LGBT Groups Clash as 'Get the L Out' Shows Up to Pride Parade
Disunity was on display in London on Saturday as antagonisms among LGBT groups emerged at the city’s Pride Parade.
A group called “Get the L Out” displayed its opposition to activists supporting the transgender population with a banner reading “Transactivism Erases Lesbians,” PJ Media reported.
At one point during the event, the group laid down in the street in protest of what it called “lesbian erasure,” according to The Independent.
The group’s position is that advocates of transgender rights are stepping on the rights of the lesbian population.
Through a fluke of circumstances, the group ended up leading off the parade, giving their message vast prominence — so much so that London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office issued a statement to Pink News condemning the group. Khan was supposed to lead the parade.
“Pride is about celebrating difference and London’s amazing LGBT+ community,” Khan’s spokesperson said. “It’s about showing those round the world that in our great city you can be free to be whoever you want to be and love whoever you want to love. The vast majority of those present at today’s march respected and embraced that and the Mayor condemns the tiny minority who did not.”
“Transphobia is never acceptable,” the statement added.
https://twitter.com/SafariWoman/status/1016898464096112640
Pride in London, the group that put on the parade, apologized that the pro-lesbian group had such a prominent position, according to the BBC.
It said the group “forced their way to the front of the parade.”
Although a statement from Pride in London called the group’s actions “shocking and disgusting,” it also said that the “actions of eight people did not stop the joy and love”.
The group “showed a level of bigotry, ignorance and hate that is unacceptable. We reject what this group stands for. They do not share our values, which are about inclusion and respect and support for the most marginalized parts of our community,” the statement said.
“We are proud of our trans volunteers, proud of the trans groups that are in our parade, proud of our trans speakers at events and proud of the trans people who take part in our campaigns and proud of those who cheered even louder for them yesterday,” the statement said.
https://twitter.com/KittyNolan16/status/1016782646259707904
However, the group was not apologetic for bringing the divide in the LGBT population before the eyes of the world.
“We protested to protect our rights and on behalf of all the lesbians intimidated, threatened and silenced by the GBT community everywhere,” a Get the L Out spokesperson said in a statement.
“The GBT community today, by supporting the rights of males who ‘identify as lesbians (also called “transwomen”) over the rights of lesbians to choose their sexual partners (on the basis of their sex, not how they “identify”) is in fact enforcing heterosexuality on lesbians. This is a misogynistic and anti-lesbian manifestation of the rape culture we live in,” the group said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
