Why we still need Pride …..
This was not going to be my opening statement to this post, but in light of events in the last weeks in my area, I decided to add it in. So what happened to prompt this? Well, 3 hate incidents in 2 nights. Pretty disgusting really, one was homophobic against 2 gay actors where some lads threw abuse and stones from a car resulting, in hospital treatment for the victim and the cancelation of 2 theatre shows. Not only did these mindless thugs injure someone deliberately because of their sexuality, they also screwed up hundreds of peoples Saturday night out. The other 2 incidents were Transphobic and both were perpetuated by CIS Men who were in inclusive and accepting venues, I missed the one at the venue I was in, but think I would have stood up to the bigoted mid 60’s idiots who took umbrage to another trans woman that was there. Later in the same evening I was also faced with them discovering I was transgender as well, only this time they kept their opinions to themselves. So, with this in mind, I dedicate this post to all victims of LGBTQ hate crimes. Let’s start by going back and having a small history lesson. Now listen in kids and I shall try and keep this as brief as possible ….. What does Stonewall mean to most? Not much probably, it’s the name of an LGBTQ Charity, and that’s probably about it. Well they have been around for 30 years now, and were originally set up to challenge the implementation of section 28 of the UKs Local Government Act 1988 and stated that a Local Authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality 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 short, it was made illegal to teach acceptance of homosexuality, and as for trans people, well let’s not even get started on that one. Whilst gay and lesbian couples could at least be ‘Out’ still not that easy in the 80’s, there was no being out as trans, you would lose your job, family, and probably for many be beaten to within an inch of your life if not be finished off. The world was not a very accepting place for any members of the LGBT community in the 80’s. But move on 35 years, and most people don’t even give a second thought to the LGB part of the community, but for the T part, well, there is still a long way to go. I’ve heard it described that at least in the 80’s, Trans people moved into the Dark Ages, and maybe now it can be likened to the Middle Ages, and one day we will be allowed to co-exist with everyone else without prejudice and discrimination. Anyway, that must be the quickest digression from what I was planning to write, but useful, so let’s get back on track. In June 1969, 50 years ago this year, there was a bar in New York by the name of The Stonewall Inn, this was run by the Mafia, had no license and was a target for police persecution because it was a fully inclusive venue, catering for the gay community in Greenwich Village, New York. At this time, the term gay encompassed, all sections of the LGBTQ community, and it was a crime for same sex couples to be together, and also for people that identified as Trans, you could be prosecuted for simply having 2 or more items of clothing that didn’t match your gender as assigned at birth. On 28 June 1969, a series of spontaneous and violent demonstrations took place after a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, the LGBTQ community had finally had enough of the brutality they faced at the hands of so called authority, and made their stand. This is now widely considered to be the turning point in the fight to bring equality to the community and bring about the changes needed to afford LGBTQ people the same rights as everyone else. These demonstrations were known as the ‘Stonewall Riots’, ‘Stonewall Rebellion’ or ‘Stonewall Uprising’. In the 1960’s Police raids were common on gay bars, both in America and here in the UK, although here in the UK we were about 10 years ahead of the US at this point with parliament legislating over whether or not members of the LGBTQ community should face prosecution as they had in the past. It was moving in the right direction but still a few too many so called educated men in power felt it was better to suppress and deny the rights of the LGBTQ community. Then on 28 June 1970, the first Gay Pride Marches took place in New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago commemorating the anniversary of the riots. In 1972, London also held its first Pride Rally and from there on, these have spread and gained momentum year on year. Now 50 years since the events happened that started the fight to be accepted and treated as equals, New York will be hosting the Stonewall 50 World Pride 2019, running through out the month of June, 30 Days, 55 Major events and likely to be celebrated and attended by in excess of 3 Million people. A link to the promo video is here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIJHExXrNV8 There will be many more celebrations taking place in cities all over the world with and with turnout in major cities around the world estimated to approach some total of 30Million participants, once you add in all of the smaller events of which there are thousands globally you start to get a real feeling of support for the LGBTQ community. The problem is, this is relative and is a show of support on a global scale, and although some countries are making headway on rights for LGB people, T people are still treated like second class citizens. If you are old enough to remember the gay revolution of the 1980’s then this is where we are some 35 years later with regard to equality and rights for T people. Now this is looking globally, here in the UK LGBTQ people have a protected status in law and as such if discriminated against, abused, assaulted or exposed to any other number of crimes perpetuated as a result of their gender status, then a prosecution can be made, if its reported and if there is sufficient proof. But, this doesn’t stop hate and bullying and trolling online being pushed out consistently against the community. Over the last 5 years the number of crimes against LGBTQ people has risen from 4600 per year to 11600 last year, think about that that’s just over 1 crime being committed every 10 mins. This includes all types of crime and not all of these are physical attacks, but although the numbers have over doubled in the last 5 years, the number of crimes against trans people has more than trebled. For the community in general, 20% of the whole LGBTQ community have experienced a hate crime in the last 12 months, 40% of Trans people have experienced hate crime in the last 12 months and 80% of the 5000 surveyed by YouGov stated they had experienced hate or discrimination and not reported it. Lets think about this, as I regularly hear people state, why don’t we have Straight Pride??? What the actual fuck are these people on. I will tell you why not, because every day Heterosexual CIS gendered people can go about their business, in most cases, without judgement, fear of discrimination and mostly they can leave their houses and feel safe. So, they can live their lives without any of the same problems we have every day. Here’s the thing, whilst an element of Pride, is about people standing up and being proud of who they are, its also about showing everyone else that we are all just normal people wanting to get on with our lives, and for 50 years now all we have wanted is to be accepted and left alone to live our lives, and at the same time, be treated as equals to the rest of society. Its out public shout out for better equality. When 87% of straight people are on the receiving end of harassment, abuse or intimidation, 26% are victims of unwanted sexual contact and 21% have been threatened with and 10% suffered from violent assaults, oh yeah and when 44% of CIS Gendered people don’t fee safe to walk the streets then, and I really do mean this, then you will be justified in feeling you are marginalised sector of society and just maybe some kind of public event to show that you are normal and just want to be respected and treated fairly, would be justified. And if this happens, I can promise I will be there to show my support to straight and CIS people, I would happily be an ally to them. Now, I know its my opinion, but after all this is my blog and my platform, but I am just going to put this out there, that until such a time comes where LGBTQ people and particularly Trans people, are finally accepted and treated fairly and equally in society, we still need Pride to try and get the message out. We still need Pride in 2019, and the way things are going at the moment, sadly we will probably still need it in another 5-10 years. All I can ask is that as many of you as possible, whether you are part of the LGBTQ Community or if you are an Ally, please get out and support your local Pride, support the people and support our human rights, our rights to be treated equally, just the same as everyone else, Finally, all that’s left from me is to say thanks so much for reading, I really hoped that you enjoyed this post, and I hope you discovered something new, or maybe you didn’t, either way, please check out my other blogs in the archives. Love and hugs Sophie xx If you would like to see more and follow me I can be found and followed at the sites below: Facebook www.facebook.com/beingsophie Twitter www.twitter.com/sophietgirl Bloglovin www.bloglovin.com/blogs/being-sophie-17676297
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AuthorHi, I'm Sophie. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. Please leave some comments on what you think of my blog x Archives
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