Tangentially to my visit to the Crescent Arts Centre I was walking out of the centre and saw four booklets/leaflets which all generated from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and covering ‘discrimination’:
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A short guide to the role and services of the Equality Commission
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Gender Discrimination – Treated unfairly because of your gender?
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Sexual Orientation Discrimination – Treated unfairly because of your sexual orientation?
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Transgender Discrimination – Treated unfairly because of your gender identity?
I am highlighting these booklets/leaflets because the United Kingdom is currently undergoing seismic changes due to our withdrawal from Europe (Brexit). The impact of which we are only just beginning to see, but for those in minority groups the impact is becoming obvious through physical attacks, intimidation and verbal abuse by our an unwillingness to treat others with respect and care.
This disseminates through the rhetoric of many of our politicians, both national and local, and their thoughts and comments are often acted upon by individuals who have been easily swayed by what the politicians have said.
So back to my starting point, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, if you feel that yo are being unfairly treated in a work situation, or in a business transaction (shops, restaurants etc.) then tell the Equality Commission and take action to defend yourself and others. At least if nothing else you will find a listening ear, and a willingness to try and help.
The difficulty with writing a review is that unless you are paid to write reviews as a job, you normally chose a film to which you are attracted for some reason; and this is just as true for me. I chose The Rider because I love westerns.
The name they used was not down to me and I don’t recall why they didn’t want to use my name, it’s interesting actually as they did organise a photo session and they used my picture on the record cover and I still have a copy of that single, it was a good photo as well. I’ll see if I can dig it out for the article.
The Independent needs to realise that whilst any community welcomes the free and open debate that this article brings, it is difficult to see that a bias has not been shown by the choice of the photograph chosen to represent the LGBT community.
A continuing discussion has to be happening with both Stormont and Westminster and that is obvious; but the fact that the Conservative government can only continue to hang on with the support of the Unionist votes who have made it plain that marriage equality is not acceptable on ‘their watch’ only further highlights the limited political attitude in Northern Ireland. Politics in Northern Ireland is a sham and the politicians in Stormont cannot be said to be truly representing the population when they are not in Stormont carrying on business.
We all probably have at least one on which we have phtos etc for giving to our family or friends, or we may use them for transferring documents between computers. But again, we rarely have these USB devices password protected or even better encrypted.
