Trans rights demonstration to take place in London next month
London Trans+ Pride 2020 will keep pressure on the government not to abandon reform of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA).
By Will Stroude
Thousands of trans people and allies are set to take to the streets of London next month to call for transgender equality and and end to transphobic violence.
London Trans+ Pride 2020 will see protestors march form Wellington Arch to Parliament Square from 2p on Saturday 12 September, with attendees encouraged to wear and bring flowers, use masks and maintain social distancing.
The march will be held as a direct response to recent reports that the government is planning to abandon reforms to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) which would have enabled trans people to self-identify.
The government has so far delayed the release of the results of a public consultation into the change, saying it will release its findings after parliament returns from summer recess.
The delay comes amind mounting media hostility towards trans people across the UK, with public figures including JK Rowling using their platforms to attack trans people’s use of single-sex spaces – something they are already legally allowed to do.
“To have been so close to progressive reform and now have our rights stripped away from us would be an enormous blow to the entire UK trans community”, London Trans+ Pride 2020 organisers said in a statement.
“In recognising the severity of the situation, we see an urgent need to come together, to have our voices heard, for ourselves, our siblings, and for the wider trans community.
Next month’s demonstration follows a successful Black Trans Lives Matter march in June, which saw around 4000 people take to the streets to protest against the transphobic violence and the government’s reported abandoned ment of GRA reform.
London Trans+ Pride 2020 confirmed the aims of next month’s demonstration will be for:
- Gender identity to continue to be a protected characteristic with regard to discrimination.
- Trans people to be given the right to self identify in line with the GRA consultation results.
- Non-binary people to be recognised legally and their identities to be accepted in wider society
- An end to non-consensual intersex surgeries and the legal recognition of intersex people.
- Access to toilets, councelling services and other gendered and single-sex spaces be protected.
- An end to violence against trans people.
For further information contact londontranspride@gmail.com.