TransLondon have announced that it will not be participating in London Pride this year. They cite three reasons:
- The apparent lack of seriousness with which Pride dealt with last year's "Toiletgate"
- The lack of consultation with the community
- The stereotyping/parodying of Transfolk
I don't think I can add a lot to the statement (which you really should read) except that it is a reflection of the problems I've felt with Pride for a while - it reads like a masterclass in how not to engage a community. So I wholeheartedly support their decision.
But for fucks sake, the official trans presence is "Priscilla at the front and Priscilla at the back"? I've seen the Priscilla cast on TV - I was not impressed (outfits were hardly stunning, singing seemed poor, songs boring). To reduce Trans participation to drag queens and "football shirt wearing transmen" is as insulting to me as it is to TransLondon members. It's as insulting as the non stop floats of scantily clad dancers on the corona bus, the essential bus and every other bloody float at Manchester Pride which supposedly represents me.
If you're pissed off, you could do worse than look at Pride is a Protest - an attempt to organise pride around the grass roots of the community and return some element of the political to it which is being whitewashed out of Prides up and down the country.
Alex
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