On a sun-filled and joyful day in August last year, thousands of people took to the streets of Cardiff to march in the Pride Cymru parade. One of those people was 52-year-old Kate Hutchinson, trustee of Pride Cymru and education manager for the LGBTQ+ anti bullying charity Diversity Role Models, who had travelled to the city centre from her home in Wrexham. What happened next was something Kate could never have prepared for, but something the events of her whole life had led up to.
As the parade approached St Mary's Street, it came to an abrupt stop. Kate was carrying a huge trans flag with the help of young people from local LGBTQ+ youth clubs, people from the trans community and allies including international sportswoman and presenter Beth Fisher.
As Kate was wondering why the parade had come to a standstill, a fellow volunteer at Pride Cymru came over to her, gave her a hug and told her he had something to tell her. Anti-trans protesters were blocking the procession.
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"I was just flabbergasted," said Kate, "but I was also really angry. I thought, 'how dare they?'. I looked back and there was this flag, about 38ft long carried by all these young people from the community and I walked forward. I asked [the fellow volunteer], 'What are we going to do?' and he said 'We've got the community's back on this, we're going to get this sorted.'"
"I looked around and the road was lined with supporters," said Kate. "We had thousands of people in that parade. I thought: 'These people support us, this whole city supports us'. There are seven people blocking the route with pretty obscene, transphobic banners and I thought we needed to do something about this.
"I walked up each side of the road and I started to say, 'Are we going to let Cardiff accept this? Cardiff is better than that. Will you join me in a chant for trans rights?' I had a lot of allies who were there for the community with me. Beth Fisher was carrying the flag too. Beth helped me get the crowd to join in."
"I started this chant of 'Trans rights are human rights' and in my head I'm thinking 'What am I doing?'. But then people started to join in. The crowds on both sides of the road joined in and the parade joined in shouting out this chant. I could hear it around me and I was just shouting at the top of my voice because at this point I couldn't even hear myself. I was just incredibly emotional.
"Eventually we found out that the police were moving them. I didn't go anywhere near the protesters. I did not confront the protestors. That is exactly what they would have wanted. I just thought we needed to raise the voice of Cardiff to show that Cardiff supports trans rights and that's what we did."
Once the group obstructing the procession moved on after being asked by police, those carrying the trans flag moved to the front of the parade. The distinctive light blue, light pink and white symbol, and the many people carrying it, led thousands marching through Cardiff until the parade came to an end.
When Kate reached the Pride Cymru volunteer area later that day, she broke down in tears. "I can't believe that happened but I'm also amazed at Cardiff and our community for standing up against it," she said. Kate had been fighting to be her true self since she was in primary school in the 1970s and the events of the day had taken her back to the feelings she had as a child of being bullied, she said.
"I knew I was trans from a very early age. I knew from the school playground in primary school. But I hid it because I didn't want to be bullied. I wanted to fit in. That's a big reason why I'm involved in anti-bullying now. I know the effects that bullying had. I was still bullied in school for being different. I was probably bullied for what might have been seen as me being an effeminate boy," said Kate.
On rallying the crowd at Pride Cymru last year in response to the protest group, Kate said: "It was anger and it was that young, bullied child that stood up and said no. Because they are bullying us and we're not going to stand for that and Cardiff will not stand for that. I never planned on working for an anti-bullying charity. It was my experiences. When I transitioned I started to have people shout things at me on the street and I thought 'I had this when I was at school, I'm not having this now when I'm being authentic to myself'. I started looking at ways I could help change things for others."
Throughout the decades, Kate has witnessed the changing political landscape when it comes to trans rights and LGBTQ+ rights in general in the UK. After coming out as trans to her friends in the 1990s, she de-transitioned due to transphobia and then re-transitioned later in life. "I'm somebody who transitioned, de-transitioned, then re-transitioned. Initially, it was because of the lack of understanding [from others].
"Then I re-transitioned at a time when I had a good support system around me and I started seeing really good representation of trans people. I had a few rocky moments early on and I would hear a lot of transphobic language shouted at me. Then it started to disappear a bit. Then it got to about 2018, which is when the UK government did the consultation around the Gender Recognition Act and after that I saw an upswing of transphobic language and behaviour."
Whether it's legislation concerning the rights of trans people being debated in the House of Commons or anti-trans rhetoric in the media, Kate has felt the real-life impact. "There's not a day when it doesn't affect my life in one way or another. That can be anxiety going into a new social space. If I'm invited on a night out somewhere part of my brain starts to tick over about, 'Will I be welcome there? Will people judge me there?'. But I know there's safe spaces out there for me and you can't look at society negatively. There's lots of different communities where I will be accepted for who I am and that's quite refreshing when it happens. But it's always there in the back of my mind. It's a constant thought."
But despite the daily challenges she faces for simply being herself, nothing has been more rewarding for Kate as re-transitioning. "When it comes down to it, being able to be your authentic self and just being out there and living your truth is the greatest thing ever. I never have one single regret about my transition because it's enabled me to be who I am.
"I'm much more outgoing, I've got more confidence and I'm able to be myself. I found it hard to speak to a room of people. Now I try and give confidence to other people and educate people about being accepting of difference and celebrating difference." It's this determination to make Wales and the UK a safer, more inclusive place for trans people that earnt Kate a top spot on this year's Pinc List. Inspiring the next generation to create a world that is more open and loving than the one she grew up in, Kate's nominations showed she is a powerful source of hope and support within the community.
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