The Independent's Pride List 2026 is out, and one name on it made me genuinely smile: Stephanie Lynnette, healthcare worker, content creator, and the woman who helps make London's Trans+ Pride happen. If you haven't come across her yet, now is a very good time to start paying attention.
Stephanie transitioned as a teenager, which means she has grown up inside this movement rather than arriving at it later. She knows what it felt like before she had language for who she was, and she knows what it feels like now to stand on a stage in front of thousands of people and say: we are here, we are not going anywhere, and we need you with us. That journey, from a young person finding her footing to someone who organises one of the most joyful, defiant, visible events in the UK trans calendar, is not a small thing.
What strikes me most about what she said is how clear and uncluttered it is. "We need your allyship now, more than ever. Stand up with us and be aware of legislation that is being passed against us." No performance, no drama, just a direct ask from someone who knows exactly what is happening and exactly what it would mean to have people show up. "Right now, all we need is for people to be more aware of our rights and stand with us so we can come together." I have heard a lot of speeches. That one lands.
Trans+ Pride in London is not a minor event. It exists because the mainstream Pride calendar, for all its importance, has not always centred trans people the way it should. Trans+ Pride does. It is loud, it is proud, it is full of people who needed somewhere to be entirely themselves, and Stephanie is part of the team that makes that possible every year. Events do not run on goodwill alone; they run on somebody doing the work, and she is doing it.
She is also a healthcare worker, which I find quietly remarkable. At a time when trans people are fighting for access to basic medical care, when waiting lists stretch for years and political pressure is being applied to clinicians who want to help, she is one of the people working inside that system. The combination of community organising, content creation, and healthcare work tells you something about the kind of person she is: somebody who does not wait to be helped, but builds the help.
The Independent putting her on its Pride List matters because visibility still matters. Not in the shallow, box-ticking way that word sometimes gets used, but in the real sense: when a trans woman who transitioned as a teenager is profiled in a national publication as a changemaker rather than a controversy, that is a message to every trans teenager reading it. You can do this. You can grow into someone who shapes your own community. You can be the person younger people look up to.
Her call for allyship is not abstract. It is specific and timely. Legislation is moving in ways that affect trans lives directly, and a lot of people who consider themselves broadly supportive do not always know what is being proposed, what has already passed, or what they can do about it. Stephanie is asking people to find out. That is a reasonable ask, and it is one worth answering.
So if you are wondering what being a good ally looks like right now, here is a start: know what is happening, say something when you see something, and if you are in London, go to Trans+ Pride and have a brilliant time. You will not regret it.
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Dr Helen Webberley is a gender specialist, medical educator, and advocate. She is the founder of GenderGP and writes about gender diversity, trans healthcare, and the fight for equality.