Nottingham Against Transphobia hold die-in in city centre: ‘The reality we live’

A trans group held a die-in in Nottingham city centre to demand justice from the Labour government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and show the general public the stark reality trans people are currently facing.

Organised by Nottingham Against Transphobia, the protest took place on Saturday afternoon (16 August) outside Nottingham Council House in Market Square

The protest comes after a leaked version of the EHRC’s finalised guidance – published by The Times – will allegedly urge service providers to ban trans people from all single-sex facilities and services including changing rooms, wards and sporting competitions.

The Times states the unconfirmed, finalised guidance created by the UK’s human rights watchdog will not be too dissimilar to the draft guidance it published in April following the Supreme Court’s judgement in the For Women Scotland vs Scottish Ministers case, which saw the court decide the legal definition of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act does not include trans people.

Deeply controversial, the EHRC’s draft guidance outlined that trans women and men should be barred from services and facilities that match their gender but also added trans women can be banned from the men’s and trans men from the women’s in “some circumstances”. These “circumstances” were later clarified to refer to where “reasonable objection” can be taken to a trans person’s presence in a space, with an EHRC spokesperson saying an example for objection could “because the gender reassignment process has given them a masculine appearance or attributes to which reasonable objection might be taken”.

The demonstration in Nottingham saw dozens of participations carry out a die-in where they lay silently on the ground as the sound of a steady heartbeat played from a loud speaker. One attendee was dressed as the Grim Reaper and wore a mask plastered with the face of prime minister Keir Starmer, standing ominously amongst the participants on the floor.

A die-in protest refers to a demonstration in which people simulate being dead as a means of drawing attention to an issue, with the visualisation of death being used to make the public aware of the negative impacts of particular policies and laws. The non-violent tactic was used by members of Trans Kids Deserve Better at Victoria Station in London in November 2024.

As part of the protest, the group also called on local Labour MPs Alex Norris and Lillian Greenwood, who represent Nottingham North and Kimberley and Nottingham South respectively, to speak out against the EHRC’s proposed guidance.

In a statement, provided to PinkNews ahead of the die-in, organisers said: “Nottingham Against Transphobia is organising a peaceful, community-led die-in because the EHRC and Labour are pushing trans people out of public life and pushing people to suicide.

“Hence, a die-in to show the public and MPs the reality we live. ‘Dignity’ is promised on TV while policies that enable segregation and abuse are normalised in law.”

The statement continued: “We are disappointed that our local MPs, Alex Norris and Lilian Greenwood, have remained silent about the EHRC’s direction and the harm set out by Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting.

“Day to day, trans people are ostracised, shamed, harassed and assaulted for simply living our lives. 48 per cent of trans adults having attempted suicide at least once. Not because there is anything wrong with us, but because of the hate, violence, and discrimination we face. In Europe, the UK has fallen from being 1st on LGBT+ rights in 2015 to 22nd in 2025, and ranks 45th out of 49 countries on trans rights. Below countries like Belarus and Turkey.

“The average Brit does not realise quite how dire things have become.”

The group said the demonstration is “deliberately calm and non-confrontational”, adding deescalation-trained marshals were present throughout the event, with “some wearing body-worn cameras to deter aggravators and to document any hate crime or violent incidents”.

“At previous events we have experienced harassment and violence, and we are prepared for this and won’t let it stop us. Our priority is everyone’s safety,” Nottingham Against Transphobia’s organisers said.

“We also want to acknowledge the allyship Nadia Whittome has shown our community.

“Today we are calling for her and her colleagues Alex Norris and Lilian Greenwood to publicly denounce the EHRC’s, Keir Starmer’s, and Wes Streeting’s laws of oppression and hate.

“We are calling for them to affirm in clear terms that trans people have the right to participate fully and safely in public life in Nottingham. Trans women in women’s spaces and trans men in men’s spaces.”

Speaking to PinkNews at the protest, Anna – the longest-serving leader of Nottingham Against Transphobia – said the group wanted to hold the demonstration as “rapid reaction” to the EHRC guidance leaks.

“Up until this point they have pretended it is for safety but when it is [about] not having trans women in the men’s spaces, they are just trying to push us out of society. Exactly the same as the Nazis did all those years ago,” she said.

Anna said it was “scary” to see the UK repeating the past and “villainising trans people the same as the Nazi’s did” and “pushing trans people out of society like the Nazis did”.

“Where is it going to end?” she asked.

“It is always a grab for power. It is always fascistic,” Anna added. “Create a villain, claim you are the only one who can stop the villain. It is the same thing we have seen repeated over and over, atrocity after atrocity.”