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Author: QI News

Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney joins thousands as Trans Pride in London sends a defiant message of LGBTQ+ solidarity

Trans+ Pride in London did not come to play in 2022. It came to say ‘we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere. Period.’

 

London Trans+ Pride hit the Capital on Saturday (July 9) – and the message was loud, beyond beautiful and of crucial importance, for many this year particularly.

 

Trans and gender diverse people from all over the country and beyond gathered, alongside other LGB+ folk and our allies, as attendees were unified and the mood was clear:

Trans rights are human rights. Trans and all gender nonconforming lives matter. There is no LGB without the T. 

 

Protesters marched from the historic Wellington Arch, Hyde Park over to Soho Square, most holding placards with numerous messages all carrying the same sentiment. Defiance and solidarity.

This year felt important for many, amidst a sharp increase in anti-trans rhetoric and behaviour, particularly online in social spaces, with much of the mainline press on a crusade to dehumanise trans lives, and with the very real threat of LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms being rolled back both in the UK and the US.

 

In June, as the conversion therapy ban was debated in parliament, MPs from across the political spectrum spoke up in defence of trans people and called for a ban covering all LGBTQ+ folk in the UK, with one MP delivering an emotive speech applauding Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney for inspiring “young trans people across the world”.

 

Today, Finney, who plays student Elle Argent in Heartstopper, addressed the crowds saying she felt ‘connected to my community more than ever’.

‘If the government is trying to eradicate us, we’re all here, and we’re just duplicating, look at how many of us there are,’ she said before taking a justified swipe at the UK’s exiting Prime Minister, by saying: ‘Boris, bye! Bye!’

 

Finney shared about the importance of authentic trans representation for future generations, saying her role in that ‘ has made me realise how impactful it is. I want to thank you all so much for being here and I hope that, well, of course the industry’s changing, because I’m here!’

 

She went on to talk about her monumental casting in the Doctor Who 60th anniversary special, saying: “It is also a show where my character is trans so, Boris, I hope you see Heartstopper, I hope you see Doctor Who, because I exist, and I know you know I exist. We all exist, and we’re not going anywhere! Period’, she then said defiantly and to cheers from the crowd.

 

Elsewhere, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, tweeted to mark the occasion, saying: “Trans rights are human rights. My message to trans and non-binary people is this – London will always be your home.”

LGBT+ campaigner and founder of Lesbian Visibility Week, Linda Riley, who earlier this year clapped back at JK Rowling for using LVW to promote anti-trans group the LGB Alliance, shared her well-wishes too:

Check out some more from Trans+ Pride in London below:

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