London Trans Pride says ‘Zionism’ unwelcome at its march
The event, the largest of its kind in the world, included 'Zionism' on a list of behaviours or beliefs which would not be tolerated
London’s pride march for transgender people – the largest of its kind in the world – has included “Zionists” among those it has described as unwelcome at its events.
In a post on Instagram this week, London Trans Pride posted a list of behaviours or beliefs which it said would not be tolerated at the annual march, including “Body-shaming, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia”, as well as Zionism.
The organisation subsequently responded to a number of LGBT+ Jews who were highly critical of the list’s inclusion of Zionism by deleting their responses to the original social media post, before blocking them entirely.
Writer Josh Rose, who has previously spoken out about he felt abandoned by many in the LGBT+ community post-7 October, stated:
“Myself and other members of the LGBT+ Jewish community reached out to London Trans Pride to let them know how bigoted and exclusionary they have become and we quickly found our comments deleted and our profiles blocked – a great day for inclusion and open dialogue, two of the most favoured meaningless buzzwords of the progressive left.”
While London Trans Pride is a different organisation to London Pride, the last two years have seen no Jewish bloc take part at the latter event, with the usual organisers of the bloc stating that London Pride had been unable to guarantee the safety of participants.
In a follow-up statement posted to Instagram, London Trans Pride claimed that “Jewish people are, of course, welcome at LT+P. We stand firmly against all forms of antisemitism.
“As an organisation we unequivocally stand with Palestine, and wholly condemn the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza and Zionist violence across the region.
“These positions are not contradictory, if anything they are inherently aligned.
“LT+P is a space of care, solidarity and liberation for all oppressed people.”
The UK Lawyers for Israel group has written to the organisers of London Trans+ Pride, explaining that its actions breach their own values of inclusivity and intolerance of “racism and racial discrimination” – as well as breaching the Equality Act 2010.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism described London Trans Pride’s actions as “despicable.
“Not only are Zionists not welcome at London Trans+ Pride, but the organisers view Zionism as being in the same category as racism and sexism.”
CAA went on to say that according to its polling, “80% of British Jews consider themselves to be Zionists; only 6% do not.”
Jewish News has approached London Trans Pride for comment.
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