Yasmin Finney’s Elle Grapples With the U.K.’s Trans Rights Rollback in Heartstopper Forever

Heartstopper Forever puts the concerns of the transgender community into global perspective in the final chapter of what has largely been an idealistic story.On the page, creator Alice Oseman built Elle an aspirational world. We first meet her shortly after transitioning, as she tries to figure out what being the new girl at Higgs means. She finds her place as a transfer student, has her first big romance with Tao, and begins her life as an artist. Elle faces personal issues, not political ones.Bringing that story to screen, Oseman gave Elle a version of the reality more young trans people actually live in — one that people watching at home would recognize. As Finney told Them in a 2023 profile, “My identity has always been a political playground for people, so I wanted to create this platform where people like me could go and feel this sense of community.” Heartstopper the series accomplishes that goal. Elle flourishes with a chosen family, and she also stands up to injustice, first at a radio station when her art draws media attention, and now, in Heartstopper Forever, when she rallies her friends to stand with her at Pride.Charlie and Nick’s final chapter finds their friend group taking its first steps into adulthood. When the young men hit a relationship hurdle, Charlie’s friends show up for movie night to cheer him up. Worried about the sad possibility of seeing Nick at Pride, Charlie is hesitant to go until Elle tells him why she needs him there anyway.“Charlie, I know you're hurting, but I need you to come and march with me on Saturday because I’m fucking scared,” she says. “The world hates me right now.” Elle’s reality includes hearing people argue she shouldn't be allowed to use public bathrooms, and knowing that if she had been a few years younger than she is, she wouldn’t have been able to legally access puberty blockers.Elle’s fear isn't hypothetical. Last April, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that legal “sex” means biological