Haringey Pride message backs trans residents

By Hiyastar Newsroom

Published June 1, 2026

The Progress Pride flag was raised in Haringey on Monday morning as the borough opened Pride Month with a direct message to trans residents: the council says they remain part of public life in the borough and should not be pushed out of everyday spaces.

Mayor of Haringey Cllr Dawn Barnes joined council leader Cllr Mark Blake, councillors, council staff and community partners for the flag-raising. The event marked the start of Pride Month, but the council also used the moment to respond to the recent EHRC Code of Practice on the Equality Act.

Blake said Haringey would continue to stand with residents affected by the guidance, particularly trans people who, he said, may feel its negative impact most directly.

Pride Month begins with a public equality pledge

The council’s statement framed Pride Month as both a celebration and a test of local inclusion. Blake said Haringey was “a place for everyone” and described the borough as one where residents should be able to stand up for each other and share a commitment to inclusion.

The timing gives the statement wider local significance. Pride Month often brings flag-raisings, civic events and community gatherings, but this year’s message in Haringey was shaped by a live national argument over the Equality Act and how organisations should apply it.

According to the council, the EHRC Code of Practice risks creating more uncertainty for organisations and businesses that want to be inclusive. Blake warned that it could also make it easier for people to exclude others based on assumptions about how they look.

For residents, the practical question is whether local public bodies, venues, employers and community groups feel confident keeping services open and inclusive while national legal and policy debates continue.

Haringey links today’s stance to its LGBTQ+ history

The council placed its 2026 Pride Month message in the context of Haringey’s own LGBTQ+ rights record. Blake pointed to the borough’s role in resistance to Section 28 during the 1980s, when Black and queer communities in Haringey came together against anti-LGBTQ+ policy and campaigning.

This year also marks 40 years since the foundation of the Haringey Lesbian & Gay Unit. The council described it as a pioneering service created to support LGBTQ+ residents at a time when the authority faced significant backlash for doing so.

That history matters because the latest statement is not being presented as a one-off symbolic gesture. The council is drawing a line between past local activism and its current position on trans inclusion, arguing that the same principle applies: residents should not be excluded from public life because of who they are.

The reference to Section 28 also gives younger residents a clearer route into the issue. For many people in Haringey, the debate is not only about legal guidance. It sits within a longer local memory of councils, campaigners and communities contesting how LGBTQ+ people are treated in schools, services and civic life.

MPs urged to address the law

Blake said he is calling on local MPs to support efforts to “fix the law” so that everyone in Haringey can fully participate in everyday life. The council did not set out a detailed legislative proposal in the statement, but its position was clear: it wants national action that gives trans residents, organisations and businesses more certainty.

The statement also signals how Haringey Council intends to approach local inclusion while that national debate continues. Blake said he would do everything he could to support, uplift and include everyone in the borough, comparing the moment with the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash of 40 years ago.

Haringey Council said residents can find out more through its LGBTQ+ 365 webpages, which cover the borough’s history of standing up for LGBTQ+ rights.

Source: Haringey Council