Pride events ban political parties from attending

Two Pride events have banned political parties from attending in response to what they call "growing inequalities" faced by transgender people.

Oxford and Newbury Prides, which campaign for LGBT rights, said while any individual may come along, they were not allowed as part of a party and could not wear party branding.

It follows similar bans at the Birmingham, Brighton, London and Manchester events.

The moves were prompted by a Supreme Court ruling in April, which said the term "woman" in the Equality Act was defined by biological sex.

The decision was welcomed by some campaigners representing lesbian, gay and bisexual people, who said it protected single-sex groups.

However, others raised concerns about the impact on the trans community.

"Pride is a space for community, solidarity, and protest, not political promotion," the organisers of Oxford Pride said.

"We must keep the focus firmly where it belongs: on the growing inequalities and targeted attacks faced by our trans siblings here in the UK."

But Oxfordshire Liberal Democrat member James Bliss said "grouping all political parties together" was unfair.

"The only way that we reverse the recent tide against trans rights is to fight back where it matters and where we can, which is in party politics," they said.

Andrea Brookes, vice chair of Newbury Pride, said the lack of action against the Supreme Court's ruling by the government and other political parties was significant.

"Political parties in general have in recent years demonstrated no more than lip service to for the LGBTQIA+ community," she said.

In the wake of the ruling, a Labour Party spokesperson said it gave "clarity and confidence for service providers" but that "we will continue to protect the trans community".

"The laws to protect trans people from discrimination and harassment will remain in place, and trans people will still be protected on the basis of gender reassignment—a protected characteristic written into Labour's Equality Act," they added.

The case was brought by a campaign group that argued sex-based protections for women should only apply to those who were born female, a position backed by the court.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, and decisions made there cannot usually be appealed.

However, Ms Brookes wants the laws about which the court was deliberating to be rewritten to explicitly include transgender women.

"They come and wave flags and banners," she said of politicians. "But we're done with the pink washing. We want actual action."

You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.