Scores join Sheffield Radical Pride march in support of trans rights

By David Walsh
Published 1st Apr 2023, 18:42 BST
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Scores of people joined a march through Sheffield to demonstrate in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer communities.

Sheffield Radical Pride featured banners and placards and chants including “throw the Tories in the sea, we demand free HRT.” The demonstration was focused on trans rights and came the day after International Trans Day of Visibility.

Slogans included ‘Let Me Live in this Body and Breathe’, ‘Trans is Beautiful’, ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’, ‘Queer Solidarity Forever’ and ‘Trams Rights’.

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Starting on Devonshire Green, protesters walked down Division Street to Sheffield Crown Court via the Town Hall, Snig Hill Police Station and the Home Office’s Vulcan House. A speech was delivered at each site challenging what they described as “institutional anti-queerness” and claiming “the people responsible for legislating on trans lives are not representative of the community.”

The march stopped at several 'key' buildings, including the Town Hall, the Home Office’s Vulcan House, and Snig Hill Police Station.The march stopped at several 'key' buildings, including the Town Hall, the Home Office’s Vulcan House, and Snig Hill Police Station.
The march stopped at several 'key' buildings, including the Town Hall, the Home Office’s Vulcan House, and Snig Hill Police Station.

One protester said: “It’s been so empowering to see how many people have come out at such short notice. This shows how much appetite there is among queer people in Sheffield for a pride which is a protest, not simply a corporate pinkwashing party.”

The organisers say they are also planning what will be Sheffield’s only Pride event this year. They say they want it to return to its grassroots protest origins and drop ‘pinkwashing’, described as “the creeping presence of corporations, military and police forces in Pride through partnerships and sponsorship.”

The first Sheffield Pride march and festival took place in 2008 in Sharrow Cemetery Park and later moved to Endcliffe Park. The rainbow flag has since flown at various city venues.