We, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, demand that Leicester Pride rejects any applications made by the Labour Party to hold a market stall or register as a group for the parade at Leicester Pride 2024. While members of the Labour government and backbench MPs continue to threaten the rights of transgender people and promote transphobic narratives to the press, the party should not be welcomed by Pride organisers in any official capacity. Pride events should be welcoming and safe spaces for the entire LGBTQ+ community and the presence of any organisation that acts against our interests actively undermines this. 

Labour Transphobia

Keir Starmer: PM & Party Leader

• In an interview with LBC in June, Starmer stated that trans women being admitted to hospital should “be accommodated, but not in a woman’s ward”, suggesting they be treated in “side-rooms” instead. [link] 
• In an interview with The Sunday Times in April 2023, Starmer stated “For 99.9 per cent of women, it is completely biological … and of course they haven’t got a penis.” [link] 

Wes Streeting: Health Secretary

• In April, Streeting expressed regret over his previous view that “trans men are men, trans women are women” in an interview with The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole. [link]
• Streeting has backed the discredited Cass Review, expressed his intention to renew the Conservative government’s emergency ban on puberty blockers and convert it into a permanent ban. [link]