Europride Manchester: Stop bullying and discrimination

Europride Manchester

Stop bullying and discrimination

TENS OF thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people
from across Britain and internationally will come to Europride in
Manchester.

Europride happening shows the gains that have been made, especially in
making homophobia less acceptable. However, to listen to some groups –
like Stonewall – you might get the impression that liberation has arrived.
Unfortunately it hasn’t, and despite gains that can be made – while
divisive capitalism dominates people’s lives – it won’t.

One expert estimates that: "There could be as many as 46,000 young
people being bullied for their sexual orientation in secondary schools".
‘Gay’ is a standard term of abuse in schools.

We stand for raising awareness in schools by pupils and teachers
without fear of reactionary government or council legislation, and proper
education about all forms of relationships.

Sting in the tail

The government, bowing to years of pressure and to bring legislation
into line with European Union law, made welcome though limited reforms on
civil partnerships and workplace discrimination. But as always there’s a
sting in the tail.

The civil partnership bill sanctifies marriage, discriminating against
unmarried couples, gay or straight. In the workplace, faith-based
organisations claiming a religious ‘ethos’ can legally discriminate
against LGBT workers!

It seems like there’s an endless hill to climb before liberation can be
reached. At root there’s one problem – the capitalist system.

Based on divisions, capitalism generates homophobia and other
prejudices. Power concentrated in the hands of an elite means power
relations form on divisive lines. This leads to some taking out their
frustrations on a ‘soft’ target by bullying others, including young people
seen as different.

For bosses and the politicians their first concern is keeping power at
any cost, including whipping-up prejudices. So Bush in the US, for
example, attacks gay marriage to divert poor Christians from their poverty
along right-wing religious lines to re-elect him in November.

So long as society is based on class divisions, the prejudices that
flow from this will remain.

We fight for every reform, applaud every step forward, and campaign to
raise awareness. To make this lasting, in a society where these rights can
be guaranteed and the roots of discrimination eradicated, we fight for
socialism. Join us!