Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, a family member friend or ally intrested in creative art and craftwork or looking to make podcasts, be a radio DJ or have an intrest in digital music creation.

Together in Pride is a project for over 18yrs who would like to join a group looking to develop creative skills make friends,and get support from the creative community.

Together in Pride is for LGBTQIA+ people, family, friends and allys 18 yrs or older, intrested in joining Medway Pride CIC Creative project Together In Pride. There are 2 creative groups. One will look at Creative art and craft projects, the other will look at Digital Radio DJ and Podcasting with a view to expand into other creative digital art / music production. The creative groups are planning to commence in October and meet once a month for 12 months. We will contact those intrested in joining a group once we have more information on meeting location and dates.

Please register your intrest via the form on this link or use the QR code above

Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, a family member friend or ally intrested in creative art and craftwork or looking to make podcasts, be a radio DJ or have an intrest in digital music creation.

Together in Pride is a project for over 18yrs who would like to join a group looking to develop creative skills make friends,and get support from the creative community.

Together in Pride is for LGBTQIA+ people, family, friends and allys 18 yrs or older, intrested in joining Medway Pride CIC Creative project Together In Pride. There are 2 creative groups. One will look at Creative art and craft projects, the other will look at Digital Radio DJ and Podcasting with a view to expand into other creative digital art / music production. The creative groups are planning to commence in October and meet once a month for 12 months. We will contact those intrested in joining a group once we have more information on meeting location and dates.

Please register your intrest via the form on this link or use the QR code above

Medway Pride CIC would like to thank Tristan Osbourne MP for Chatham and Aylesford for his support of LGBTQIA+ members of the community as a signatory of EDM240, the full details of all 166 members of parliament can be seen by following the link in the image above.

As Medway leading LGBTQIA+ organisation we will be continuing to seek improvements in the way community members, especially transgender, Non-binary and Cisgender people who may be affected by the proposed EHRC Guidance. We agree with the following statement from the LGBTQIA+ Consortium

Yesterday marked the end of the 40-day Parliamentary scrutiny period for the EHRC’s updated Code of Practice. With no debate or vote having taken place, this stage of the process has now concluded. While the Code has not yet come into force, it may now be brought into effect by ministers at a future date.

Although this milestone marks the end of one stage, it is far from the end of the work ahead. Across our membership, organisations are continuing to assess the implications of the Code, support their communities, and prepare for the challenges it may create in practice. We know there remains significant uncertainty for LGBTQ+ organisations, particularly those supporting trans+ communities, and we remain committed to working collectively through what comes next.

Over the coming weeks, Consortium will be bringing together resources, guidance and practical information from across our members and partners into a central hub. Our aim is to provide an accessible place where organisations, communities and allies can find trusted information, share learning, and access support as the legal and policy landscape continues to develop.

Throughout this process, our strength has come from collaboration across our movement. We remain committed to amplifying the expertise and lived experience of our members, supporting one another, and advocating for an equal society where the rights, dignity and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people are protected.

This moment is not the end of the conversation. We will continue listening, responding, and working alongside our members and partners to ensure our communities have the information, resources, and collective voice they need in the months ahead

Is your business / service classed as a single sex space under the equality act 2010.

The EQ2010 act was written with inclusion in mind and a balance was set to satisfy the equality rights for all the 9 protected charicteristices which include:

Gender Reassignment (Trans Women and Trans Men and Non-binary people who have taken steps to changed charicteristics associated with their birth sex)

Sex Women, Men and gender non*conforming people)

Sexuality (sexual attraction to another person)

Belief (Belief or non-belief in a relegion or philosophical beliefs. To qualify as a protected “philosophical belief,” your conviction must meet specific legal criteria, they must not conflict with the fundamental rights of others)

The Statutorty Guidance for service providers to prevent discrimination was published in 2011. For those with the protected charicteristic of Gender Reasignment it advised service providers should treat trans people as the sex of their lived gender, so a trans women would be female, and a trans man would be male, there was no clacification for non-binary identities but depending on circumstances they could still be covered to prevent discrimination under the Gender Charicteristic criteria. Trans people were also covered by the other applicable charicteristics for them, plus if they had reassigned their legal sex through the application of a Gender Recognicial Certificate they would legally the sex of their lived gender, ie a Trans women would legally be a Woman and a Trans Man would legally be a Man.

A trans person with or without a GRC could be legaly refused access to a single sex service as classified under the equality act if it was proportional to achive a legitimate aim. Toilets and changing rooms not withing a single sex service were usually not classed as a single sex service for the puposes of the act as it was not considered proportional to restrict access for trans people to the toilet or changing facility that matched their lived gender. This situation has been in place for decades without the hostility we see on social media or affecting the safety of women and girls in those spaces, above the threat level of being attacked in any location by any another person.

Under this 2026 proposed guidance for the application of the EA20010, the settled discrimination law has been turned on it head for trans people. It leaves service providers in a position where they are being advised to stop trans women using womens facilities or trans men using male or in some cases womens facilities with a threat of legal action for discrimination on the grounds of sex or belief thorugh the courts system, or if they dont provide services for trans people a threat of legal action for discrimination for gender reasignment. Businesses are saying its an impossible conundrum to solve to provide suitable in some buildings provide adiquate facilities whic may end up with male and female facilities becoming unisex.

the proposed guidance leaves trans people being classed as a 3rd gender and open to public scrutiny stigmatised, open to abuse and umiliation, not the dignity, respect and humanity they deserve for what is the outcome of a recognised medical condition of gender incongruence. This is against the Human Rights of trans people under ECHR law.

Service providers need to decide is their service truly a single sex service under the equality act? can it be proportional to restrict access to the service by a trans person, or would it be proportional to make a policy for the inclusion of trans people, for instance a service for women (cis women including trans women) not including cis men or trans men and a service for men ( inclusive of cis men and trans men) not including cis women or trans women.

We don’t want to go back to the anti LGBTQIA+ laws of the past.

it’s 38 years since Section 28 was introduced by the Conservative Party. Now Labour is about to introduce their own version of Section 28 for the Trans community, under the guise of the EHRC Statutory Guidance for Service Providers for the 2010 Equality Act and the Statutory Guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education. Back in the 80s, 90s, and 00s, I would not have thought it was possible that a Labour government would condone, let alone instigate their own version of Section 28.

I am calling on everyone who believes these policies are wrong to send a letter or an email to their MP to ask them to fight against these policies of division. I ask my friends to support trans people you know by asking your employers and service providers to have inclusive policies. For members of the Labour Party to voice your opposition, to the Union movement to mobilise and stand with LGBTQIA+ people in this fight for justice. To all those who are already supporting the trans community, thank you. This could be a long, hard fight, but with your support not only will we survive, but we will win the day.

Hilary Cooke, Chair of Medway Pride C.I.C

A STATEMENT FROM MEDWAY PRIDE C.I.C.

Medway Pride will always stand by the Trans+ community.

Friday’s announcement has caused a lot of concern and fear within the Trans+ community. They are our friends, our family, our neighbours, our organisers. We know this time is scary, but you are not alone in this fight.

Friday saw draft EHRC guidance put before Parliament. It is over 340 pages long. Its full impact is still being digested, but it seems to amount to little more than trans segregation.

This month, we have seen the UK drop to 22nd from 1st in 2015 on ILGA’s list of European countries. This move would undoubtedly see the UK drop even further.

There is a 40-day consultation period, and we urge you all to write to your MP to express your concern over this draft guidance, ensure scrutiny, and ask for an inclusive approach. We wish to dissuade any organisation or business in Medway from making rushed moves in response to this announcement. Remember, exclusion is not mandatory.

We will share information we come across. Please reach out for help if you need it.

If you need support right now, Switchboard LGBT+ Support Line is open 10am to 10pm.
0800 0119 100 or switchboard.lgbt or he***@*********rd.lgbt

Lesbian Visibility Week (LVW) is a global movement celebrating and uplifting LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people. See https://www.lesbianvisibilityweek.com/ for mor information

TDOV is an important day in the yearly calendar for Trans people. It is an opportunity for the community to be visible which helps to break down barriers caused by fear and misunderstanding of the community. This is especially important after a year of bad news for inclusion of trans people in sport and other spaces as highlighted by media organisations. Its also importan that transpeople can see members of the community being included and succesful in there lives. Trans people have always existed and will continue to exist and live as their trueselves.

New Project

Transsister and the Robots is a project supporting the LGBTQIA+ community thought music created by individuals and AI technology.

The project is looking to work with musicians in the Medway Kent area, both young and old who are interested in how they can use AI to develop ideas and recreate songs they have written or working on. to produce new versions of songs they can play live and record.

Any profits from these songs will be donated to Medway Pride CIC Fund which supports Medway Pride and Pride Fring Festivals and other support services for the LGBTQIA+ community in Medway.

New Release by the Transsister & the Robots project We See You Today (TDOV),  2 versions available (Drum & Bass Dance) & (RnB Soul) for Transgender Day of Visibility

These are our tracks in support of TDOV (Tuesday 31^st March – We See You Today (TDOV it is available on all streaming services and digital music stores both versions available on You Tube Music.

Link to the Playlist for both tracks Transsister and the Robots

The project is looking to work with musicians in the Medway Kent area both young and old who are interested in how they can use AI to develop ideas and recreate songs they have written or working on to  produce new versions of songs they can play live and record. Any profits from these songs will be donated to Medway Pride CIC Fund which supports Medway Pride and Pride Fring Festivals and other support services for the LGBTQIA+ community