Queer resistance & sun-soaked solidarity at the world’s largest trans pride march
- Text by Ella Glossop
- Photography by Ella Glossop
Our Future, Our Fight — Over the weekend, over 150,000 people marched at the London Trans+ Pride, with the parade ending at Trafalgar Square for the first time in history.
On Saturday, the streets of central London became a sea of colour, resistance and celebration as an estimated 150,000 people joined London Trans+ Pride – making it the largest trans pride march in the world.
Now in its sixth year, the march arrives at a moment of heightened political pressure for trans people in the UK. Organisers described 2026 as the “most politically urgent year” in the event’s history, with this year’s theme – Our Future, Our Fight – reflecting a growing sense of determination in the face of escalating public debate and policy changes affecting trans rights.
Ending in Trafalgar Square for the first time in history, many placards focus on the basic humanity of trans people – a response to the disproportionate fearmongering and attention aimed at trans people in the media. Messages reading “We are all human” and “Why are you so obsessed with me?” try to restore a little perspective. One attendee carries a frame simply reading “look closer, it’s just people” – a poignant point when it’s a group of smiling, glitter-clad marchers waving pink flags behind it.
The message took on a painful new resonance just hours later, when news emerged of a terrorist attack on a Pride event in Berlin on the night after London Trans+ Pride. Organisers acknowledged that the news “may feel particularly frightening or overwhelming” coming so soon after the event.
“We will not allow violence to isolate us or take away our right to gather, protest, celebrate and live freely,” they wrote in a statement on Instagram.
“We also reject any attempt by the far right to exploit this tragedy to fuel Islamophobia, racism or further division.”
Inspired by Trans Pride Brighton – the first ever trans-specific Pride event in the UK – the London march has grown dramatically since it first drew 1,500 people in 2019. “We thought things were going to get better and better. It got to 2015, 2016 and things started to go backwards,” Brighton Trans Pride cofounder Fox Fisher tells Huck. According to the ILGA Rainbow Map – which ranks and measures European countries based on their laws and policies that affect LGBTQ+ folk – in 2026 the UK was the 22nd best country to live in for queer people out of 49. In 2015, the UK was ranked first.
“To have an event like Trans Pride in London, where we’re saying ‘these are our streets’ – it’s so important,” Fisher continues. “To be able to look after each other, have a safety net when the other safety nets have been pulled away from us.”
For broadcaster and podcaster Jack Remmington, the march was a chance to push back against the idea that opposition to trans people represents the public mood. “The opposition to trans people is a powerful but very small vocal minority,” he tells Huck. “It’s days like today that show the love and unity, and hopefully show trans people that there are so many people that are on their side and that love them. My life would be noticeably so much less enriched without trans people in it.”
As the march grows in size year on year, it also feels increasingly charged – with the characteristic prideful eccentricity and joy cutting through a palpable sense of fear felt by many in the community. Cars honk as they went past, people high up in shop windows show their support. Music blares from boom boxes on rollers, drums and trombones. This is a loud, visible reminder that is urgently needed – that on these streets, trans people do not have to face this moment alone.
Huck’s Ella Glossop was there to capture the day.
Ella Glossop is Huck’s social editor. Follow her on Bluesky.
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