stephanie Bisby has described Nick Fletcher as an "extremist" - and says if she had heard him express his views on the transgender community in public she would have reported him to police for a "hate crime."

placeholder image — Church minister Stephanie Bisby has described Nick Fletcher as an "extremist" - and says if she had heard him express his views on the transgender community in public she would have reported him to police for a "hate crime."

She said: “If I'd have heard him saying it directly, it would probably have led me to log onto the police website to report it as hate crime.

“As a Unitarian minister conducting same-sex weddings and offering transgender naming ceremonies, I am in the position of being able to witness how much damage has been done to people whose sense of self and gender do not conform with mainstream expectations when their very identity has been attacked.

"Whether these attacks have taken place in the name of religion, conservative ideology or something else, they leave deep emotional wounds.

"Young people especially need to be met with sensitivity and understanding when they have questions about their gender or sexuality, and not with aggressive, moralistic language and vitriol.

“I am concerned to see Nick Fletcher's views being reported as if they are a valid political perspective when in fact they are little short of criminal, placing an already marginalised sector of the public he is supposed to be taking responsibility for at further risk, as transphobic attackers may feel they are legitimised by his comments.”

Mr Fletcher, who has regularly spoken out against the transgender community, quoted a Daily Mail article saying that the NHS spends £100 million a year on transgender treatments.

He said: "They want to use your tax to pay for it — the very people who are paid to protect us and keep us healthy.

“Sick and evil beyond belief when that is imposed on vulnerable children whom they should be protecting not harming.

“If I'm elected Mayor, I will never stop trying for a new hospital or calling out the trans activists peddling an ideology that destroys our children’s futures forever. Not on my watch.”

In 2022, he came under fire from teachers after sending a letter describing children's gender identity doubts as "nothing more than a phase" to every school in his constituency.

His letter stated that "boys are boys and girls are girls", and the media glamorises a "transgender lifestyle".

One school said the letter was "neither helpful nor positively received".

It was also criticised by councillors and the former boss of an LGBTQ+ youth charity, who said the comments "deny the existence" of transgender teens and could harm their mental health.