This was my first time attending Trans Pride Brighton. On my walk to Worthing rail station a guy questioned why I was wearing pink dungarees, then shouted at me that I was a poof and a faggot. I just hurried along to catch my train, but did mull over the experience on the way to Brighton. Fortunately the rest of the day was excellent.
I treated myself to coffee on the way to Dorset Gardens, where I met some UNISON South East members, before heading down to Jubilee Square. There I met members from West Sussex branch, UNISON Kent and UNISON University of Brighton. It was difficult to hear the opening speeches due to the crowds and the speakers only had megaphones, however this didn’t detract from the great atmosphere from the crowd. Jubilee Square was absolutely buzzing with people, excited for the march ahead.
Hu Evans, right, Branch LGBT+ Officer
The march started at midday and was amazing, a large presence of people had gathered and it felt very much more like a protest march compared to recent LGBT+ Prides. In front we had drumming and behind us was a guy spurring the chanting with “What do we want ?..”, “Trans Rights!”, “When do we want it?..”, “Now!” which he then finished by yelling “ARRRRRHHH” passionately! It made everyone smile.
From Jubilee Square the route took us up North Street to the clock tower, then down West Street to the seafront and left lane of the A259. As we turned off into the Old Steine we broke off from the march as it was returning to Jubilee Square and we were heading to the UNISON South East stall in Dorset Gardens.
On the march
The UNISON stall was near the stage, which mainly featured musical performances interspersed with sections from various LGBT+/trans support groups discussing what they do and the support they offer the trans community. There was a section at 5pm, where four members from different unions gave brief speeches including Tyler from UNISON Kent who talked about the roll out of UNISON’s Trans Ally training and how it was benefiting and supported trans people.
Overall I found it a great event which felt really positive. There was a lot of positive support from current UNISON members as well as people genuinely interested in finding out more about being part of a trade union.
Heading back from Worthing station, on the same stretch of road from my earlier experience, a woman walked past me, giving me a thumbs up saying she loved my dungarees, which was quite a nice end to the day.
UNISON is attending Crawley Pride on Saturday 17 August starting at 11.00am. I’m really looking forward to it and would encourage you to join us for another great event.
Tim Halpin (left) West Sussex branch rep at Grace Eyre Foundation, and Lydia Freeman (right) Higher Education SGE member for the South East (nominated by West Sussex branch) from University of Brighton branch.