Last week somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 people descended on London, they marched, they partied, they were well behaved, and they had a blast. Speeches were made, songs were sung, and there was a lot of laughter.

I know….

You are thinking if 10,000 people showed up and marched in London you would know all about it. You think it would be on the news, in the press, or at least mentioned on London Radio.

But silence…..

You see they were all transgender people and their allies. Something that news networks just don’t report on. Yeah 200 men in nylon England shirts got reported…

Why was it important to have Trans Pride reported on? Well, as Mhairi Black’s eloquent speech on Thursday went a long way to explaining things (please give it a listen), I’ll just say there are people right now looking to break the T off of LGBT. Why? Because it makes it easier to attack the rest of the community later. To the general public the gay and lesbian society has spent the last 2 decades showing that they are ordinary folks, often a bit boring, so there is no hatred to feed on. Transgender people are still largely misunderstood, and the news blackout, or even worst total lies reported, scares folks.

Over the last five years there has been an organised and concerted campaign mobilised against the trans community. My speech on Pride in 2021. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ pic.twitter.com/tl3brafqH7

— Mhairi Black MP🏳️‍🌈 (@MhairiBlack) July 1, 2021

If these far-right Christian fundamentalists (sorry but that is where the money comes from) win, trans rights will be rolled back, then what…… personally I think Bi rights will be next.

There have been reports this week of biological women being banned from the Olympics because their testosterone levels are considered to too high. Would you agree with banning men whose hormone levels don’t measure up? But in the banning of these women we see the groundwork done by the articles that suggest trans people are a danger in sport.

I am not for one second suggesting just letting all trans people play sport no matter what. I am suggesting we look at the issue with calm, clear heads and facts. I’m suggesting we have national conversations about sports and about bathrooms and we talk about inclusion rather than hatred. I’m suggesting that we talk about the state of trans healthcare, that we talk about saving and protecting children, that we let the public know that trans people face a 3 year wait for a first appointment….

3 Years…. just to have a very basic triage…

I’m suggesting we talk about why trans men are not being given Gender Confirmation Surgery…. at all….

I’m suggesting we talk about the safety of the trans and non-binary community, and of the attacks they receive.

I’m suggesting we, as a society talk.

However, as Thomas Jefferson wrote ‘a well informed electorate is prerequisite to democracy’.

And there is currently no chance that trans people are going to be allowed to speak, while gender critical people are interviewed everywhere.

See the problem?

So we at Medway Pride Radio along with other community stations, podcasts, LGBTQ+ groups, and social media folks are going to do all we can to let you know that we will have a trans rights protest on the 6^th August at 1pm at Downing Street.

Things have to change.

Please consider coming along, support your trans brothers & non-binary folk. Be a trans ally, or maybe just turn up, say high and discover we are not the two headed monsters that some say we are.