We belong together and in front against fascism and all kinds of oppression

In the last week of July, London saw the largest Trans Pride march in the world, with a colourful and vibrant crowd estimated at 55,000. But the march had to follow a changed route while the authorities gave Trafalgar Square over to Tommy Robinson’s fiesta, which was provocatively announced at the same location, in open threat to a marginalised and vulnerable community. Trans Pride was then mentioned nowhere but in the small print of media coverage, which focused without reluctance on the spectacle of the far right gathering.

The decision to reroute the trans march and allow the fascists to take the space effectively showed the state’s preference for the acceptable flavour of radical youth. Encouraged by the space and coverage the state and media gave them, the week moved on with that same kind of British youth staging a ‘people’s riot’ at the small coastal town of Southport. The attackers were attracted by a fascist fake news campaign in the wake of the tragic stabbings in Southport, an event that showcases how society is getting gradually used to extremely violent crime.

It is no surprise that state and media normalisation resulted in racist riots scattered around the country. After all, the scandalous Tory incumbency has for 14 years spearheaded extreme neoliberalism and xenophobia, decimating communities and rousing hate.

But now an extreme-centrist Labour government has taken the reins. With one hand it is using the far right to excuse even more restrictive policing; with the other, it is giving it the streets. The fash are the elites’ street hounds, a useful reserve to be deployed every time a social movement like the Trans community raises its head and threatens to gain visibility and connect the dots with capitalism and the State.

Against this, we need to see more trans people together and in front in the struggle against fascism, and all kinds of oppression. Turnouts at Trans Pride give us hope and strength. The far right mobilisation should be an opportunity for us to join and lead in struggles against genocide, destitution, and eco-devastation (to name a few).

There is no hope for us in state-approved solutions, marxist vanguards, NGOs or single issue campaigns. History has proved time and time again the futility of top down organising, and the crippling effect of forcing unity and urgency, of choosing structure over meaning, memory and variety. 

The system that is killing us is made of the exact same ingredients: centralisation, cohesive power, specialised hierarchies, alienation, normalisation, quantification and multiplication. We need to fight for all the opposites: means-goals consistency, decentralisation and de-normalisation, diversity of tactics and solidarity.

~ Blade Runner