Trans activists block Manchester's Pride Parade

Yesterday thousands lined the streets for Manchester Pride. However a large number of trans activists used the event to protest over the treatment of transgender prisoners.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the group used their banners and bodies to stop the Greater Manchester Police float from participating in the parade and it was several minutes before the parade was able to continue.

The group was led by trans campaign group Direct Action for Trans Health as well as No Prisons Manchester and the IWW Incarcerated Workers Committee.

A statement released by Direct Action argued that trans prisoners that are sentenced to jail are sent to the prisons of the wrong gender. They referenced the cases of Tara Hudson, Vicky Thompson and Joanne Latham who were female prisoners sent to male prisons.

“Trans people within the prison population are often housed within prison facilities of the wrong gender. Recently we have seen the cases of Tara Hudson, Vicky Thompson and Joanne Latham, trans women incarcerated within male prisons, in the news.”

“We believe that police officers, regardless of their own sexuality or gender identity, are complicit in the prison system’s degradation of human lives and the oppression of LGBTQ people.”

Jess Bradley, one of the participants in the protest, said:

“We have taken action in solidarity with trans and queer prisoners and against the building of a new US-style prison in Manchester. We call upon the government to implement a nationwide ban on prison expansion and an urgent review into conditions within prisons for LGBTQ prisoners.”

Trans activists block Manchester’s Pride Parade

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