Pride in London failed to remove anti-trans group who pushed their way to front

Organisers of London’s annual LGBT Pride celebration have apologised after anti-transgender campaigners forced their way to the front of the parade and were allowed to lead the march.

On Saturday, a group of about 10 women carrying anti-trans signs pushed through to the head of the march, which the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, had been scheduled to lead with NHS staff.

Police and security did not intervene, and the event organisers, Pride in London, said they allowed the group to stay where they were because of the hot weather and concerns over safety.

Pride in London has since issued an apology and condemned the Get The L Out radical feminist group, which it said “showed a level of bigotry, ignorance and hate that is unacceptable”.

“Sadly we could not forcibly remove the group as their protest was not a criminal offence. They demanded to march behind the rainbow flag, which marks the official start of our parade. We did not allow that as we did not want to legitimise them or their message,” it said.

“We moved them to an area far in front of the official parade start to separate them. We are looking at what we could do differently if something like this happens again.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, high-fives people lining Regent Street during Pride. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Rex/Shutterstock

Khan had condemned the protesters for hijacking the march, through a spokesperson for his office, who said “transphobia is never acceptable”.

The decision to allow the anti-trans campaigners to continue at the front of the march carrying signs with slogans such as “transactivists erase lesbians” has prompted heavy criticism.

The LGBT+ Liberal Democrats chair, Jennie Rigg, said: “I am appalled that transphobic protesters were allowed to lead the march and the crowd asked to cheer them on. This is a betrayal of the thousands marching. The Pride organisers should resign and offer a full apology.”

About 30,000 people from almost 500 LGBT groups took part in the parade through central London, cheered on by hundreds of thousands of spectators.