Ahead of the event’s third annual edition this weekend, we asked London Trans+ Pride volunteer Ren to explain the importance supporting and celebrating the city's trans citizens.
'The first London Trans+ Pride was in September 2019, a year after a group of trans-exclusionary radical feminists promoted messages of hate and division in the queer community at the front of the Pride in London march. After that, there was a lot of talk about the need for a Pride event at which trans people could feel safe, so we made our own event and it’s been a great success ever since.
London Trans+ Pride, at its heart, will always come from the idea that pride is a protest – an act of resistance against a society that has shunned us and relegated us into the darker corners of the night. London Trans+ Pride was one of the first major opportunities that we had as a community to bring ourselves out from the shadows and into the daylight and celebrate ourselves under that daylight, just like everyone else.
Trans+ Pride is important to me because we get to celebrate one another in an unashamed way. That’s something unique and extremely validating for trans people. Even within the community, we can find ourselves rejected, vilified or misunderstood. We get to be together, celebrate together, cry together, dance together, to be in an ocean of people who are like you, when you previously felt that you were alone – these are things that make Trans+ Pride special. Our hope is that it doesn’t just have to be in London. We hope that Trans+ Pride events start popping up everywhere, so that there are more avenues for people to be able to have this experience.
One of the best moments I’ve had was when we collaborated with Black Lives Matter for the Black Trans Lives Matter rally. As a Black trans person, that was tremendously meaningful to me, that Londoners were willing to show their support for a marginalised group within a marginalised group.
Trans+ Pride should matter to us all because trans rights are just human rights. Having empathy and standing up for the marginalised are things that should matter to everyone. Events like Trans+ Pride should be important to everybody, because they are a way for anyone who attends them to show the rest of the world, all the trans people, all the queer people, that someone cares and is willing to fight for them.'
London Trans+ Pride is on June 26.
Everything you need to know about moving house in 2021
Ten LGBTQ+ spots to visit in London
0 Comments