But then it's interesting more, perhaps, in major cities that don't have much gay representation, like in Moscow and in Poland recently where their Pride events have been under threat and been challenged. They really have something to be proud of.. but have we in England done much to really shout and shake our tail feathers about?

Anyway... just a thought!

chemicalfears wrote:

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People like Nic, John K, Drew, Evie, Alby, virtually every person I have ever met through LGBT, the entire committee, all committees we´ve ever had and a million other people in the present and past of the LGB(T) societies and movements in Britain are people we can look to and say, they did something for US, to make our lives better - I think THAT´S something we can and should take pride in

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Cheers Sash!

Shame to say it Patrick but you do fall down in ur arguement, I'm gonna be an annoying bastard now...

I know you've read Leeds Student this year, did u miss the LGBT history month article (it took me 3 weeks to put together) which details the struggles of LGBT people in this country & the reason why pride marches came around & all the changes that we've gone through to get us to where we are 2day. Here's some info from it....

1957 The wolfenden report, which proposed the legalisation of homosexuality was published and a group of wolfendens supporters (mainly heterosexuals) for the homosexual law reform society in london and the north west of the country formed the homosexual law reform committee, its the work of these 2 groups which saw homosexuality legalised, with the age of consent set at age 21, in 1967. The most pivotal moment in the LGBT movement was in 1969 The Stonewall Riots... customers at the Stonewall Inn in new york finally stood up and fought back against police who wer coming into the bar and discriminating against them, this set off a week of riots & protests and saw the fight for LGBT rights turn from the personal to the political. It was after the riots that movements such as the GLF (gay liberation front) formed and started working with other minority groups such as womens n black liberation campaigns to all push for equality together.

The GLF came to the UK after 2 British blokes saw what was happening in America and decided to bring it back to Britain n formed the first UK GLF group in London, others groups quickly sprung up round the country with the intention of using radical methods to achieve their aims of equality. It was due to the GLF movement that the first 'pride' march was held in 1970 which was 500-1000 people strong, although it wasn't origianally named a pride event as such, it was actually
a march to protest against the ages of consent laws for homosexuals. It was also the GLF that saw the birth of the Gay News in 1972 this paved the way for the Gay Times which is still going strong today and they also set up the Gay & Lesbian Switchboard, which has been and still is a life line for many!

The 1970's well shame for us that Thatcher got in power. She saw the rise of homophobic attitudes in britain & eventually the passing of Section 28 in 1988 which banned local governments from 'promoting homosexuality' this is why it was never taught in schools, y schools & educational institutions wer **** at dealing with homophobic biphobic and transphobic bullying, y so many of the helplines and services arising from the GLF had thier funding cut taking away lifelines for lgbt folk, the country was massively homophobic including police harrassment of lgbt people.

Altho the hero's of the early 1980's are Terrence Higgins Trust, who wer set up and named after the first man believed 2 have died from AIDS. They were sick of government inaction to deal with the AIDS crisis and decided to do it themselves, providing support to others with AIDS, dissemminate info, advice and education about AIDS & how to protect urself from it to LGBT communities all over the UK and have done so since 1983 they did this despite section 28 coming into power & are still going strong today, bringin GUM clinic testing for students near our campus. Is that not something to be proud of and thankful for?

Continuing on from Section 28, there were massive demonstrations against it, with support from celebrities and politicians, militant lesbian groups abseiled in2 the house of commons to protest, as well as storming on2 the set of n taking over the 6'oclock news. Also in response to section 28, Sir Ian McKellen & others set up Stonewall in 1989 to campaign for repeal of the law. Since then it has massively contributed to changes affecting LGBT peoples lives for the better (they have had involvement in alot of law changes as u'll see in a minute). 1990 saw the birth of Outrage! (set up by Peter Tatchell) as an opposition to Stonewalls approach to progressin LGBT rights, instead of talking and lobbying, Outrage! choose to do radical publicity stunts, these include protesting outside westminister abbey about the homophobia of the church of england & attemtpting citizens arrests on robert mugabe. Undeniably these stunts cause controversy and see LGBT issues progressing forwards/ The changes bought about by these 2 groups working with other are:

1994age of consent for homosexual sex lowered to 18 1999 the sex discrimination (gender reassigmnet) regulations coming into power & making it illegal for employers 2 discriminate against trans people 2000 the ban on homosexuals serving in the armed forces was lifted, the age of consent for homosexual sex was lowered to 16 & the Equality Network (Scotlands LGBT campaign) saw Section 28 repealled in Scotland following a hard fight against a highly homophobic campaign to keep the law in place, their fight undoubtedly made it easier for the rest of the UK to repeal section 28. 2003 section 28 was repealled throughout the rest of the UK, the Employment Equality (sexual orientation) regulations came in2 power (significant moment for helping me 2 fight against mega homophobic employers of mine) givin LGB people legal protection from discrimination by their employers. 2004 The gender recognition act came in2 power givin trans people a number of rights. 2005The first LGBT history month, looking at educating people about LGBT people & their history (to repair the damage done by section 28) & Civil partnerships act came in2 power. 2006 the Equality bill, making all types of discrimination against minority groups illegal is coming into power. If that's not something to be proud of for the country and LGBT rights campaigners I don't know what is!

To further my point, lets bring it closer to home.. the NUS LGBT campaign has been heavily involved with the other organisations mentioned above to bring about these changes, also as an NUS movement, we teamed up with Terrence Higgins Trust to lobby parliament about sexual health (GUM clinic waiting times, sexual health provisions for students unions & reform of sex education in school) which saw us speak in a panel debate & speak directly to MP's about problems we were experiencing and wanting to change. NUS LGBT Scotland & Liverpool Guild of Students have been extremely influential with the Blood Service Campaign and started to get our message across to the NBS, looking at moving forward to work with them and change the homophobic policy. Birmingham Union Guild of Students launched a bluddy brilliant 'Stamp out homophobia in schools' campaign which involved taking 60ft of fabric up n down the country, getting ppl who agreed with them 2 draw round their foot & sign it turnin it in2 a massive petition, before marching through Westminister to the houses of Parliament drumming up support long the way, the effect this had on parliament was amazing & it opened up a dialogue between MP's and students to tackle the problem of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools. I'm proud to say I've been a part of the NUS LGBT movement & supported these campaigns.

The shocker for me at conference was the fact that WE (as in us) here at Leeds & my mouth fronting the assembly were awarded NUS LGBT society of the year, over these university unions who have done so much for LGBT rights. Bringing it home now, this year has been absolute fooking hell in Leeds, but look at what a small amount of us have achieved... changed the minds of union councillors, paper editors/writers, lecturers and university services who had been ignorant of LGBT issues and reluctant to help us, by producing a booklet detailing LGBT issues and their affects on our lives, this lead to; stopping the paper printin discriminatory articles & goin on2b LGBT friendly printing articles that have changed the minds of students with regards 2 lgbt people, lecturers working with us to rectify offence caused by comments made, accomodation services workin with us 2 launch an anti-bullyin in halls campaign 4 sept, fast track & deal with students havin problems with homophobia etc in halls, have emergency accomodation available for students if needed, central student admin are printin info about how to change gender in the students handbook 2 make the info accessible for trans students, equality & diversity have worked with us on trans rights 4 students in the uni, the VC listening to what LGBT students want & working with us to ensure that lecturers and staff at the uni are trained in LGBT issues (currently working with Equality n diversity on this), student advice centre working with us 2 provide dental dams & hate crime reporting training empowering LGBT Students to report hate crime, among many other things. If anything you've seen over the past year the changes happen & the attitude at Leeds go from one where LGBT students were on the edge of everything looking in to been integral to our union & university. The biggest point to highlight the change is last year at Leeds, we went 2 fruity n 2 members had bottles & glasses thrown at them, just for kissing, the attitude this year well.... my 21st been the example, 3-way snogging, men askin 2 join in & been told 2 **** off etc - not a thing thrown. Sorry but if thats not something to be proud of then I don't know what is.

Not only do we have the ability and power to make changes in our unions n universities, we also have the power to pull together nationally and make changes in our country to benefit other LGBT people, especially ones who daren't/can't use their voice. Pride is turning in2 a commercialised piss up and projecting the attitude that its great been gay & its all about drinking etc. The main thing about pride is that its always been about LGBT people standing up & fighting for our rights & to get our voices heard and celebrating the achievements of those before us who stood up and did the same, giving us a better quality of life. The pride marches in Moscow & Poland highlight this fact all over again, pride isn't about drinking its about the fight to achieve a dream that we all have of been treated as equals, the individuals at those marches were willing to risk their lives to fight for their dreams, same as those who started the fight in britian were, same as those at the stonewall riots were... pride isn't only about the present, its about the past and been thankful for others efforts that have improved our lives, its also about the future and how much closer we are and how much more we can do to see their dreams and our dreams of been seen as equals achieved.

Theres still along way to go mind, I'm proud of forefronting everything at Leeds this year and proving that u can effect change, even if its just a small group making a large noise. I'm proud of the efforts and creativity of others in working towards the same goals. I'm proud of the people who have worked with us this year cos its made a big difference. There's gonna b a big push this coming year from NUS LGBT in gettin LGBT issues included in the national curriculum so that not only do future little LGBT-ers know about relationships & sexual health affecting them, can go through schools with supportive systems 2 look after them if they are been bullied for being LGBT & gettin LGBT history taught in schools so these people know about their struggles n those who changed the world for them. There's also gonna be a massive push for LGBT history month to be addressed and celebrated getting the 'hidden history' out to others and educating people through awareness campaigns at university unions about LGBT issues to educate and change the minds of people who are going to go out and be 2moro's lawyers, dr's, teachers, nurses, politicians, managers etc. You've all got a voice and just by using it u can change just one persons mind, who'll go on2 change other minds, knowing that you've got that power & ability should make you proud.

Please next year like, no more excuses like "LGBT politics don't affect me" cos they do & definately not the "It's not my job/place to do anything" excuse as all of the people and groups mentioned above, well its not been their place/job to do anything but they decided to stand up and do it. Look at a homosexual law reform committee which was made up of mainly heterosexuals, fightin to legalise homosexuality... would any1 have said it was thier place to? Please drop the excuses and get involved, you can do so much & make the world better, even if its for 1 person, whos affected, it could b a massive difference to really improve the quality of their life (I learnt that from the nomination we got 2 NUS).

-- Edited by Rt hon NickyDyke85 at 13:23, 2006-06-23

...and THAT is why Pride should exist lol

sash
xxx

I couldn't agree more with you Nick and Sash. I don't think this is the time to fall into cynicism and naval-gazing, it is time to renew our progressive agenda, to push for a world where people of various sexual orientations can live in freedom, dignity and peace. I do however think that many symbols of this egalitarian vision, like our pride celebrations, have become deeply popularised and lost a great deal of their potency and politicalness among many, gay men in particular. This is natural to some extent because as more LGBT people feel less marginalised and ghetto walls start crumbling in some quarters people feel less defined by their sexual politics and feel more "post-gay". We should embrace this process, because it means that people can now define themselves in new ways, not merely who they sleep with. We are beginning to see the immergence of confident LGBT young people who have not have to face the level of descrimination which was prevelent a few years. But we need to reconise that, despite this welcome shift in the political agenda, the change is not universal and LGBT people still are excluded from many areas of society, thus we need to carry on fighting here and elsewhere for our rights.

We should not mismantle our pride agenda yet, theirs still much to do. Untill we can create a world where the human rights of LGBT people are reconised in every nation we have not even become close to winning. Untill we have created a world where people are no-longer defined by limited sexual/gender catagories, where we no longer need to come out about our sexuality, where pleasure is just pleasure, when even the labels of "gay" or "queer" are no longer needed. As Peter Tatchell remarks:

"We can glimpse even now the beginnings of this post-gay era, with the rise of mixed clubs, where queers and straights party together and the boundaries of sexual orientation are decidedly blurred. Homophobic barriers are tumbling elsewhere too: in the Boy Scouts, the House of Commons, the Church of England and, sooner or later, in the Armed Forces and the Royal Family....t we also need the foresight to recognise that gay identity is a historically-transient, culturally-specific phenomenon which has arisen in response to the needs of a persecuted queer minority in homophobic societies. It never existed, for example, in earlier eras in the many cultures where same-sex behaviour was regarded as normal and acceptable.

Once intolerance and inequality are overturned, as they eventually will be, the necessity to assert and affirm gayness will inevitably decline. The dissolution of gay identity in these circumstances would, oddly enough, be a measure of the success of the gay rights movement".

We are not there yet however, so lets carry on having Pride in what we do and the kind of world we want to create, reminding the apolitical as we go that it's quite time to party yet.



-- Edited by JesusBitch at 16:51, 2006-06-27

nothing wrong with pride, i will be going to both brighton and euro pride this summer

That's if Terry George doesn't embezzle all the money to spend on his posse of rent boys and legs it...

who is terry gerorge?

Don't you dream of a time, though, when we won't be "proud" but we'll just "be"?

I forgot to mention, thanks for that long(!) post Nic. I didn't catch it in the LSNewspaper. Sadly, I try and find real news or something interesting and that paper just didn't have much in it most of the time! Why print the TV listings - it's got it ON the TV!

I don't know, as Alberto, writes, whether I'd like a time where we don't to be proud. I think that's a time a very long way off. There is still a great amount of ill feeling in the world to anyone who seems to be different. Though it's interesting that just today (or was it yesterday) Brad Pitt said how he and A Jolie wouldn't get married until everyone who wanted to could. That's amazing progress. Or how Senators in the US have said how the 'Defence of Marriage Act' and such movements are highly destabilizing precisely because they limit marriage to those who already devalue it. How come gay marriage is seen as a threat? People who want to display their love so much that they'll buy into a heterosexually-dominated institution and really enforce it by saying that this is what love means, that when you really want to show you're committed, this is what you do:

Memo to the Congress: Thanks for thinking of me, but I don't need you to defend my marriage. My husband and I can handle that ourselves. Spare me 'The Defense of Marriage Act' label on a bill banning same-sex marriages. The name implies that the value of heterosexual marriages goes down once you let homosexuals into the institution. There goes the neighborhood. I don't buy this realtor's view of relationships. Gay and lesbian couples who want to wed aren't trying to assail the grounds for marriage. They're trying to share them. If anything, they want to stabilize the gay community.
~ Syndicated Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman.

And as Ben asserts, I'd love a time when the labels queer and gay don't apply. What do we really need them for. Can't you just say, 'no, I'm don't want to sleep with a boy, don't want to sleep with that girl'... Do we need to label people on either side? I sure hope not, I've already got enough badges!