A Scouser has proudly reflected on how she created London Trans Pride.
Lucia Blayke, from Liverpool, founded the yearly event after she realised the UK’s capital didn’t have a celebration of its own like other cities. The first event was attended by 2,000 people in 2019 and now, only four years later, 30,000 are expected to gather to celebrate trans lives in July.
The 26-year-old told the ECHO: “I noticed London didn’t have its own trans pride, and I thought as the capital of the UK that was ridiculous. This is literally the city where politicians sit in parliament scheming up ways to oppress trans people and how they can use us as a scapegoat to distract from all of the horrendous things they’ve done to this country.
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“I wanted to send a message not just to parliament, but to the whole world, that trans people are living and thriving in the UK and we are here to stay. The growth of the event has been insane. Honestly, if I died tomorrow I’d feel happy that I’ve done something to make this world a better place.”
Although the event has been celebrated by thousands of people, Lucia established the day as she “needed” it - a day where she didn’t feel like an “outcast”.
The activist said: “My work is focused on my lived experience, more out of necessity than choice. I never dreamed of growing up and becoming an activist and having to fight to keep my basic human rights, I’m actually really creative and always wanted to be a film director.
"I actually wish my time wasn’t consumed by fighting for trans rights, and my dream is that one day it won’t be and I’ll be able to be more than my trans identity.”
Lucia grew up in the city during the noughties when the “scally skinhead movement” was well underway. Despite not knowing what the term transgender meant, she recalls knowing she hated having short hair and would cry in the mirror as a result of it.
Lucia later learnt she was battling with gender dysphoria and explained how she saw her hair as more than just a substance growing on top of her head but rather part of her identity - her trans identity.
The former City of Liverpool College student said: “I loved living in Liverpool as a trans woman. You’ve got to have thick skin, cause it is just the Scouse way to be quite brutal when it comes to jokes and having a laugh. You have just got to be able to take it all as a joke and give it back even harder.
“But ultimately the Scouse way is to stick together and love your family members no matter what, so I’ve always felt supported and loved whenever I’ve lived in Liverpool.
“Comparing that now to London, I think London is made out to be this really accepting utopia, but it honestly isn’t. Don’t get me wrong there’s more diversity and a mixture of people who dress and look different here, but there are also bad people, crime, violence and sexual assaults.
“So whilst I do feel like there are more trans people and a bigger trans community in London, in some ways, I actually feel safer in Liverpool because I know if I was being attacked then some other Scousers would run over and help, whereas in London no one would even look at you.”
Lucia has stepped down from the organisational team of London Trans Pride and is now focusing on making a positive change for the trans community elsewhere.
She added: “You never really see trans people in professional jobs or settings. You never really see a transgender doctor or teacher.
“I personally want more from my life so I’ve really had to work on my confidence and self-belief to be able to do things like lecture at Oxford University, with the power and conviction that I am someone to listen to and I will be taken seriously.
“Trans people are just regular human beings and deserve to be able to use a bathroom in peace, we deserve to be able to live normal lives and contribute to society. I think we will get there, but only through things like positive media representation, diversity training in the workplace, better healthcare services for trans people and LGBTQ+ education in schools.”
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