So, there is no denying that although society has come a long way in accepting the LGBT community…

So, there is no denying that although society has come a long way in accepting the LGBT community, that there is still a long way to go in terms of acceptance and lack of hatred. However I don’t want to focus on the negative and how there is still rampant homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in some aspects of the world and within our own community. You will find plenty of blogs that will outline these issues and possibly far more eloquently than I can manage at 10:20pm on a Wednesday night. No, I instead want to focus on some of the events that have been a turning point for the community and that reflects just how far society has come in a positive way. Because I think that should be celebrated.

June 28^th 1969, New York City – This date will be familiar to some of you and to those who know of the history of the LGBT community. Of course other events happened before this but I’m focusing on this as my own knowledge dates back to here; I am a young man and my knowledge is not expansive nor do I have the current circumstances to acquire more information. So, June 28^th 1969, New York City – The Stonewall Riots. Prior to the Stonewall Riots homophobia and police raids against gay establishments was common place not just in New York but across America. However on this particular night the community fought back and what resulted was three nights of rioting from the community. Although many were arrested, the spirits within the community were kept alive and the police were eventually forced to retreat; the community had secured a hard fought victory and it sent out a message that they were fighting back. The following year New York City held it’s first Gay Pride march and this is largely recognised as a start of a movement which continues to this day. Pride marches were often held simultaneously across America and by 1972 extended to other parts of America.

May 24^th 1988, Section 28 – Although this is a negative cornerstone for the LGBT community in the UK, it precedes an appeal which later saw a turnaround in laws for LGBT people in the UK. Section 28 was an educational act that stated “shall not intentionally promotehomosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality”or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. In essence this act meant that teachers could not support students who were questioning their gender identity or sexuality or tell them that it was ok. Many students in education during this time would have felt that who they were was wrong or disgusting and couldn’t discuss it with anyone.

November 18^th 2003, Section 28 repealed – This is a cornerstone in terms of LGBT rights in the UK and marks a potential turnaround in (at least) legal attitudes towards LGBT people. With this act repealed, it was no longer illegal for schools to “promote” homosexuality or help young people who identified as LGBT. Although it took many years for schools to support it’s LGBT students, the repeal of this law allowed them to do so within the confines of the law. Schools are now able to access resources, groups and training to help best support those students who are LGBT.

April 4^th 2005, Gender Recognition Act – The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 which was in effect in April 2005 was an act which allowed transsexual people in the UK to change the gender on their birth certificate to their new acquired gender. This affords them all the rights of their new acquired gender and recognises them as such.

December 2005, Gay Civil Partnerships – In December 2005 Gay Civil Partnerships were introduced in the UK as a means to allow same-sex couples to have the same rights and responsibilities as that of a heterosexual couple. Although these were known colloquially as “gay marriages” the government was insistent they were not. There has been continuous campaigning to recognise gay marriage and to allow gay marriage.

April 6^th 2010, Equality Act 2010 – The Equality Act of 2010 requires equal treatment in access to employment as well as private and public services, regardless of the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. This legislation is currently the best bit of legislation that protects LGBT people from discrimination in the workplace, in education and when accessing services. The Equality Act of 2010 also considers gender reassignment and so offers a clause that specifically protects trans people.

July 2013, Same-sex marriage – In July 2013 legislation was passed through the House of Lords and approved to allow same-sex marriages to be allowed to happen. Although this legislation has not yet come into effect and is expected to be in force by mid-2014, it is a step forward in terms of recognition. For those who wanted to be married as a gay couple and not simply have a civil partnership it is a step forward. However this equality does not yet extend to trans marriages, whereby a trans person wishing to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate and change their birth certificate must annul their marriage and re-marry in their “new” gender. The trans community continues to campaign that marriages need not be dissolved in order to obtain the GRC.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of events to have happened, and it does focus on UK events (being in the UK) however I hope it can show people that society gradually is changing and that a lot has happened to protect the LGBT community and to help them and allow them to be themselves. Yes some attitudes are still awful, and whilst bigotry exists there is always a fight to fight, but I am hopeful that in my lifetime we will see a momentous change in society and that future generations will pave the way for more acceptance. Society has already come a long way and I believe it can go even further.

Peace be with you all

 Blogger Karl W

Sally’s October Blog

The other week after work I rushed down to Bethnal Green for the initial briefing on a new LGBT history project which is being undertaken by LGCM (see http://www.lgcm.org.uk/category/christian-voices-coming-out/ for more details). As part of the evening we had a talk on post-war LGBT history in England from Dr Sebastian Buckle.

Whilst I had an awareness of alot of the key dates such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the introduction of civil partnerships I was still struck by how much of our history is not generally known.

For example whilst female homosexuality was not criminalised there were restrictions placed on lesbians by society to make them conform.

Another piece of information which surprised me was that the first gay magazine in the UK, Arena Three, was produced by women during the 1960’s.

As I listened to how a large group of women had left the Gay Liberation Front in February 1972 due to gender oppression I wondered if that was part of the reason we tend to know more about homosexuality history than lesbian history.

Another explanation given was that women and BME people were more likely to identify with groups fighting oppression on the basis of gender or ethnicity whilst men were more likely to be fighting oppression linked to sexuality.

The talk also highlighted the role of Stonewall and all the good work they have done. Listening to that I was aware in the back of mind of the exclusion of trans people by Stonewall in England (Stonewall Scotland have been more inclusive).

Chatting to someone afterwards I was also aware of the exclusion of bi people in the story.

As I reflected on where we are today and the great gains we have achieved as a community I was perhaps more acutely aware of how uneven the playing field has been and continues to be.

I know part of this is because of the way trans and bi people and those gay and lesbians who are part of the BME community are less likely to choose to be involved. However, this history talk emphasised that it has been and may sometimes continue to be because of the comments they sometimes have to deal with from others who are seen as having more power.

Blogger Sally