The actress and drag performer, who plays Zee Malone in the new Channel 4 drama, has spoken out about trans rights, allyship and representation
Izzy is opening up about her experience as someone in the Trans community(Image: Getty Images)
As Pride celebrations continue across the UK, Tip Toe star Iz Hesketh aka Izzy has called for major change to the way trans people are treated, saying the “whole system” needs to be dismantled.
Izzy, known for her role as Zee Malone in Channel 4’s new miniseries Tip Toe, was speaking at the London Trans+ Pride 2026 press launch.
While Pride is a time for the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate, Izzy said there is still plenty of work to be done when it comes to trans rights.
“We just need the same rights as everyone else for once,” she said. “It’s literally everything. So, from the ground up, everything needs to be changed.
“The whole system, in my opinion, needs to be completely dismantled for everyone, not just trans people, for people of colour, for disabled people, for pretty much every single minority,” she said.
“It’s quite funny how we all have very different experiences. Different experiences will all get treated the same by the same people.”
London Trans+ Pride took place on July 25, 2026, with organisers describing this year’s event as “Our Future, Our Fight”.
Izzy acknowledged that changing the system would be a huge task, but said she believes younger generations have an important role to play.
“I get it’s a lot of work, but I think it’s slowly coming,” she said. “And I do believe like our generation is the generation to stand screaming as loud as we can.”
Izzy also had a message for the heterosexual community who want to support the LGBTQ+ community but may be worried about saying the wrong thing.
She said allies should speak up when they see something they know “isn’t correct”, but stressed that this doesn’t necessarily mean aggressively confronting people. I think you can just kind of educate people to the best of your ability,” she said.
She admitted she had previously been nervous about challenging people when it came to issues affecting Black people and people of colour during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I remember being scared to pull people up on things because I didn’t feel like I quite had the education or the words,” she said.
But she said she soon realised people needed to “push through” that fear and focus on their intentions.
“People will always understand your intentions, and, as long as you lead with the correct intentions, they can’t kind of be misunderstood no matter what language you use,” she added.
Izzy also called for greater representation of trans people on television, but said she wants to see them given roles where their gender identity isn’t always the focus.
“It’s getting better,” she said when asked about visibility on TV. “I still would like to see trans people take up space on television that has nothing to do with them being trans.”
She explained: “I love being trans and I love telling those stories, but it’s not my only story.”
Izzy is also known for playing Kitty Draper in Hollyoaks and Valerian in the Disney+ drama Renegade Nell, as well as performing as drag persona Seriah Sis.
She said trans people are often shown through their “trauma and grief”, but stressed there is much more to their lives than their experiences of being trans.
“I’m so much more, not just me, but I, as in the trans person, is so much more than just the trans experience,” she said. “I would like to start to see trans actors take up space in stories that they just happen to be trans in.”
Her comments come after the Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that the terms “woman”, “man” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. The court stressed, however, that trans people remain protected from discrimination under the law through the gender reassignment characteristic and other protections.
London Trans+ Pride took place on July 25, 2026, with organisers describing this year’s event as “Our Future, Our Fight”.
For Izzy, the fight for equality is about making sure trans people are able to live their lives without being reduced to their identity.
And her message is simple: there is still work to do.
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
