Many of us in the UK, and beyond for that matter, will have been aware that there was a massive Pride March in London on Saturday. This is where the LGBTQ+ (I think that is the acronym now) got together to celebrate their lifestyle and marched for equality. However, it was sad to see that the march was interrupted by anti-trans protesters.<\/p>\n
The small group carried banners and flyers stating \u201ctransactivism erases lesbians\u201d and describing the trans movement as \u201canti-lesbianism\u201d. <\/p>\n
Organised under the Twitter hashtag #GetTheLOut, the group of around 10 protesters was allegedly not officially sanctioned to take place in the march, but were allowed to lead it until it reached Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n
Chair of LGBT+ Lib Dems Jennie Rigg said: \u201cI am appalled that transphobic protesters were allowed to lead the march and the crowd asked to cheer them on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a betrayal of the thousands marching. The Pride organisers should resign and offer a full apology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trans writer\u00a0Juno Roche stated action should have been taken against the protesters by the organisers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was an opportunity missed when people could have very visually said no, we are not going to let you commandeer this space with your lies and misinformation,\u201d she told\u00a0The Independent.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor most trans people watching it\u2019s just another incident in a set of incidents.”
\nA Pride in London spokesperson said:\u00a0\u201cEvery year, Pride is attended by hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrate that Pride still matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the hot weather and in the interest of the safety for everyone attending today\u2019s event, the parade group was allowed to move ahead.\u00a0
\n\u201cWe do not condone their approach and message and hope the actions of a very small number people does not overshadow the messages of the 30,000 people marching today.\u201d <\/p>\n
But what were the protesters seeking to achieve? One of the protesters\u00a0told\u00a0LGBT\u00a0outlet\u00a0PinkNews: \u201cWe want to get the L out of Pride, a man cannot be a lesbian, a person with a penis cannot be a lesbian.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another said trans people were \u201cpressuring lesbians to have sex with them\u201d.<\/p>\n
Others have pointed out their belief that the trans issue is a myth, and that it is just about incorrect societal norms for the genders. To put simply, once upon a time a girl who liked doing \u2018boy things\u2019 such playing football, and with trucks, but also fancied women, would have been a lesbian who liked \u2018guy things\u2019. Now many feel like they are really male, instead of questioning why society has set such stereotypes for boys and girls.<\/p>\n
Now I am not saying that logic is correct, but as a somewhat intelligent man I can understand that argument. It is a debate I feel should be had, even if that is not politically correct. It should be led by people in the LGBTQ+ community, and those who don\u2019t identify with it. On the other hand, all of us should work to break down gender stereotypes anyway.<\/p>\n
Still, the way not to do this is to try and ruin a Pride march by acting in a manner which many will find offensive. There is no way you will get your point across in that manner, and many people who have been the victim of prejudice will feel even more victimised.<\/p>\n
This is one issue I have with such groups, and left-leaning politics in general. There seems to be a \u2018hierarchy of victimhood\u2019 where some people believe that their issues trump those of other disadvantaged groups. This is what we have here, where lesbians who may or may not have a valid reasons to be upset feel that causing upset to other groups is fine.<\/p>\n
I hope that all future marches go off without incident as this is a time for celebration, and a call for action. It is not about pissing on someone’s bonfire, to put it bluntly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many of us in the UK, and beyond for that matter, will have been aware that there was a massive Pride March in London on Saturday. This is where the LGBTQ+ (I think that is the acronym now) got together to celebrate their lifestyle and marched for equality. However, it was sad to see that the march was interrupted by anti-trans protesters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":10,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[451,2137,1067],"class_list":["post-6334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-lesbians","tag-lgbtq","tag-pride"],"yoast_head":"\n