Zack Polanski urged Andy Burnham’s new government to block imminent single-sex space reforms which may see trans people excluded from thousands of bathrooms nationwide come August 5th.
The Mayor of Hackney, Zoë Garbett, and stars from Tip Toe also attended the press conference that revealed Trans+ Pride would end in Trafalgar Square for the first time in its history.
Polanski and Garbett both rejected the new code of practice initiated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which states that come August 5th, a service must be used exclusively on the basis of birth sex in order to qualify as a single-sex space.
Polanski said: “By August 5th, Andy Burnham has an opportunity here as a new prime minister to say we’re not going to do this.
“It’s pretty grotesque what the government has done with the EHRC guidance.
“Despite the amount of MPs who signed the Early Day Motion to say during the consultation that we need to reject this guidance, they’re still going ahead with it – there’s no need for this guidance to come into place by August 5th.”
The Green Party has publicly campaigned for major reforms to trans legislation, calling for a self-identification system for gender recognition, alongside purging gender-critical members within the party.
Polanski says: “For far too long discussions became about ‘safety’, and they started to pit women’s safety against trans people’s safety – a gender recognition certificate was such an uncontroversial thing a few years ago, even with Theresa May.
“But the battle over safety, which has been fought on largely gender critical terms, has meant that even something as simple as a gender recognition certificate has been weaponised.
“The idea that politicians who don’t have the experience, particularly the Health Secretary, should be the person who’s making these decisions is ridiculous.”
Zoë Garbett spoke about the impact these reforms have had on transgender Londoners, and emphasised how the Green Party were prepping to push back on the code’s implementation in two weeks’ time.
She said: “We’re doing what we can to speak to organisations and seek legal advice around how we protect trans people during this period – we’ve done as much as we can to push back against the guidance at this point.
“We’ve written to the local MPs, I’ve written to the government, we stood up against the guidance when it was in its consultation phase, and currently we’re seeking legal advice on what we can and can’t do to protect trans people.”
Garbett stressed that the guidance, and the ensuing impacts on changing rooms and toilets across Hackney, are “completely against” her values. She also said there have been motions passed in Green councils in the last week to make sure the Green party have pushed back as much as possible before the guidance comes into place:
Garbett said: “That’s live, it’s something I’m waiting to come back from my legal team.”
The impact of the new guidance, and the extent to which it is enforced, remains to be seen, however. This will become apparent in the weeks following August 5th.
The panel, consisting of figures like transgender model Rain Dove and the organiser of the 9000 sq ft “Trans Unity Quilt”, Mars Callick, spoke extensively of the challenges this guidance posed. Panellists also insisted that communication between trans people and the media must change in the wake of the EHRC reforms.
For example, EM Williams, a non-binary actor featured in the RSC, stated that an interview between them and BBC radio was dropped due to Williams’ insistence in using the word protest to describe Trans+ pride.
Attitude Magazine contacted the BBC for comment following Williams’ statements. They replied and stated they were unable to comment as they: “could not find a record of the matter and had been unable to identify any relevant references based on the information provided.”
Regardless, queer celebrities from across British media were present alongside politicians and panelists to implore people to attend Trans+ pride this weekend prior to the August 5th reforms.
Zelah Glasson, breakout star from Big Brother’s 2025 season, said to The New Feminist that: “Pride has become a bit more of a party when at its roots it is a protest, and I think we have that still in Trans+ pride.
“Trans+ pride is very much a protest and I think everyone very much should be making an effort to come – if you’re an ally we need you now more than ever.”
The New Feminist has been invited to attend Trans+ pride later this week, and we will bring you further updates from the protest itself.