News / Trans Pride
Trans Pride celebrates ‘achievement, survival and love’
A sea of pink and blue enveloped the streets of Bristol as our city’s trans community and their allies gathered for the annual Trans Pride celebrations.
The day kicked off with speeches at the Cenotaph before a march to Castle Park, followed by a community day at Trinity, music, meet-ups and clubbing.
‘Trans rights are human rights,’ read signs from protesters surrounded by other marchers carrying banners of blue, pink and white – the colours adopted by the transgender rights movement.
Organisers said their focus was to affirm and celebrate the trans community while delivering a clear and urgent message: change must come to create a more inclusive and accepting society.
Hundreds turned out for Saturday’s protest, which had both a celebratory and defiant atmosphere, with impassioned speeches and thumping music ringing out across the Centre.
Transgender people and their supporters protested to highlight the ongoing fear of attack and fight for equality
Speaking to the crowd, Hafren Jones from Trans Pride Bristol emphasised the importance of community celebration and the need for activism.
“We’re here to celebrate today in the face of adversity, hardship and tragedy.
“We have seen a Supreme Court ruling cast confusion and erode our rights in public life.
“We have seen trans children’s healthcare cruelly taken off the agenda.
“The media and political classes have largely chosen to abandon us, while extreme forces are on the rise against us at home and abroad.
From ‘dykes for trans rights’ to ‘ban conversion therapy now, creative and colourful placards were held aloft
Jones went on: “But we celebrate today, friends: our achievements, our survival and our love.
“So we come together, we may take pause, we learn and we carry on.
“For the forces against us may seem frightening, but our celebration dwarfs their power.
“We must celebrate for those who can’t.
“We must celebrate so we remember exactly what we’re fighting for on the harder days.”
The rally was held against a backdrop of what campaigners fear is continuing hostility towards trans and gender non-conforming people.
A 2025 TransActual report found that 97 per cent of surveyed trans people in the UK experienced transphobia in the previous year.
Some 99 per cent reported that media transphobia impacted their mental health.
All photos: Betty Woolerton
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