At London Pride 2018 an anti-trans group forced their way to the front of the parade and were able to remain their for the duration of the march. The response received in response to this has been purely words despite the effect this will have had on people in the transgender community.

As a result I will send the letter below to the mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the organisers of London Pride 2019 with all the signatures from this petition demanding that they allow the transgender community to lead the parade in 2019 and show that London stands with the entirety of the LGBTQ+ community.

"Dear Sadiq Khan and the organisers of London Pride 2019,

We, the signatories representing the transgender community, transgender support organisations and allies, present this letter calling for real action to be taken following the events at London Pride 2018.

During this pride event a group of trans exclusionary radical feminists, or TERFs, forced their way to the front of the parade. Once there they refused to move until they were allowed to lead the parade, despite the space being given to the LGBTQ+ people and allies of the NHS, celebrating its 70th birthday. As they marched through London they held banners stating that “Transactivisim erases lesbianism” and handed out anti-trans leaflets. This act has led to some transgender people feeling unwelcome in London, and unwelcome at pride, an event where they should feel safe to be themselves.

In response to this, a statement was released stating that they could not be moved due to the lack of a crime being committed and that instead they were placed far in front of the official start of the parade in order to not legitimise their claim, as well as Sadiq Khan stating that “transphobia is never acceptable”. But this does not change the fact that this group was still allowed to be at the front of this very large, well known celebration of LGBTQ+ people.

We demand that Sadiq Khan and the organisers of London Pride 2019 offer an apology more fitting such actions. These being that the security and planning of the parade in 2019 is of a level that people of the LGBTQ+ community feel safe and that the actions of this anti-trans group cannot happen again, and that the transgender community be allowed to officially lead the parade so as to show that London Pride stands with them, against hate, and shows that trans people are accepted, welcomed and celebrated in this city, and in this country.

We demand that you show with actions what you said with words."