Greens march in solidarity with Trans Pride this Saturday, 22nd July
This Saturday marks the fifth celebration of Trans Pride in Brighton and Hove. Green Party Councillors and representatives will join hundreds of people taking to the streets as part of the now annual Trans Pride march, a celebration and promotion of the diversity, history and identity of the city’s varied Trans communities.
The march will set off at 12 noon, from the Marlborough pub on Princes Street, Brighton and will finish at the Trans Pride main event in Brunswick Square. It is part of a series of fantastic Trans Pride activities for the city, including the newly opened ‘Museum of Transology’ at Brighton Museum, the annual Brighton Trans and Non- Binary conference, and trans pride party, picnic and film events.
Under the Green administration, Brighton and Hove became the first city to set up a flagship Trans Equality Scrutiny Panel. Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, who chaired the panel and will be marching with organisers on Saturday, commented:
“This Saturday I will once again stand shoulder to shoulder with our trans community at this year’s Trans Pride. The Green Party has a long tradition of proudly supporting our trans community and will continue the call for equality and an end to discrimination. In 2012 we established the first Trans Equality Scrutiny Panel in the city. The work was ground breaking- shining a light on the issues that trans people face, from bullying in schools to hate crimes, housing, health and employment. Five years on and that work has led to some significant change- the first health action plan to include the trans community; a toolkit for our city’s teachers to educate pupils about transphobia; working with Sussex Police to improve hate crime reporting.
“Saturday is a powerful reminder that we must continue the march for equality for the trans community. It’s clear there’s still a lot of work to do- we need to improve access to medical services and strengthen hate crime laws to tackle harassment. Trans people still face a totally unacceptable level of discrimination, prejudice and ignorance. Most importantly, Saturday is an opportunity to show solidarity with the trans community, who show such strength in standing up to fight for a better future. I hope that Brighton and Hove continues to lead the way and will become a beacon of good practice for the nation, and indeed the world.”
Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas added:
“My very best wishes to everyone taking part in Trans Pride this weekend. The fight for trans equality is still desperately needed and i’m proud that our city continues to lead the way. With trans people still suffering discrimination and trans young people in particular being disproportionately affected by mental health problems it’s clear we have a long way to go in the march towards equality. Trans Pride is an opportunity to celebrate steps forward and focus on the many challenges we still face.”
The Green Party have actively called for trans rights both in Parliament and in the local Council, where flagship work by the Green Group of Councillors on Trans Equality was recognised for an award by the Centre for Public Scrutiny. In Parliament, Caroline Lucas MP has spoken out for Trans rights in Parliament, including calling for an end to media misrepresentation of Trans people and the establishment of a Gender Identity Clinic in Brighton and Hove.