Photos from London’s trans liberation protest

On Saturday April 19, thousands of people gathered in central London (and in cities all over Britain) to protest a Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of “sex” and “woman” in the Equality Act 2010. 

Last Wednesday (April 16), the court ruled these terms should be based on “biological sex”, and that women’s rights based on sex do not include trans women. However, contrary to some claims being made in the press and on social media, this does not mean that trans women can and should be regularly excluded from single-sex spaces. As trans charity Gendered Intelligence said in a statement, “The law – and common sense – still says that trans people should not be excluded without a proportionate and legitimate reason.” 

While the exact legal implications of this judgement aren’t clear, it is just one part of an ongoing attack on the rights of trans people in Britain: not only has Labour permanently banned puberty blockers for trans people under the age of 18, but now even trans adults are reporting being denied pre-existing prescriptions to hormone treatment by NHS doctors. Over the last five years, during which time the media and political establishment have fixated on trans people to the point of obsession, there has been a staggering increase in transphobic hate crimes. 

While anti-trans activists popped champagne outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday and JK Rowling posted an image of herself puffing on a cigar on a yacht, the reactions I saw from trans people on social media veered between terror and weary exhaustion. Like countless other cis people, I also found the ruling disturbing. Even beyond sympathy or solidarity, I don’t want to live in a society where the efforts of a hate movement to persecute a minority group are endorsed by both major parties, most legacy media and, now, the judiciary. 

Amid such a bleak climate, it was inspiring to see so many people show up on Saturday: I have never seen Parliament Square so packed or so fizzing with energy. The crowd was diverse and multi-generational: it was clear that caring deeply about trans rights is not limited to any one type of person. “I’m out today because I’m here to stand with my trans brothers and sisters, and everyone in between. I feel like we’re being ostracised and pushed aside and made to feel like aliens in our country,” Adam Ali, an actor and filmaker who I met on the march, told me. “Today is about fortifying the community: we have to show up in numbers to remind ourselves there are so many of us. They can try to make us feel like we’re small and powerless, but when the people rise together, everything is possible.”

“It’s so important to be present, to show as a community that we won’t stand for this, that no one can tell us who we are and that they don’t have autonomy over our bodies,” added Willow Stone, a model, performer and stylist.

After standing around Parliament square and chanting for a while (my favourite was “you can shove your Wes Streeting up your arse”, sung to the tune of ‘She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”), we started marching through Westminster, taking in the Supreme Court, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Work and Pensions. 

When we arrived at St James’s Park, the atmosphere, which had at first been more angry and solemn, started to feel like a festival: people were sitting on the grass, chatting and listening to the speeches, which ranged from rousing calls-to-action to poetry readings. I’m generally quite sceptical of the slogan “joy is a form of resistance” (you have to actually do the resisting as well), but I felt the truth of it here: there is a feeling of collective strength which comes from gathering like this, and at such a scary and depressing time it was cool to see so many trans people and their friends having a good time in the sun. You just know JK Rowling and her friends would hate to see it. 

I got chatting with Jude Guaitamacchi, one of the co-founders of the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance. “If you feel outraged, the best thing you can do is to take action, and if you’ve got a platform, use it to encourage others to do the same,” they said. “Do things like call your MP, book a meeting and demand to know what they’re doing to support the trans community, and let them know that you only want to vote for politicians that are supportive of the trans+ community.” Jude is currently launching a Unite for Trans Rights campaign, and encourages people to check out what they’re doing on Instagram. 

The road ahead for trans people in Britain looks challenging and uncertain. Even if this ruling doesn’t change much in material terms, there’s no doubt that anti-trans campaigners will be emboldened by it and try to build upon it. What happens next is crucial, and we need a strong, united movement for trans liberation more than ever. Saturday’s protest, and others like it across Britain, shows that the energy is there – we just need to keep it up and to channel it into the most effective forms of resistance. 

During the same weekend, activists from Trans Kids Deserve showed up at Wes Streeting’s constituency office wearing bunny masks, left cardboard eggs decorated with their demands (including access to appropriate healthcare) and then egged the windows – the mass demonstrations we saw on Saturday paired with this kind of targeted direct action can be a potent combination. 

As the day drew to a close, Adam said: “To any trans person who is feeling unsafe and to any queer person, regardless of where they are in their journey: we are here, we have your back, you are safe, take your time and remember that justice will always prevail… period!”