Protesters across the UK were a diverse crowd, with slogans ranging from plaintive to militant
~ Kell w Farshéa ~
Mass demonstrations took place across the UK yesterday (19 April) protesting the Supreme Court decision on the interpretation of transgender people’s rights under the Equalities Act. A march in London drew between ten and twenty thousand people, and large demonstrations were also reported in Edinburgh, Swansea, Sheffield, Brighton, Reading and many other cities.
The Court on Wednesday issued a ruling according to which the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”. This means transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if this is “proportionate”. Britain’s equalities watchdog says the ruling means trans women cannot use single-sex female toilets, changing rooms or compete in women’s sports. The ruling, in response to a petition by the Scottish group For Women (significantly funded by J. K. Rowling) was received with transphobic celebrations.
The group Trans Kids Deserve Better, along with a collection of Trade Union groups, Trotskyist fronts and other organisations announced the emergency march to protest the erasure and discrimination.
Several thousand people turned up to the march in London. They brought traffic to a standstill as they spilled out of Parliament Square and into the streets. Protesters were young and old, cis, trans and nonbinary, ethnically diverse and included many disabled people. A breadth of placards ranged from the emotional to insulting, and the chants were loud and defiant.
Some overtly criticised health minister Wes Streeting, who banned all trans healthcare for under 18s with slogans such as “Wes Streeting’s doorstep is a gender neutral toilet” and “Wes Streeting, You Shit, You’re Killing Trans Kids”.
Some chants focused on the inequitable healthcare system that has trans and nonbinary people waiting a decade for treatments or surgery, including “HRT, HRT, Over the counter and completely Free”. And alongside the plaintive “Trans Rights are Human Rights” there were also subversive anti-state messages: “Fuck the State and Burn the Courts—We dont want your fucking laws”, and “No Borders, No Nations, Trans Liberation”.
As the London march moved into St. James’s park the energy did not disappate, instead a thousand trans people stood and sat in an impromptu open-air meeting, taking turns to make speeches, lead chants and show each other love.
And whatever the TERFs think they won on Wednesday it was clear yesterday that the trans community will not disappear quietly. In fact they are out and defiant.
Additional reporting and photos: Caruna Bambuna, PH, SC, RdMC, JF, EF
