London Pride organisers apologise for anti-trans protest

Saturday’s London Pride celebrations were marred by a group of anti-trans feminists who were somehow allowed to lead the parade.

The group, Get the L Out, forced their way to the head of the parade, in front of Mayor Sadiq Khan and Equalities Minister Penny Mordaunt, and led the march for much of the way through the city’s streets.

They held up banners that claimed that “trans activism erases lesbianism” and handed out anti-trans leaflets, asserting that “lesbian rights are under attack by the trans movement.” They also urged lesbian women to leave the LGBT community and “form their own independent movement.”

The organisers of Pride have been slammed for not taking quick action to remove the women from the march, effectively giving them a platform for their offensive and hateful views.

“That a transphobic group who are actively working against the community were able to walk the length of the route, that they faced no obstruction and were able to distribute leaflets filled with myths and lies, is hard to believe,” said Ruth Hunt, CEO of UK LGBT rights organisation Stonewall.

“Pride in London had a duty to act and protect trans people yesterday. They didn’t. They had a duty to condemn the hatred directed at trans people. They didn’t.”

Pride in London said in a statement that it was “sorry to any of our trans siblings and their allies who have been affected.”

The organisation agreed that the protesters “showed a level of bigotry, ignorance and hate that is unacceptable,” adding that, “We reject what this group stands for. They do not share our values, which are about inclusion and respect and support for the most marginalised parts of our community.”

Pride in London claimed that they could not forcibly remove the group “as their protest was not a criminal offence.” Instead they “moved them to an area far in front of the official parade start to separate them.”

Kristine Garina, President of European Pride Organisers Association, commented that, “The Pride movement was begun by trans people and trans people must always be welcome at Pride. We utterly condemn the transphobic, hateful protestors who blocked the Pride in London Parade yesterday.”

Saturday’s parade saw around 30,000 people, representing 472 organisations, marching through the capital. An estimated 1 million others lined the streets to cheer them on. The event concluded with performances at Trafalgar Square.