Pride Is the Protest, Not the After Party
We have a lot to learn from Pride 2018.
Pride has come to be an annual beacon of hope for the LGBTQ+ community, a place for us to celebrate our identities, a safe space to express ourselves, supposedly without fear of repercussions. With such a celebratory tone, it’s easy to forget amidst the rainbow paraphernalia, alcohol, and spandex that Pride exists thanks to trans women of colour protesting for equality for the LGBTQ+ community. While the world has changed dramatically since the Stonewall riots, this year’s London Pride highlighted how far we have yet to go before we can pop the champagne for a job well done.
As the glitter settles on another year of London Pride, reports are coming in that anti-trans activists were leading the parade, handing out leaflets and spreading transphobic propaganda. Publication PinkNews claims a group of TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists) was allowed to lead the march right through to Trafalgar Square without any interruption from police or organisers despite the fact that they were not one of the permitted 30,000 marchers. Earlier this week it was reported that a further 20,000 people applied to be part of the march but were denied due to a limit set by organisers. According to reports, the group comprised of approximately ten people who were also holding banners with slogans such as "TRANSACTIVISM ERASES LESBIANS" and "LESBIAN = FEMALE HOMOSEXUAL."
Pictures have emerged of the leaflets the group was handing out. Titled with the name they are operating under, "Get The L Out," the handout claimed that the trans movement is just a way for men, masquerading as trans-women, to force lesbians to have sex with them. Additionally, the pamphlet stated that "women maintain the rights to sex-segregated spaces at the exclusion of male regardless of their 'identity'." Trans-exclusionary radical feminists are not new, but the fact that they infiltrated an event rooted in trans-activism to spread hatred shows the deep-seated issues present within the LGBTQ+ community, and more widely those fighting for intersectionality.
The recent #MeToo movement has left a lot of people feeling very unsure about the culture surrounding sexual contact with other people. Many are coming to terms with the fact that an act they previously assumed to be acceptable could actually be more accurately described as sexual assault. Exploiting the current climate around rape culture as a way to fuel fear and hatred of the trans community in the name of feminism is terrifying and hypocritical. Existing as a trans woman is still very difficult and often dangerous, and is not rooted in sexual gain.
Furthermore, the message that it sends to our young trans sisters and brothers, at a time that a potential reform of the gender recognition act looms, is that even their safe spaces will no longer welcome them. There are already questions about the ways in which other members of the LGBTQ+ community have supported trans women historically. A documentary about the death of Marsha P. Johnson revealed that some trans women in New York feel as though lesbians and gay men have abandoned them now that they are more widely accepted and have been given the right to marry. By allowing this to happen London Pride has not only taken it away but erased the history of the trans community.
We can do better. We must do better. Trans women are women and some of them are lesbians and no member of the LGBTQ+ community has a right to question their validity. Let's not get too comfortable and party when we should be protesting. If we don’t stand together, we don’t stand for equality. We must do better.
About the Creator
Keep reading
More stories from Ziggy Moth and writers in The Swamp and other communities.
Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
By cacloaidongvat5 days ago in The Swamp
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.