“London Trans+ Pride has proven, once again, exactly what it is: unstoppable,” said organiser Lewis Burton, addressing an estimated 150,000 trans people and allies gathered in Trafalgar Square this weekend. Homemade placards and flags were raised towards the stage, while the 96-metre Trans Unity Quilt – patchworked from more than 300 contributions by trans people and their loved ones across the UK – billowed among them. That the volunteer-run event should draw its largest-ever audience (up from 100,000 last year) is testament to the collective resistance taking shape as attacks on the community intensify.
To wit: in two weeks, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations – drafted in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court ruling, which redefined “biological sex” in a way that enables organisations to deny trans people access to single-sex spaces – is set to come into force. Meanwhile, puberty blockers have been permanently banned for trans young people, and the government’s draft Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 guidance rolls back trans inclusion in schools, critics say, echoing the malign legacy of Section 28, a 1988 law that prevented councils and schools from promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality. Little wonder, then, that the UK has fallen from the top of the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map in 2015 to 22nd place out of 49 European countries today. “Every single person who marched today is proof that we are not going anywhere,” Burton continued. “That our joy is louder than their hate, and that London Trans+ Pride will keep fighting, keep loving and keep growing until every trans person is safe, seen and free.”
Indeed it was joy, not fear, that proved most palpable: Tiara Skye strutting through Regent Street with ABBA blaring from a boombox; friends collapsing into hugs; thousands reclaiming public space from those who would rather they disappeared from it. The clothes, too, became another way of asserting visibility. “To me, transness is inherently punk,” says photographer and artist Ezekiel, who was on assignment for Vogue to document the style on the ground. “So it didn’t surprise me that many of the looks I saw drew from punk aesthetics, with a hint of clubwear too – handmade dresses, distressed fabrics, industrial accessories, customised slogan tees. A little crafty and DIY, but never not chic. Many of the looks I shot had such a distinct point of view that I believe they could only truly come from the mind of a trans person.” She adds: “I’ve been attending the march since 2021, back when it finished in Soho Square – tiny! Despite the sweltering heat, which was outright transphobic, and the political state of the country right now, seeing all of us fill Trafalgar Square just five years later brought a little hope to my heart – and a few tears to my eyes.”
Scroll through Ezekiel’s street-style photos, here.