With Pride season well and truly on its way, one of the UK’s most loved and vital events is primed and ready to be bigger than ever. London Trans+ Pride has firmly embedded itself within the LGBTQ+ community’s hearts and is back this summer to march in solidarity with the trans+ community, call for greater support and protections for trans+ people, and celebrate our trans+ siblings. With a record turnout in 2021, here’s everything you need to know about London Trans+ Pride 2022.
London Trans+ Pride: Why does it take place?
From anti-trans legislation in the US, to not being included in the official ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in the UK, trans people have been negatively attacked on a global scale over the past 12 months.
“We’re a community who are constantly under attack for daring to just exist as we are. There are too many horrific things happening right now to our community to even properly account for,” Lewis Burton from London Trans+ Pride tells GAY TIMES.
“Beyond our own shores we want to march in solidarity with trans refugees who have had to flee for fear of violence or retribution for daring to be themselves, and with the parents of trans children in Texas who are being criminalised for just offering their trans child the love and compassionate support they deserve.”
Trans rights are being attacked across the globe, and this year’s event aims to highlight not just the fight in this country, but the global battle for trans inclusion.
“It can feel like the one incredibly special time of year when we get to see so many other people like us and take to the streets without fear to remember that we are not alone; we are part of an amazing family of people who love and care for one another when, so often, no one else will,” Lewis adds. “We are so blessed to carry the unique experiences of identity that we do; to be trans+ and to be queer, and exactly as we are, and it’s immensely important and healing to be able to come together to really feel that.”
London Trans+ Pride: When and where will it take place?
Following growing numbers year on year, as London Trans+ Pride enters its fourth year they are returning to Wellington Arch in Central London.
The event is meeting at Wellington Arch at 1pm on Saturday 9 July, before leaving shortly after to march through Central London. All are able to attend and are welcome.
The march aims to “demand better healthcare for our community, the legal recognition of Intersex, Gender Non-Conforming and Non-Binary people, the abolition of the EHRC (European Human Rights Commission) and against the recent exclusion of trans people from the UK’s abhorrent proposed ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’.”
London Trans+ Pride: When did it first start?
In 2018, the first London Trans+ Pride event was organised “out of the frustration with organisations claiming to represent the spirit of LGBTQ+ Pride within London.” Since then, thousands of LGBTQ+ people, especially trans folks and their chosen families, show up at London Trans+ Pride to show solidarity with the trans community.
“We have to continue fighting to make it easier for our community and for future generations. That said, days like London Trans+ Pride make us feel so inspired and empowered. It’s truly magical to see so many of our community living loud and proud,” says Lewis.
“London Trans+ Pride feels like such an important ‘coming together’ for so many to be able to hold one another, and hold that space in the face of it all. To remember that it is worth it to fight for the right to exist, if not just for ourselves, for those who can’t.”
London Trans+ Pride: How can we get involved?
Although London Trans+ Pride only happens once a year, London Trans+ Pride wants to emphasize support for trans+ folks 365 days a year.
“Stamp out transphobia where you see it. On the street, in the workplace, or in the media, don’t allow yourself to become complicit in hatred, even when it’s ‘just a joke’,” says Lewis.
“Put pressure on your political representatives to take trans+ health and policy issues seriously and to move on them with swiftness. With every day that we wait to address the discrepancies in the way trans+ people are regarded legally is a day for more lives to be lost.”
As the UK continues to grapple the cost of living crisis, trans organisations and charities, as well as individual members of the trans community will be disproportionately impacted.
“If you’re able to, donate, even small amounts – whether it be to an organisation who houses and clothes homeless trans+ people or provides resources for trans+ kids and their families – or even to any of the many gender-affirmation and emergency support fundraisers shared by members of the community. You’ll never really know what a difference your £5 makes in someone’s life.”
London Trans+ Pride: Enjoy It!
Celebration, togetherness and community have been missing from so many of our lives over the past two years. London Trans+ Pride is an amazing opportunity for all LGBTQ+ people to come together to be there for our trans+ siblings. In their final message to us, London Trans+ Pride shares how despite the celebration, we must always remember why we are here fighting together.
“Remember that the first ever ‘Pride’ was a protest spearheaded by trans+ black and brown queers, homeless queers, sex workers and lawbreakers, and that it’s in their radical spirit that we fight for the inclusion trans+ people from all walks of life and intersections in our movement.”
