The most cheerful, hilarious and powerful posters on Trans+ Pride in London -TGN

All the very best Placards from Trans+ Pride in London 2023. (PinkNews)

The very best signs at London’s 2023 Trans+ Pride showed that it was a celebration of trans power, beauty and genius, and a display of strength against transphobia and discrimination.

More than 35,000 trans people and allies – from the LGBTQ+ community and beyond – joined forces in central London to march for trans equality and justice on Saturday (June 8) at the fifth annual edition of Trans+ Pride in the capital.

No one likes placards like LGBTQ+ people, and Trans+ Pride was a great example of this.

From stunning hand-painted banners that took hours — if not days — to get perfect, to puns and powerful slogans scribbled on bits of cardboard, Saturday’s march had the full spectrum of sparkle on the signs.

Here’s an overview of the very best Trans+ Pride signage in London 2023.

Marsha P Johnson, the black trans activist who was on the front lines of the 1969 Stonewall riots that gave us Pride marches as we know them today, was commemorated with a beautiful trans flag banner.

Solidarity from the wider LGBTQ+ community – including lesbians – was evident with supportive signs, something especially vital at a time when some anti-trans voices are trying to divide and exclude trans people under the guise of lesbian rights.

There were plenty of overtly political signals about refugee rights, incarceration and trans rights worldwide, with a special focus on the British Conservative government, with many chants from those present about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s poor record on trans rights.

Themes that really stood out on the boards on display included our common humanity – regardless of how we identify and present ourselves – and the joy of the trans experience.

In a year when trans rights are under increasing scrutiny, particularly in the UK and the US, this joy and pride in being trans is perhaps more important than ever.

The trans community has had to be incredibly resilient in the face of legislative assaults on community access to toilets, changing rooms, health care and the ability to participate in sporting events in 2023, something that has been reflected in a number of signs.

London’s Trans+Pride also had beautiful signs representing the intersex community and highlighting the hypocrisy inherent in allowing medically unnecessary surgeries to intersex children while attempting to ban consenting adults from having life-saving gender-affirming surgeries.

And then there were the signs that you can’t help but say hello to because they’re so damn sassy and hilarious.

What do we want? Trans rights! When do we want them? Yesterday, thanks.