Drag Race icon Bimini Bon Boulash on why Trans+ Pride is ‘more important than ever’
Bimini Bon Boulash draped in a Trans Pride flag. (Twitter/BiminiBabes)
The third-ever London Trans+ Pride is set to go ahead this Saturday (26 June), with Drag Race UK star Bimini Bon Boulash saying this year it’s “more important than ever”.
On 26 June, trans and intersex people and their allies will “celebrate the memory of trans lives taken and uphold the next generation of trans revolutionaries”, the organisers said in a statement. Attendees have been asked to wear flowers.
London Trans Pride will meet at Wellington Arch in central London. Organisers have confirmed that the march route will be accessible, and that first aiders and legal observers will be in attendance. Personal protective equipment, hi-vis, food and water will be provided for attendees.
Writing for Vice, Bimini said that London Trans+ Pride is a protest worth showing up for.
“Trans+ Pride is especially important this year because last year we didn’t have anything like it,” they said. “Also, 2020 was so orientated around COVID that a lot of medical appointments were being pushed back or cancelled and that included trans peoples’ treatments.
“For trans people, that can be extremely detrimental to their wellbeing and who they are.”
Bimini said that it’s a shame that Trans+ Pride is separate from the main Pride in London event, but that it “had to happen”.
“In 2018, I remember trans-exclusionary ‘radical’ feminists hijacking the Pride parade to protest against trans people. The exclusion of trans people is wild,” they said.
“Most people should know the history of Pride, how it started and the gender non-conforming people who were at the forefront of the movement. Ideally we would be together, fighting for the same goal, but it’s not going in that direction right now.”
Since appearing on the show, Bimini has wasted no time in building their drag empire and even branching out into other media. Bimini’s book A Drag Queen’s Guide To Life is set to go on sale in October, and in March, Bimini Bon Boulash was signed to work with major modelling agency Next Model Management.
Bimini announced the move on Instagram, saying the opportunity is a “huge, crazy, mind-blowing moment for my gender non-conforming ass”. They added it also a “huge” moment for “non-binary representation in fashion”.
