News / protest
Hundreds in Bristol back city’s trans community once more
More than 200 people chanted in support of Bristol’s trans community at a liberation rally held on Saturday morning.
In a ruling issued on April 16, the Supreme Court said that the terms ‘women’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act will only refer to biological women and biological sex. This effectively means that those who identify as trans women will no longer be recognised as part of the act.
Soon after the ruling, an outpouring of mixed emotions surfaced, with hundreds in Bristol protesting against the ruling a day before Easter.
is needed now More than ever
In a leaflet handed out before they started marching from College Green on Saturday, the Trans Resistance Action Network explained that as a result of the ruling, trans women “are not counted as women when it comes to sex-related rules” and will “not be included in statistics” about the presence of women in certain groups or jobs.
A trans woman’s wife was seen holding a pla card in support of her identity
Their concerns, as mentioned in the leaflet, were centred around the absence of transgender people involved in the judgment and how certain organisations, like the British Transport Police, were now making changes to their policies that would hinder the privacy and rights of trans women.
An all-queer drag king Morris dancing team, Molly No-Mates, arrived in style to sing a satirical song in support of trans people. Members said that this group allowed them to “fuck about with gender and presentation in a way that is free from cisnormativity and gets to be fun, silly and joyful”.
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To avoid any untoward incidents or discrimination of any kind, stewards urged protestors to use the word ‘pineapple’ if they felt unsafe or harassed by any member of the public.
After a series of speeches, songs and chants, the crowd of hundreds began marching towards Merchant Street in Broadmead, where they joined in support of the Crips Against Cuts protest scheduled for later in the afternoon.
Here is the rally in pictures:
All photos: Rob Browne
All videos: Karen Johnson
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