A small group of anti-trans cisgender feminists crashed today's London Pride parade, the Independent reports.

About 10 women inexplicably led the Pride in London march, which was supposed to be led by London mayor Sadiq Khan, distributing leaflets and carrying banners with explicit anti-trans messages such as “trans activists erase lesbians” and “a male can never be lesbian.”

The extremist group reportedly blocked the parade for 10 minutes, lying down in the street to protest "lesbian erasure" until parade officials urged them to move on.

Known to their adversaries as TERFs, or trans-exclusive radical feminists, the group protested using the hashtag #GetTheLOut, arguing that the trans movement is “anti-lesbianism.”

“We want to get the L out of Pride, a man cannot be a lesbian, a person with a penis cannot be a lesbian,” one protester told PinkNews.

Another claimed that “men are saying they are trans, they are lesbians, and they pressure lesbians to have sex with them.”

The TERFs had not been officially permitted to lead or even participate in the parade. However, despite event security and police presence, they were allowed to continue marching along the parade route until Trafalgar Square, where there was a vocal altercation between the group and other attendees.

"A small group at the front of the Pride in London parade were dealt with quickly and safely by event organizers," says a Metropolitan Police spokesperson. "Police did not need to intervene. No arrests were made."

Some local LGBTQ activists are calling on Pride in London organizers to publicly apologize and resign in the wake of the controversy.

"I am appalled that transphobic protestors were allowed to lead the march and the crowd asked to cheer them on," says Jennie Rigg of LGBT+ Lib Dems. "Allowing them to continue betrays the LGBT+ communities by sowing division and hatred at an event aimed at fostering inclusion, love and pride."

“Every year, Pride is attended by hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrate that Pride still matters," a Pride in London spokesperson responds. "Given the hot weather and in the interest of the safety for everyone attending today’s event, the parade group was allowed to move ahead."

“We do not condone their approach and message and hope the actions of a very small number people does not overshadow the messages of the 30,000 people marching today.”

UPDATE: Click here to read Pride in London's full apology: "Their behaviour was shocking and disgusting, and we condemn it completely."