The plot thickens in North Tawton over a bizarre apparently transphobic poster campaign and the identity of a mystery town dweller the posters refer to – one Sam T Smith.

Multiple cryptic posters were put up around North Tawton in May of this year which mention a person called ‘Sam T Smith’.

Sam T Smith first surfaced when they submitted an FOI (Freedom of Information) request to North Tawton Town Council for the release of email communications between an ex-councillor and the council between January and March of this year.

Sam T Smith then re-emerged when they contacted the Okehampton Times and the Crediton Courier on May 2 with a letter praising the council, entitled ‘North Tawton: A Thriving Community with a Bright Future despite the Naysayers’.

The start of the letter read: “North Tawton continues to shine as a wonderful place to live, work and be part of a vibrant, welcoming community. Despite the efforts of a small number of individuals who seem determined to attack the town council and sow division, the town remains strong, united, and full of life.”

Sam T Smith included a phone number with the letter, but it appears to be a non-existent number.

Despite describing themselves as a long-term resident of North Tawton, no one in the town has been able to identify who Sam T Smith is. Then following the letter and FOI, posters started appearing around North Tawton mentioning Sam T Smith.

Former town councillor Christian Martin, a vocal critic of the council, who lives in the town, said: “Nobody could identify who Sam T Smith was. It had a strange whiff about it. The fact that I have been an advocate for LGBT rights in the town, I took it as a veiled dig at me.

“I would argue that some of the posters were coded transphobia. Back in February 2024 when I was a councillor I had a proposal to fly a Pride flag for LGBT History month, other councillors argued that flying the flag would cause a lot of upset. I responded, ‘the flag wouldn’t cause upset. the homophobia will’. The flags were ripped down so please don’t tell me there isn't any homophobia in this town.”

Christian has offered to meet with Sam T Smith but is yet to hear back.

Sam T Smith is possibly a reference to the non-binary singer Sam Smith who often faces transphobia and homophobia online and in mainstream media due to their identity.

Following the posters being put up around the town, Christian noticed that the North Tawton Town Council Facebook account was friends with an account called ‘Sam T Smith’ with a picture of the famous singer as their profile.

Christian continued: “Some people in the town think it’s a great sport to laugh at the person that they think might be gay, which is discriminatory.

“It’s an infinitesimally small group of people in this town who are treating me like this, the vast majority of the town are wonderful, pleasant, educated, adult, well-meaning people.”

Christian has also spotted a poster on the dashboard of a parked car in North Tawton, reading “I am Sam T Smith”.

North Tawton Town Council has been approached for a comment.