London Pride: Anti-trans activists disrupt parade by lying down in the street to protest ‘lesbian erasure’

LGBT groups condemn protesters who describe trans movement as 'anti-lesbianism'

Anti-trans protesters have disrupted the Pride in London parade, lying down on the ground at the front of the march until officials persuaded them to move on.

The small group carried banners and flyers stating “transactivism erases lesbians” and describing the trans movement as “anti-lesbianism”.

Other LGBT+ groups were quick to condemn the stunt, and questioned why the protesters were allowed to lead the march uninterrupted until it reached Trafalgar Square.

Organised under the Twitter hashtag #GetTheLOut, the group of around 10 protesters was allegedly not officially sanctioned to take place in a march that was subject to strict restrictions on numbers.

Chair of LGBT+ Lib Dems Jennie Rigg said: “I am appalled that transphobic protestors were allowed to lead the march and the crowd asked to cheer them on.

“This is a betrayal of the thousands marching. The Pride organisers should resign and offer a full apology.”

These sentiments were echoed by LGBT Labour, which described the actions as “disgraceful” and said “these people should never be allowed to march at pride again”.

Trans writer Juno Roche condemned the organisers for not acting quickly and decisively to deal with the protesters.

“I 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,” she told The Independent.

“For most trans people watching it’s just another incident in a set of incidents."

The march was supposed to be led by London mayor Sadiq Khan and NHS staff in a celebration of the service’s 70th birthday, and event organisers Pride In London said the group was allowed to move to front due in part to the day’s high temperatures.

A Pride in London spokesperson said: “Every year, Pride is attended by hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrate that Pride still matters.

“Given the hot weather and in the interest of the safety for everyone attending today’s event, the parade group was allowed to move ahead.

“We 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.”

A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said: "A small group at the front of the Pride in London parade were dealt with quickly and safely by event organisers at 1pm on Saturday. Police did not need to intervene. No arrests were made."

One of the protesters told LGBT outlet PinkNews: “We want to get the L out of Pride, a man cannot be a lesbian, a person with a penis cannot be a lesbian.”

Another accused trans people of “pressuring lesbians to have sex with them”, and stated she and other had been referred to as Terfs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists).

The protest was not the only source of controversy at Pride, with some campaigners decrying corporate involvement in the event.

Pride director Christopher Joell-Deshields said this year’s parade was the most diverse ever, while veteran activist Peter Tatchell said limits placed on the number of groups taking part by organisers felt like “discrimination”.