Why are Ministers Blocking Anti-discrimination Laws for Lesbians, Gays and Transsexuals?
Way back in the early 1980s as a GLC Councillor I set up the GLC's Grants Committee, which gave grants to a vast number of local organisations providing much needed services to communities in London. A group serving the gay community approached us for support. It was a Gay Bereavement Counselling Service, which provided counselling and support for gay men and lesbians whose partner had died.
We adopted a firm equal opportunities policy which ensured that in the distribution of grants nobody would be discriminated against on grounds of race, colour, creed or sexuality. The counselling service was a superb example of the type of voluntary organisation which, with a little bit of state support, could play an esential role in supporting members of our community often in desperate need of care and assistance at a critical time in their lives.
The reaction at the time from the media and many politicians of all parties was appalling, with a hysterical tirade of the grotesquely abusive, homophobic attacks. I had my windows smashed, maggots put through my letterbox and the glass from a milk bottle broken into my children's sand pit.
Despite all the derision and abuse in the media and being denounced by leading political figures we continued on at the GLC to adhere to our equalities policies and even developed a specific Lesbian and Gay Committee to promote policies to respond to the needs of members of the lesbian and gay community in the capital.
Andy Harris, a fellow GLC councillor, served as the Chair of this committee. Tragically he died only a few weeks ago.
Twenty years on and the equalities policies we developed at the GLC have become accepted and adopted by all the main political parties as fair and sound common sense.
I was alarmed therefore to read the reports in this week's press that some ministers were seeking to block the recent legislative proposals to prevent companies, agencies, and public bodies like schools discriminating against people on grounds of their sexuality.
This is a very basic and overdue simple piece of legislation which removes a remaining discriminatory practice. No fair minded person living in a civilised society should have any objection to this measure.
We adopted a firm equal opportunities policy which ensured that in the distribution of grants nobody would be discriminated against on grounds of race, colour, creed or sexuality. The counselling service was a superb example of the type of voluntary organisation which, with a little bit of state support, could play an esential role in supporting members of our community often in desperate need of care and assistance at a critical time in their lives.
The reaction at the time from the media and many politicians of all parties was appalling, with a hysterical tirade of the grotesquely abusive, homophobic attacks. I had my windows smashed, maggots put through my letterbox and the glass from a milk bottle broken into my children's sand pit.
Despite all the derision and abuse in the media and being denounced by leading political figures we continued on at the GLC to adhere to our equalities policies and even developed a specific Lesbian and Gay Committee to promote policies to respond to the needs of members of the lesbian and gay community in the capital.
Andy Harris, a fellow GLC councillor, served as the Chair of this committee. Tragically he died only a few weeks ago.
Twenty years on and the equalities policies we developed at the GLC have become accepted and adopted by all the main political parties as fair and sound common sense.
I was alarmed therefore to read the reports in this week's press that some ministers were seeking to block the recent legislative proposals to prevent companies, agencies, and public bodies like schools discriminating against people on grounds of their sexuality.
This is a very basic and overdue simple piece of legislation which removes a remaining discriminatory practice. No fair minded person living in a civilised society should have any objection to this measure.
posted by John at 9:10 PM
13 Comments:
1) Being transexual isn't about sexuality
2) What about bisexuals?
Other than that, nice post.
That GLC administration was well ahead of its time. Back then the Westminster politicians were horrified at the idea of even talking to Sinn Fein.
Anyway, right on the money there John.
Bigotry isn't acceptable just because it's faith-based.
I'm afraid these sort of reactionary measures come from a small group of fundamentalist religious extremists who are a threat to our way of life. It really is time that the Christian community took responsibility for the extremists in their midst and started spreading a message of integration and tolerance.
How much longer must we suffer the constraints on our freedoms that these people, who hate our way of life and who have perverted the sense of a great religion into a twisted ideology, motivated by imagined grievances and an all consuming hate of western cultural values, impose on us all?
We need a frank and open debate about this, daily, in lurid headlines, in the press and tv until we get answers from the Christian community.
Of course, we deplore any violent attacks against Christians even though they may be completely understandable given the fact that our famous tolerance has been stretched to breaking point and beyond, simply by being put to the test.
MikeM
(PS I have to post as anonymous - trying to post as 'other' doesn't work with Mozilla)
I'm afraid these sort of reactionary measures come from a small group of fundamentalist religious extremists who are a threat to our way of life. It really is time that the Christian community took responsibility for the extremists in their midst and started spreading a message of integration and tolerance.
How much longer must we suffer the constraints on our freedoms that these people, who hate our way of life and who have perverted the sense of a great religion into a twisted ideology, motivated by imagined grievances and an all consuming hate of western cultural values, impose on us all?
We need a frank and open debate about this, daily, in lurithe soviets put on orbit. The Department of Defense wanted a network that could easily adapt to changes and that could interconnect distant locations. The latter was already achieved; the telephone system was capable of transporting voice over many thousand kilometers. The problem was that if a telecommunications office would be for some reason disabled, all the users attached to that office would not be able to communicate with nobody. So, the smart guys from DoD developed the first Internet, if we can call it like that: ARP
Well done John on bringing up yet another important subject. Have spoken about it on my blog many times. Glad to see your taking a lead on these still vital equality issues.
Jonathan Millins
Equalities Officer
Kent Labour Students
Everything John says in brilliant.
McDonnell for PM!
For once I agree with you. It is a disgrace that all the positive measures that have been achieved by the Govnt on equality and also Manchester city council in the 80s under Stringer could be rolled back. Well done to Alan Johnson also for standing up not just for labour values but also for what is right.
People should also note that Gordon Brown has never voted for equal gay rights legislation, see: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2067.html
Pink News also notes that "Unlike Mr Brown, Mr McDonnell has voted positively in every one of the fourteen divisions relating to gay equality held since 1997. "
You can't buy votes Mr McDonnell, but you've got my bi vote ;)
Is the article alluding to Ruth Kelly?
Is the article alluding to Ruth Kelly?
Yes, it is referring to Ruth Kelly.
Therefore the answer to McDonnell's question in the heading is: because the Minister for Equality is an Opus Dei nutter who belives gays will burn in hell!
She also looks like a deranged pixie on crystal meth!
I learnt about the GLC while doing Politics A Level in 1989-91 (and just remember going to a Save the GLC campaign stand at a local event at the time). I knew the GLC was ahead of it's time then as I couldn't see what was to object to about giving grants to women's groups/gay and lesbian etc etc. but understood this has been painted as some sort of radical heresy in the press. I definitely became a socialist because of my A Level teacher who was also a sociologist (though she didn't impose her views on us of course) but she did give us a very good grounding in the events of the late seventies and early eighties. It's just a shame that it was only those of us who did A level politics or came along to the Pol'itics society that got this as it was too recent to go on the History syllabus so of course most people have never studied these events at an academic level and some might be more prey to believing what was said in certain right-wing newspapers!
I know that when Ken L was first campaigning to be London mayor a lot of the people who rang up to support the campaign had always supported the GLC and there did seem to be a lot of them and of course Ken was duly elected ...
I heard to day today that Ofsted was not happy with the Citizenship teaching but I don't know why as I didn't hear the details.
I wouldn't be able to put a photo on here as I haven't got a scanner or whatever it is you need!
I think we need a campaign against all forms of snobbery and control freakery in Britain whether in public life, at work or wherever. Oona KIng was on tv complaining about how if you are an MP you have "no life" outside of Politics, she said she had to clear it with the whips in order to see her own husband one evening I remember her saying previously, words to this effect, basically in the days of the Blairite pagers and presumabaky for all their loyalist MPs it was like being at school! I remember having my day's work completely out out and having to keep solicitors and passengers waiting for an extra hour at work at Heathrow in the Immigration department because another member of staff had insisted on doing her photocoying before I could do my case even though hers was much less urgent because she was "more senior than me" and if someone more senior than you made a bad decision or a mistake you had to let it go for the same reason which was very bad as the knock on effect was that the same situations and mistakes were perpetuated again and again and became institutionalized. If you read the Life Coaching books that are around they say that people should be more confident in themselves and be left to get on with their jobs more. Politically Tony Benn has said we on the left "need more confidence in ourseleves"; we should stop apoligising as the public are too the left of new Labour now and if we apologise for disagreeing with the Blairites we are sucumbing to their agenda. We must be strong as the GLC had to be about the grants and they musst have been good or Mrs. Thatcher wouldn't have felt so threatened by them that she had to abolish them as has been said before!
The other reason why many peope aren't politically engaged is that they don't have time as a result of the Blairite policies it takes so long to claim or apply for tax credits, pension credits, student loans et al that people have less time.In Eastern Europe in Communist times I've been told they were busy working etc. from very early in the morning (you can go to the dentist at seven a.m. in Poland) and there wasn't much on in the evenings and they were too tired to go out anyway...It is getting like that here with all the extra layers of work and admin created by all this privatisation and outsourcing.
Cameron thinks he is futuristic when he actualy about ten years out of date; we need John as candidate for leadership of the Labour Party and Prime Minister as his vision extend on into the furture (while he has plenty of valuable experience from the past).
"I knew the GLC was ahead of it's time then as I couldn't see what was to object to about giving grants to women's groups/gay and lesbian etc etc. but understood this has been painted as some sort of radical heresy in the press"
Even more sad is that some people are still not accepting those kind of measures now (many tories, the press like the Telegraph, The Sun or the Daily Mail)
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