LGBTQ

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual rights

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Women's Fightback: Sunak blocks Scottish gender law

The Tory government has blocked legislation passed by the Scottish parliament that would make Scotland the first part of the UK to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change legal gender. The Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, is using Section 35 of the devolution law, the Scotland Act 1998, to stop the Gender Recognition Act. This is the first time Westminster has used Section 35. The Scottish government will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. Lawyers say it has little chance of legal success. However, a high profile case against Westminster denying Holyrood...

Kino Eye: A landmark for gay rights

According to a number of sources it was the first British film to use the word “homosexual”. In the US, it was refused approval under the Motion Picture Production Code. Victim , directed by Basil Dearden in 1961, centres on successful lawyer Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde). He has an affair with working class Jack Barrett (Peter McEnery), who is being blackmailed due to his homosexuality. At the time homosexuality was illegal in the UK. Barrett appeals to Farr for help but he does nothing. Barrett steals money to pay the blackmailers but is arrested by the police. In his cell Barrett hangs...

Putin digs a hole with more repression

Arrests in St Petersburg, 2021. Since then repression has severely escalated On 29 December Mikhail Lobanov, professor of mathematics at Moscow State University, socialist and grassroots political activist, was beaten and arrested by Russian police at his flat in Moscow and given a short jail sentence. Lobanov has been involved in multiple popular municipal election campaigns in Moscow; he founded the website Prodvizhenie in 2022 to focus and organise support for the left in local elections across Russia; and he has worked for many years on the Russian left more generally, both within the...

Programme and class to fight trans oppression — a reply

In April 2022 Rowan Fortune and Logan O'Hara of Anti*Capitalist Resistance wrote an open letter to all socialists, "A Trans* Guide to Cis Solidarity: Beyond Oppression" . Here Workers' Liberty supporter Zack Muddle replies. Dear comrades Rowan Fortune and Logan O'Hara, Your open letter valuably highlights many attacks on trans people and trans rights. At a time where the government , media , hard - and far-right — and even parts of the ostensible left and the labour movement — are rallying behind transphobia, such beating of the drum for trans rights is very much needed. So, too, are efforts...

A welcome move in Scotland

On Thursday 22 December the Scottish parliament voted through "gender recognition" reforms that will allow trans people to self-identify, rather than go through a laborious process of medical certification.

The strange tale of Tulsi Gabbard

Congresswoman Gabbard meets Narendra Modi, 2019 Imagine if a Labour MP championed Corbyn in 2016, stood to be leader in 2020 – then left the party and become active on the far right. You are getting something of the flavour of US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (in office 2013-21). Discussing Gabbard, the cases of George Galloway and Barry Gardiner spring to my mind, for different reasons. Gabbard’s case, stranger and more disturbing than either, surely has lessons beyond the US. Gabbard made great play of being the first Hindu member of the US Congress. But the Hindu tradition in which she was...

Ex-members come out against UCKG

On 29 November the Guardian published an article about ex-followers of the international “evangelical Christian” church UCKG speaking out against the organisation. On 2 December this was followed by a more detailed podcast , well worth listening to. The young people some of whom spoke have accused the organisation of financial exploitation, psychological abuse and threats. They have also organised protests. The “United Church of the Kingdom of God” was founded in Brazil in 1977 by Edir Macedo , still head of the church and now a billionaire capitalist as result of his “religious” activities...

Women's Fightback: "All the Rage" sets agenda for activities

Events prioritisng socialist feminism have been lacking on the British left in recent years, but the discussion at the All The Rage conference organised by Workers’ Liberty in London on 26 November highlighted the central role of women in class-struggle movements, and the global relevance of the issues. Around the world women are leading struggles for workers’ rights, and for freedom against repressive governments. Sessions featured women speakers from Iran, India, the US, Poland, and Ukraine. The direct communication with activists based in those countries during the event gave a real sense...

Personal reflections on the World Cup

Stocksbridge Works football team in days of yore – definitely not heading for Qatar, more likely The Miners’ Arms. It’s hard to think of a World Cup which hasn’t, at some point, aroused controversy, both on and off the pitch. "Politics and sport shouldn’t mix" is a standard response to this situation but one which is feeble, ignores reality and misses the point: it is inevitable that the world’s most popular sport should attract political controversy, particularly now that every word, every move, every gesture is conveyed around the world in a matter of seconds. Even so, the astonishing...

Montenegro Pride: no more buts, no more excuses

Just two weeks after Belgrade’s much-talked-about EuroPride, Montenegro held their own week-long series of events; this Montenegro Pride (8 October) would be the country’s tenth. But in contrast to Belgrade’s protests and aggression in the weeks leading up to the event, this year Montenegro would see none of the same aggression. “Having been involved since the beginning, I’ve seen a huge change,” said Danijel Kalezic, member of the organisational committee of Montenegro Pride and an activist who has campaigned for LGBTQ rights and equality for over a decade. “I was here from the very beginning...

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