Ginny Bayliss, Swansea and West Wales Socialist Party
150 protested outside government and BBC offices in Cardiff calling for a ban on conversion ‘therapy’ for LGBTQ+ people. The Socialist Party and Socialist Students had a strong contingent at the protest.
The event, organised by Trans Aid Cymru, was mainly young, with people from across south Wales. Many shared moving accounts of their own experiences.
The protest’s main organiser, Shash Appan, opened with a description of how she was taken to India to undergo conversion therapy, and was denied help by the British embassy. I followed with a call for us to maintain the political momentum generated by this wave of protests: “Get organised to fight for trans rights and the systems of oppression that prop up capitalism”.
Cardiff Socialist Party member Max Quayle also spoke, encouraging the crowd to “build a socialist future for all people. If we fight for it, we can win”. Max poked fun at the idea that Labour might “sort it all out for us”, to laughter from protesters all too familiar with Keir Starmer’s indecision on trans rights. The air of solidarity at the event was typified by those assembled drowning out hecklers with proud chants in support of trans rights. The protest was a powerful demonstration of working-class solidarity, and a crucial message of support to trans and non-binary people.
