squigglefish

Tomorrow there is a meeting to organise a political contingent to take part in the upcoming local pride parade. Sadly, I find myself in two minds over joining in.

On a minor note, there is the issue of all the smokers who will be present, which would make my currently unhappy lungs protest far more. There are also some issues I have with respect to my relations with some of the people who are putting themselves at the forefront of the movement, but I shall not be going into those here.

My main concerns, however, are regarding the construction of banners and placards, and personal safety.

You see, I'm a great lover of the idea of banners and placards and generally making a noise for rights and equality. But the issues I really want to shout about put me in a difficult place.

There is still a lot of work needed to ensure proper equality and safety for trans people. Recent court cases show that we are still more at risk than many, and the equality bill does not properly protect all people from transphobic discrimination. We are still used as the punchline to jokes in the media, and the medical establishment has some peculiar takes on their relationship with our lives.

However, like many trans people, I am generally 'stealth' outside of LGBT groups, as a defence against transphobic and transmisogynistic shit. In an industry dominated by men, based around office work and heavily dependant upon networking, being 'out and proud' is something that would only become safe after I can be sure I will still have a practical career left afterwards.

As such, it is not really practical or safe for me to go marching in the parade with pro-trans banners, placards that would out me. However anything else wouldn't really be true to my heart.