It was Edinburgh Pride day yesterday.
SNP MSP Joan McAlpine spent much of it indulging in the “legitimate debate” she’s so fond of by circulating faked tweets in order to create a social media pile-on against a trans ally and human rights campaigner.
At the actual event some anti-trans activists came along to shout their “reasonable concerns” at the marchers.
Here’s one of the marchers, a cisgender woman.
…I heard shouting, and I looked to the corner to see who that was. I’m used to being shouted at by the fringe Christians, so I looked over to see if it was them (again).
It wasn’t. It was a small group of white, ostensibly middle class cis women screaming hate at us. At Pride – an event that was initially a response to police brutality against mostly black trans women.
…I’m a cis lesbian, and because of this sort of behaviour, I am scared to go the public bathrooms much of the time.
I am routinely challenged when trying to go to the toilet and I am anxious every time I walk into the women’s changing room at the gym.
I was once followed into the toilet in a pub in Cowdenbeath by a man who tried to kick the door down and attack me because, y’know, women’s safety.
That was the most serious attack, but it was by no means an isolated incident. The attack by the anti-trans protesters yesterday was part of that continuum of violence.
No trans woman has ever made me feel unsafe. They have always respected my boundaries and my dignity.
These people yesterday made Pride an unsafe place for women like me, and for my trans pals and allies.