‘LGBTQIA+ people feel abandoned in their moment of need’
‘WE HAVE NEVER NEEDED ALLIES MORE’: Charlie Overfield
By Charlie Overfield, chair of Hull Pledge
As a society, we cannot remain silent as this Government shows its true colours regarding the lives and quality of life for Trans people, not only in Scotland but in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The need for vocal allies of the LGBTQIA+ community is at its highest since the calls for the Equality Act. But even then, the stakes were not this high. The backlash at that time centred around the sanctity of marriage; the rhetoric now centres around dog whistles, and false vilification painting Transgender People as a threat to the security of women and children.
Not only does this play right into the hands of the far and moderate right side of politics, playing into their views and attitudes to trans people, it also perpetuates the inexcusable and horrifying rise of hate crimes across the UK by giving them in their twisted view what would constitute as a reason to attack Trans and Non-Binary people.
By stating so openly on platforms with a lot of viewers that Trans people pose a threat to women and children, the Government risks creating a panic and a wave of stigma and hate not seen since the days of Section 28 and the AIDS pandemic.
Alongside all of this, the LGBTQIA+ community’s usual defenders such as the Labour Party have seemingly turned their backs on us. LGBTQIA+ people across the UK now feel abandoned in their moment of need. It gives the impression that we are only protected by political parties when they need us and when they need our votes.
Throughout contemporary history we have gained vocal support from real feminists, workers’ unions and their leaders, and made firm links with other political movements like BLM (Black Lives Matter).
Over the past few decades there has been many relationships of mutual support between many political and rights movements, and right now those relationships need to be evermore present.
If we don’t tackle this issue now, tackle this rhetoric now, hate crimes will continue to rise and the progress made by the LGBTQIA+ rights movement will be set back years if not decades.
This Government is showing no regard for the safety of Trans people, and uses Trans people as a political football to score points.
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We cannot return to the bashings, slandering, and vilification of the past. Of course those things are still present day to day, but leaving this to unravel could cause a huge rise in these barriers to equality.
Our allies - all those who come to Pride events, all those who enjoy our safe spaces like LGBTQIA+ nightclubs and bars, all those who enjoy drag shows, all those who post #TransRights on their Instagram stories - all those people need to come to our defence now. They need to be vocal, they need to be engaged with our movement, and they need to speak out against the injustice being done.
Only then will we be able to combat the rising rhetoric being shown on social media, in the news, in the streets, and in Parliament.