Young trans protester scales Department of Education building to stop banner removal
Footage captures by onlookers shows the moment an activist climbed the Department for Education building. (Instagram/Trans Kids Deserve Better)
Footage shared online shows the moment a young trans activist scaled a building to prevent a protest banner being removed from outside the Department for Education (DfE).
A group of activists, many under the age of 18, have been occupied the DfE headquarters in London to protest against the government’s continued stance on trans rights.
Activist group Trans Kids Deserve Better, who are responsible for the protest, wrote that transgender youngsters “deserve respect in education and in all other areas of life”.
As part of the protest, a banner was hung over the doors of the DfE building, reading: “We are not pawns for your politics.”
Pictures from day five of the occupation showed DfE staff trying to remove the banner. In response, one of the activists, named Grin by UK news outlet What the Trans, began scaling the building to get there first.
Footage first posted on Reddit, and later shared across the internet, shows Grin using the grooves of the stone bricks to make the climb.
He eventually caught the banner and, with the help of other protestors, safely descended to be greeted with a hug by several other activists.
Users on social media were stunned at Grin’s climbing skills, with one writing: “Everything about this is so impressive.” Another said: “Whoever they are, they’re a damn good climber.”
Trans Kids Deserve Better praised Grin, calling him “Spider-Trans” and thanking him for “climbing meters off the ground with no hesitation”.
The group also protested at NHS England’s headquarters in July, urging the prime minister Keir Starmer to “stop weaponising” trans youth.
A donation page created by the group accuses the government of turning trans rights into a tool “in order to create moral panic, split the left, and distract from real problems.”
The page, which originally asked for £1,000 ($1,300) to support the protest, has now raised more than £12,400 ($16,400).
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