Tomorrow, London Trans+ Pride will fill the streets with joy, but with a sombre undertone as trans rights face potential rollback. Founder Lewis G. Burton said: 'It feels important now more than ever that Trans+ Pride exists – although it feels like this every f****** year because it’s always a new thing.'
Record attendance and celebrity support
Last year, attendees exceeded 100,000, making it the biggest trans pride march in the world. This year, an unprecedented roster of celebrities including Paul Mescal, Mel B and Jameela Jamil will join the march, which starts at Langham Place and ends at Trafalgar Square for the first time.
Lewis said: 'We’ll be descending onto one of the UK’s most recognisable landmarks, and taking up that space audaciously.' The theme is 'Our Future, Our Fight.'
EHRC guidance and impact
The new EHRC code of practice, effective August 5, enforces the UK Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling that for the Equality Act, 'woman' is based on biological sex. Public services and venues must provide 'third' spaces for trans people.
Lewis highlighted the cost: 'Spaces don’t have the money to implement this barbaric and frankly inhumane guidance.' Research suggests 13,000 toilets may need changing, costing councils up to £20 million for cleaning and £14 million annually for building work.
Political response
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: 'Rather than facing this extra cost to solve problems that no one actually had, we should use that money to invest in our communities, including the trans community.' He called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to speak out against the guidance, saying 'trans people’s dignity' is paramount.
Zoë Garbett, Green Mayor of Hackney, said: 'We’ve passed many motions stating our objection to the new guidance, we’re seeking legal guidance and pushing back.'
Criticism of the guidance
Lewis noted hypocrisy: 'A lot of this guidance has been pushed into the guise that sexual assaults happen in women’s bathrooms by trans women. There’s no data to suggest this.'
Alexis Blake, a trans woman with over 137k Instagram followers, said: 'So I’ll use the male toilet, which puts me in danger – that’s what everyone wants.' She added that trans men using women’s toilets could also cause issues.
Hannah Jones, an intersex trans actor, called the guidance 'redundant' for failing to mention intersex people. 'There’s over 50 variations of intersex,' she said, noting that the proportion of intersex people is similar to redheads.
Defiance and celebration
Despite the challenges, Hannah said: 'I used to pray every single day that I would not wake up trans, and now I’m so grateful that I wake up trans and intersex.'
Lewis concluded: 'This year’s theme is a reminder that our future is something worth fighting for. Despite everything, we are still here, and we are not going anywhere.'
