While we all enjoy living our lives and celebrate with pride, we cannot forget that Stonewall, the start of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, was a riot against police weaponising sexual violence against trans women, like the British Transport Police are threatening to do now in light of the inconsistent, dangerous guidance issued by the UK Supreme Court.
This pride month cannot earnestly be a month of celebrating queer lives without the following pressing issues being addressed:
• UK government departments are currently working with ‘sex matters’ an organisation dedicated to ‘reducing the number of trans people,’ while simultaneously shutting out trans voices; an egregious violation of the “nothing about us, without us” principle which remains a cornerstone in preventing violence and medical violence against disabled and minority communities.
• Despite numerous peer reviewed studies stating trans women hold no physical advantage over cis women after a certain point of HRT, trans women are still being barred from sports - including sports such as darts, pool or chess, where physical attributes are largely irrelevant.
• Trans people are being de facto banned from public spaces by criminalising trans dignity. The ability to safely use toilets without fear of harassment or violence is critically necessary for both work and education.
• Civil service employees being prevented from supporting the LGBTQ+ community by arbitrarily banning pride or trans-coloured lanyards in order to “save money,” while government finances continue to be thrown away on CEO bonuses for mismanaged water companies illegally dumping sewage.
• Trans people are regularly denied access to domestic violence shelters and survivor’s services. Nottingham survivors are lucky to have pro-trans survivor’s services available to them – it is critical that this minimum standard of care is extended to trans victims of violence across the country.
• Medical violence and withheld care is responsib…
As allies and even passers-by recognise that the discrimination we face and have faced at the hands of consecutive governments is completely unacceptable, let us seize this moment to act now, and to ensure a future where we can all of us stand together in strength and in pride!
