July 1st 2023.
Pride Month 2023 is here and members of the LGBTQ+ community are celebrating their identities, accomplishments, and reflecting on the struggle for equality throughout June. This year, The Agency is exploring the theme of family and what it means to the LGBTQ+ community.
At the forefront of this exploration is Pride in London's Never March Alone: Championing Trans Allyship campaign. The CEO of Pride in London, Christopher Joell-Deshields, said that this year they are putting their focus on trans people. He said:
‘Our trans siblings are human beings. All they want is to live their lives, to wake up in the morning and go to work, they want to be able to take their kids to school. They don’t need to be vilified by the media or society or used as political pawns by politicians. It really is just them wanting to live their lives and that’s why there has to be an element of trans joy this year.’
Christopher added that Pride in London wants to show the trans community that they have their full support, and that there is no Pride without the T. Several trans advocates helped develop the concept in the face of what one called an ‘influx of transphobic headlines and commentators’.
Stonewall’s most recent report on the challenges trans people have to deal with found two in five trans people had experienced a hate crime or incident, and half of the 800 trans and non-binary people they questioned felt they had to hide who they were in the workplace. This was five years ago, and the community ‘continues to come under attack’ today, Christopher said.
In May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued the first guidance of its kind on the merits of changing the legal definition of ‘sex’ to mean only biological sex. This would have a ‘shift in favour of excluding trans women’, and organisations such as sporting bodies would no longer need to justify barring their involvement.
TransActual’s 2021 study surveyed 700 people and found ‘a disturbing but unsurprising picture of a community struggling to thrive in hard conditions’. Some 40% said they experienced transphobia when looking for housing, with the majority of those forced into homelessness at some point in their lives, and 63% feeling discriminated against when seeking employment.
Christopher believes that if politicians recognise the importance of trans rights and create policies that make life better for trans people, then progress can be made. He insists that Pride in London is a place to tackle these issues, and that the event is first and foremost a protest and a celebration.
The parade is set to showcase nearly 600 groups with more than 32,000 participants. Last year saw a record 1.5 million people hit celebrate the 50th anniversary and organisers are hoping for a new record this year. The parade will start at Hyde Park Corner at 12pm and you can find more details about the route on The Agency's Pride page.
So this Pride Month, join us on July 1st for the UK’s biggest and most diverse LGBT+ Pride. We must never march alone and show our support for the trans community. #NeverMarchAlone #PrideInLondon
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