Amid a sea of rainbow flags and sequined costumes, hundreds of thousands joined Pride in London on Saturday, showing their support for transgender people in the wake of a recent UK court ruling.
They included Chase, 23, who cheered as dancers on floats paraded through Piccadilly Circus.
As a transgender man, Chase came to let the government know that the community was “still here”, even if it is “at the bottom of the barrel” at the moment.
Like thousands of others in the United Kingdom, Chase will no longer be allowed to use certain single-sex spaces — men’s toilets and changing rooms in this case — following the publication of new guidelines by the UK’s equality regulator (EHRC) at the end of April.
The guidelines were issued days after the Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, impacting transgender people’s access to hospitals and sports clubs.
The new rules “invalidate us completely”, said Chase, face covered in glitter and bedecked in a transgender flag, adding that the guidelines were “just the beginning” of a tougher approach against their community.
This edition of Pride in London should therefore serve to “show solidarity with the trans community”, said Jake Hills, the event’s communications head.
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The transgender community has been “scapegoated for so many problems in this country”, lamented Dominic, a 26-year-old linguist who came from Reading, west London, to attend the gathering.
“A lot of people are going out their way to show support for the trans community. And I think we should,” he added.
Like last year, organisers expected nearly 1.5 million people to attend the event.
Political parties of all stripes have been banned from this year’s Pride parades in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Manchester, due to their “refusal to platform those who have not protected our rights”.
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to repeat statements made in 2022, when he said that “transgender women are women”.”We are very disappointed with the backsliding on LGBTQ+ rights that’s currently taking place in the UK. We think there is a rising tide of intolerance, diminishing government support in the UK for our trans siblings,” said Hills.
Many in the parade were draped in the white, blue, and pastel pink transgender flag, chanting: “What do we want? Trans rights! When do we want it? Now!”
They hope that the EHRC will amend its guidelines before passing them on to the government.
Concerns about the rights of LGBT+ people have grown in several countries in recent months, notably in the United States and Hungary, where 200,000 people marched last weekend despite a ban by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Claire Bennet, a 56-year-old property manager, accompanied her 13-year-old transgender son Ash Tillotson to the parade.
Tillotson admitted being a little nervous and overwhelmed “surrounded by so many queer people” in the festive atmosphere of Piccadilly Circus.
“Gay and queer groups in England are very strong and I think they will continue to be very strong… and that we can overcome that,” Tillotson said.