PHOTOGRAPHY Alex Murphy
In a climate of escalating hostility toward the trans+ community in the UK, London Trans+ Pride returns to the capital this Saturday 26th July as a vital, visible, and defiant act of resistance. What started seven years ago as a grassroots protest has grown into a record-breaking beacon of hope and solidarity. With over 60,000 people attending in 2024 – the largest trans march in history – organisers are preparing for an even greater turnout this year, under the rallying cry: Existence and Resistance.
Behind this powerful movement is a dedicated team of activists, organisers, and community members who work tirelessly – often unpaid and unseen – to create a space where trans+ people can march, mourn, rage, and rejoice. “London Trans+ Pride has grown into a team of over 30 people now,” said founding member Lewis G Burton. “I’m just so grateful to be working with such a dedicated and talented team of trans+ people from all walks of life who really represent the trans community as a whole, and I’m filled with love and joy and pride from working with them.”
At a press event held at the Mandrake Hotel last week, some of the leading voices behind London Trans+ Pride gathered to speak to the urgency of this year’s march. Among them were activist and model Munroe Bergdorf, Trans+ Pride accessibility organiser Sukey Venables-Fisher, and young activists Cliff and Merlin from Trans Kids Deserve Better, fighting for their futures in real time.
“This year’s theme is a direct response to the recent UK Supreme Court ruling,” said Burton, referencing the controversial legal decision that redefined “biological sex” in a way that opens the door to trans exclusion from single-sex spaces. “We are here to remind each other that we’re not going anywhere. We are loved.”
I’m so grateful to be working with such a dedicated and talented team of trans+ people from all walks of life who really represent the trans community as a whole, and I’m filled with love and joy and pride from working with them.
Lewis G Burton
The panel didn’t shy away from the grim reality of what trans+ people are up against. Bergdorf spoke of how the Supreme Court ruling – passed without consulting a single trans-led organisation – has sent shockwaves through the community. “A red alert for first signs of genocide fell under the radar of the British press,” she said. “You see how orchestrated it all is. We’re being kept out of the room.”
It’s not just legislative attacks, but also the everyday toll of erasure, isolation, and media-fuelled hostility. Merlin captured it with chilling clarity: “It’s hard to explain, especially to a cis person, what it’s like to feel like you’re watching all of the pieces fall into place, to take everything away from you.”
And yet, in the face of all this, London Trans+ Pride is not just a protest – it’s a celebration. It’s an affirmation of life, community, and the simple but radical truth that trans people belong and will not be erased.
Accessibility has become a central priority for the London Trans+ Pride team this year, with careful planning to ensure disabled and neurodiverse attendees feel not just accommodated, but actively welcomed. During the recent panel, accessibility organiser Sukey Venables-Fisher announced that disabled attendees will lead the march, helping to ease feelings of claustrophobia and overwhelm and making space for neurodiverse people to navigate the crowd more comfortably from the front.
Much of this work is being led by the Access Consciousness team, formed to rethink and reframe how accessibility is handled at large-scale events like Pride. “In the messages I am receiving and the growing number of disabled community members who are attending, we are able to supply more and more different versions of access in order for disabled people to come and feel included, welcome and considered – more than a lot of other events do, most of the time,” explains organiser EM Williams, who helped launch the team. “I’m really proud.”
There’s a really important reason why we call ourselves Access Consciousness: we are not ‘heads’, we are not ‘leads’, we are not consultants in someone’s disability – they are the head, the lead, the consultant. Without them telling us what they need, we can’t do it.
EM Williams
Their approach goes beyond logistics, focusing instead on collaboration and trust with disabled people themselves. “There’s a really important reason why we call ourselves Access Consciousness: we are not ‘heads’, we are not ‘leads’, we are not consultants in someone’s disability – they are the head, the lead, the consultant. Without them telling us what they need, we can’t do it,” says Williams.
That ethos – of listening first and creating access through community – is shaping this year’s march in meaningful ways. At its core, the goal is simple but radical: to ensure every trans+ person, including those often pushed to the margins even within queer spaces, can show up and feel they belong.
Celebrity voices have stepped up in solidarity, with messages of support from Jeremy Corbyn, Jessie Ware, Jameela Jamil, Eddie Suzy Izzard, Will Young, Clara Amfo, Harris Dickinson, Nicola Roberts, Honey Dijon, and others. Their visibility matters, but as the organisers made clear: true allyship isn’t just about social media statements – it’s about showing up.
“We’re less than 1% of the population,” said Cliff from Trans Kids Deserve Better. “So we’re not going to get anywhere without allyship.”
And showing up is exactly what London Trans+ Pride calls on cis allies to do this Saturday. “Silence from those in positions of privilege only emboldens the systems and rhetoric that seek to marginalise trans lives,” reads the organisers’ statement. “Now more than ever, it is time for cis allies to speak up, show up, and stand beside the trans+ community.”
As Munroe Bergdorf put it simply: “That’s what I love so much about London Trans+ Pride – I arrive feeling stressed, and then I leave feeling galvanised and seen and loved and held.”
This year’s demands are urgent and uncompromising: a total ban on conversion therapy, fully funded gender-affirming healthcare, and legal recognition for non-binary people. If you’ve ever wondered how to stand in solidarity with the trans+ community, the invitation is simple and powerful: join the march, be a witness, and stand beside those fighting for nothing more – and nothing less – than the right to exist.
For more information on attending the London Trans+ Pride march 2025, check out their Instagram.
Enjoyed this story? Help keep independent queer-led publishing alive and unlock the BRICKS Learner Platform, full of resources for emerging and aspiring creatives sent to you every week via newsletter. Start your 30-day free trial now.