Rose Tedeschi
THE SIXTH annual London Trans Pride takes place on the 27 July. After an estimated 25,000 turned out for the demonstration last year, 2024’s event is predicted to be bigger than ever. The planned route has been adapted to accommodate the larger numbers.
This comes shortly after former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington DC on 8 July, described the Trans Pride flag as ‘monstrous’, and likened gender transition surgery to ‘the mutilation of children’. She is the now bidding to take over as leader of the Conservative Party.
Attacks on the trans community reached a record high in 2023, with an increase of 11% on the previous year. The Guardian reported that transgender and disability based crimes were less likely to result in a charge or court summons than other types of hate crimes.
These figures, however, have been challenged by various charities working in the field, which say that they have seen a 65% rise in LGBTQ+ victims of hate crimes. The difference can likely be explained by the fact that an estimated 90% of such attacks go unreported, a statistic supported by the government’s own research.
It has never been more important to support our allies in the trans community. Trans people have often stood at the forefront of any movement for social progress. In the announcement for the event, the organisers are raising the slogan ‘free Haiti, free Tigray, free Sudan, free Palestine, free Congo’. We call on all trade unions and social movements to stand together with them now and call for the recognition and respect that all human beings deserve.
London Trans Pride meets at 1pm in Trafalgar Square on 27 July, with music and speeches following the march.
Trans Pride Brighton also has a fundraiser on Friday 19th, featuring several performances throughout the evening, followed by the event and march on the 20th, which meets in Jubilee Square at 11am.
We stand with our trans comrades and fight with them until they enjoy the same freedoms as any cis-gendered person. As London Trans Pride says, ‘None of us are free, until all of us are free’.
