Hastings
Damian Cosgrove, Sussex Socialist Party
Socialist Party members marched as part of the ‘Pride is a Protest’ bloc in Hastings. The bloc included representatives from the National Education Union (NEU) and Palestine protesters.
We put forward the message that Pride must act as a political movement to defend and advance LGBTQ+ liberation, and to do this we must resist the corporatisation of Pride that waters down that political message. 70 people were involved with the bloc.
There was a strong mood that Keir Starmer’s Labour cannot be trusted to defend LGBTQ+ rights, with many chants attacking Labour’s complicity in anti-trans politics. Close to the end of the parade, a section of the bloc split off to put this message across to Labour’s section, with chants of “Keir Starmer shame on you”.
Our involvement in the bloc felt very positive, the message we put forward was that we believe the best way we can rise above the hateful and divisive politics that scapegoats LGBTQ+ people is to provide a political alternative to the mainstream capitalist parties, a new mass party that is grounded in the working class, united against oppressive politics.
We distributed a fair amount of material, and had some excellent conversations with people both inside and outside the bloc. The conversations we had will be reflected on in an upcoming meeting we have on ‘socialism and liberation’.
Reading Pride – Labour closed to debate
Samuel Fisher, Reading Socialist Party
Pride marched through the town, creating a lovely and joyous atmosphere. Our Socialist Party leaflets on LGBTQ+ rights were well received by those in the crowd.
Green Party members seemed interested in the leaflet, took some, and were invited along to our weekly meeting to discuss this issue. Reading Labour Party were also at the event, but unsurprisingly, not so welcoming.
In all, a positive way to spread our visibility and Socialist Party message.
