A written article by our Committee Member – Nic Shoults (he/him)

I am writing this the day after the London protest against the Supreme Court ruling.

Wednesday 16 April was one of the biggest legal attacks on trans rights in my living history. I heard the news with frustration and anger leading to a sense of insecurity in living in the UK. I heard the feeling likened to the sense of grieving that happened at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. Only this time, we are not in it together. This time we saw people cheering in a courtroom as they stripped trans people of their identities, erased non binary people and ignored the existence of intersex people.

I knew instantly, if there was a protest – I would be going.

Roll on Saturday 19 April. Getting ready to protest for everyone, and I mean everyone, affected by this ruling. It will impact far wider than the trans community that it was aimed at. All over the country, cis women of colour have been denied access to bathrooms by white women. Masculine women have been threatened with job losses because they don’t fit mainstream beliefs of femininity.

I expected there to be a turn out, but I was overwhelmed by the level of the turnout. Arriving just after 13:00 and not being able to fit into Parliament Square. Traffic was beeping, we were being seen, we were being heard. People have tried to ignore us, erase us and hide us but we won’t be pushed aside. Everyone I spoke to on the march said the same – the level or turnout far surpassed expectations. The Police and the organisers included.

This is what the Supreme Court didn’t see coming. There are a lot of us and we won’t be put down any more. The people cheering in the courtroom did so whilst standing on the backs of others. We had a choice, hide away and accept it, or, go out and be heard. I am proud of what we did. I am proud of the amount of people who came together to say no, not in my name. And so, it goes against everything that happened in the ruling but I will say this – No one has rights until everyone has rights.