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.
The Portsmouth Defence – every solicitor and barrister knows the traditional defence to utilize when defending a client accused of murdering a gay man when there is no other legitimate defence available. Its name indicates that it originated in medieval times in seaports when mariners were caught on rolling/robbing their homosexual clients or victims.
The list is endless, go and have a look at the Wikipedia article ‘Terrorism in Europe’ as a starting point.
Turkey, a country which is 97% Muslim and where LGBTQ rights have gone backwards in recent years. But similar pressure is being placed on LGBTQ freedom in other parts of Europe, e.g., Hungary and Poland. According to the European Union in 2020 43% of LGBTQ people, last year said they felt discriminated against, up from 37% in 2012.
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.
Over the last 40+ years that I have been involved in the LGBTQ community, I have been privileged to witness the acceptance of gay people into the general community – young and old, we now have more freedoms; however this has only come about through the continued pressure from individuals, groups through lobbying and through legal cases. We have in most parts of the UK an acceptance and understanding that being ‘gay’ is normal, that it does not require “treatment” to correct an illness! Again I said in most parts, there are however still some groups and individuals who wish us to disappear or receive corrective treatment – in most companies LGBTQ rights are now accepted; but we cannot sit back on our backsides; if we do not keep monitoring and interacting with government (both local and national) then the rights that we have fought so hard to achieve will be taken away again.