'One hell of a turnout': trans activists rally in London against gender ruling
Thousands gather in Parliament Square in a show of unity after Supreme Court judgment
Link to Full Article With Video (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/19/trans-people-rally-london-gender-ruling-supreme-court)
The Guardian - James Tapper
Sat 19 Apr 2025 13.36 EDT
'One hell of a turnout': trans activists rally in London against gender ruling
Thousands gather in Parliament Square in a show of unity after supreme court judgment
After last week's supreme court decision, activists had been worried that trans people might become fearful of going out in public in case they were abused.
They weren't afraid in London on Saturday. Thousands of trans and non-binary people thronged Parliament Square, alongside families and supporters waving baby blue, white and pink flags to demonstrate their anger at the judges' ruling.
The numbers seemed to take the organisers and police by surprise. Protesters from a hastily assembled coalition of 24 groups gathered in a ring against the barriers surrounding the grass and began speeches. But after the roads became clogged with people, a woman wearing a "Nobody knows I'm a lesbian" top ran across with her dog and soon the square was full. "It's one hell of a turnout and there is a really strong sense of unity and solidarity," said Jamie Strudwick, one of the organisers. "I think it's impossible to compare it – it's like nothing I've ever seen before."
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Thanks for this Lori-Dee.
I've been encouraged by all the supportive comments I've received and the widespread revulsion at the ruling, even among those I wouldn't necessarily consider particularly trans supportive. It's seen as a piece with the general enflaming of 'anti-woke' tensions and ultimately that may help our cause.
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It was an impressive rally and I was impressed by how it wasn't just a rally of trans people. There was a lot of support by ordinary people.
That didn't go unnoticed by the press. There've been stories since about polls showing that such hardline opposition to trans rights as does exist is from the boomer generation and older millennials, while younger millennials and Gen Z etc are more likely to be supportive. The polls also confirm the silent majority aren't bothered. If those attitudes persist, then opposition to trans will literally age out and the mix of people at the rally gave a lot of hope for that outcome.
For people living outside the UK, it may not be clear this car crash started with an attempt by the Scottish parliament to make the process of applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate less onerous. That spiralled into a social media war which hijacked the debate to successfully cast trans people as a group of men leveraging a protected characteristic purely to infiltrate into women's toilets and lesbian clubs for evil ends.
Completely MIA from the stories in the tabloids and on social (why is everything on social so antagonistic?) was anything about trans men or non-binary people. They were there on the march, but this whole debate has treated them as if they do not exist to poison the well with a 'closet abusers' branding spiced with conspiracy theorist overtones.
Yet those two other groups will soon comprise two thirds of all trans folk!
My overwhelming feeling is this entire debate would benefit enormously from a dose of compassion on both sides!
Well said Tanya! Great post.