The ‘fa
r right’ continue to use whatever methods work for them, and there is little reason to believe that an appeal on moralistic grounds will work, remember, they believe they are on the moral high ground. If we need to beat them then we need to adopt strong tactics within the law, but we have to be as smart if not smarter than them.
‘Conservative Candidates Promoted Petitions That Sent Personal Data to European Far-Right Group’
In an article by Philip Baldwin, in the Gay Times [now no longer a print-based magazine, I am sorry to say] he said that
…the British Government is increasingly moving towards an agenda which, in his view, is profoundly lesbophobic, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic…
[Are LGBTQ+ people under siege in the UK?] (dated
Then we have William Koenig who claimed that the LGBTQ people are prepping children to be”groomed and sexualized” and that COVID is God’s “judgement” for U.S. being “so pro-LGBT”
You, no matter where you turn you can see what appears to be a backlash against the LGBTQ+ community and the affirmation of our rights.
Tonight EMMA POWYS MAURICE , has reported in the Pink Paper ‘ Police are investigating after three people were reportedly whipped with belts by a group of men in a suspected homophobic attack.‘, and before this ‘The Independent‘ reported that attacks on LGBT people have surged by almost an 80% increase in the UK over last four years.
For so many in the LGBTQ+ community we have been living through what appears to have been an enlighten ‘rosy’ period; we have been legally recognised [though at different times in the various parts of the UK], different sectors have recognised us within the working world [i.e Gay and lesbian citizens have been allowed to serve openly in the Her Majesty’s Armed Forces since 2000], same-sex marriage has been recognised and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020.
And because of these wins, we in the LGBTQ+ community have become complacent. We go on our Pride Parades, and forget that these were originally Marches to fight for our rights! IN the past we also had local magazines and Gay News was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), this ran until 1983.
We don’t have these resources anymore, we depend on social media outlets, but remember in the main these are written by ordinary people and not journalists. It also means that we are limited often in the in-depth research articles that we need.
Protection of our community is down to you the community, you need to report things of consequence to our community, to take a stance against things that are wrong (and let others know about your stance), and lastly, yes enjoy Gay Pride when it comes around, but remember this is to show everyone that we are not going away and that we have a right live as equal people.
Links:
- The Linenhall Library – bask issues of Gay News and local LGBTQ magazines Gay Star, update, upstart, NIGRA News
- Homophobia and Terrorism are not limited to Muslims.
Parallel Lives by Peter Burton, is a memoir that falls into three unequal parts: the first section sees PB (Peter Burton) coming to terms with his adolescent self. this is very gracefully written as is the very end of the book describing the last few years.
The Glass Boat is a fairy story. No, not the way you think I mean. It’s the story of people who might exist, of events that could happen. It is, in short, somewhat magical.
