I share your concerns 🐻, and I worry that this country is turning away from inclusion and towards hatred. Trans people and refugees appear to be the tip of the iceberg as far as the media are concerned. Labour needs to stop pandering to the right and ensure we can all feel safe here.
Can we add disabled to the 'others' list? Totally agree with you Frances - the levels of intolerance across all sectors of society seem to be rising. Who people love, what they have under their clothes, man, woman or transgender; what they do in their bedrooms; and what colour skin they have, or indeed what their accent; is no one's business but their own! Discrimination is wrong no matter who it is levied against.
I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis but it’s far more widespread than the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone who becomes unable to work, those working all hours and still struggling to make ends meet are viewed as the problem. I saw a post on sub-stack last week from a Danish contributor that summed up the financial challenges really well. If you want the state to provide, pay the taxes. Paying pru aren’t means any of us who does not meet the criteria pays more or is excluded altogether and that could extend to the LGBTQ+ community. I believe that there are many inadequacies and inefficiencies across the public sector but external consultants paid extortionate fees do not have the insight to identify truly beneficial changes. Listen to the people on the front-line of service delivery and the out-upon middle managers juggling too many challenges and there may be a chance of genuine improvement. Sorry if this seems a bit off-topic but since my husband & I started our working lives as optimistic 16 year olds in the 1970’s, nothing seems to have improved for the majority of the population and is actually measurably worse across the spectrum. Still hoping.
I can't, and never will, understand why people can't just accept other people for who they are. It's no one else's business who you love. I don't go around telling people I'm straight, I don't need to, because it's my business and no one else's. The people who are nasty to other groups of people, whether gay, disabled, in different ethnic groups etc, are usually totally inadequate bullies, who like to feel superior. I don't know how we get through to these people. Personally I don't care if you stand on your head painted purple with yellow spots, as long as no one is harmed. I think, deep down, it may be the fear of harm that drives these inadequates, as well as a lack of education. Perhaps the answer is just that, education from very young so that they understand that, no matter what, we are all human beings. No one has the right to make you afraid to be who you are. Sending you loads of love, you gorgeous Bear person ❤️ xxxxxxxxx (6'3"? Wow! I'm 5'1" and a scrape! I'd need a stool to hug you!)
Sadly, the Labour Party prefers to pander to a demograph that will never, in a million years, vote for them.
And then, as you say, we have the likes of a 'beloved children's author', and a twattish big-headed man who just won his appeal, both with a huge following of slavish, racist, misogynistic, terfy people.
The far right WILL win if nothing is done to correct the negativity and fear-mongering that is so pervasive in the world. The media and all politicians have a hell of a lot to answer for.
And I don't know of any politician who is capable of turning the tide.
That “filling pot holes with people” remark from a reform councillor that sounded like something from a 1970’s playground made me realise that while most (I hope) of us learned why prejudice was wrong there are people who just learned that it was “not allowed” but hung onto their prejudices.
I have seen it, the door for such comments opens a tiny bit and the relief in some people is palpable and they can laugh and say “whats not allowed” and if its well received more pours out along with the suppressed prejudice’s. If you can harness this it becomes powerful and the targets are dehumanised. I just don’t understand why we are so powerless to stop it. Maybe we used suppression instead of education in the past?
Oh my, there is so much to unpack here, I'm going to have to read this piece again. My teen years were in the 1970s, a dreadful time for those who weren't white and straight. Like many, I foolishly believed that after the Equality and the (equal) Marriage Acts were passed in 2010, that we'd at long last seen of the racists, homophobes and transphobes and that the UK had become a civilised safe haven for all. I should have known better - it wasn't gone, it had just crawled under some rocks. As you describe so well, the right-wing did what it always does. Led by its foul organs like the Mail and Telegraph, it put out tiny, few-and-far-between stories of people 'abusing the system' and watched like Iago with smug, cruel delight as the gullible and the downright stupid turned puce with anger and started to spew their hatred. It had never gone away, it had just been suppressed and it was unleashed on a biblical scale by the Brexit campaign of lies and the subsequent vote. I'd had no personal experience of the difficulties faced by those whose lives were miserable because they knew they'd been born into the wrong body but after long conversations with India Willoughby and a good deal of research that she pointed me towards, I completely get it and I see that the hate of trans people is the same as the hate that my friends who were LGB or had skin that was unacceptably dark to some pinkish/white people and that the hate is being spread in exactly the same way as it was 50 years ago. Quick anecdote: I had 4 gay friends at school, two were happily out and two preferred not to be at that time. Groups of us used to travel to the nearest town on the bus on Saturdays if we weren't in a school sports match to browse records and drink coffee and one particular day I was with one of my gay mates. We 'posh public school boys' were used to having the p*ss taken by local lads and mostly that's all it ever came to until one day when 5 skinheads approached us clearly looking for a fight. Well it was 5 vs 2 and even though my friend and I were bloody fit, hulking rugby players, we didn't have much chance and we were pretty badly beaten up. We returned to school nursing our battle wounds but gradually began to laugh, just a titter to start with but by the time we got back, we were in hysterics. A quick visit to the nurses at the "San" and we were up and running again and we did the only thing we could; we turned the whole episode into a comedy skit and performed it for the school at the end of term entertainments. We had the skinheads dressed and acting as Neanderthals. My friend said it was cathartic for him. Anyway Bear, FWIW, you and members of all minority groups have my wholehearted support and the wholehearted support of all civilised people in the UK. All the very best to you and your husband, Andy.
Since 2016 I believe that the right wing rhetoric has been emboldened with the 'fear' the stranger that then expands to the different ones. It prevalent on social media that promotes neoliberalism & libertarians advocating a contraction of the state, individualism & much reduced state support & intervention. Lowering taxes mean less money to support people with differences, making them some sort of burden on society. I fear it will worsen witb Farage/ Tice/ Bannon type pied pipers playing their divisive tunes into the ears of disaffected voters. The BBC can no longer be called independent, Sky News with Coates & Rigby are well paid to whisper Iago type doom messages pouring scorn on decent leaders whilst promoting party leaders who no longer care if they bend or brake the rules- up the 'ism's' including the newly arrived crytosism!
Long, long hug, dear Bear. It's awful but I promise you not everyone buys into the narrative.
I'm doing my best to inoculate the few of the younger generations to the toxic political language and as a result I hear they describe themselves as humanists and I see their compassion and resolve.
I share your concerns 🐻, and I worry that this country is turning away from inclusion and towards hatred. Trans people and refugees appear to be the tip of the iceberg as far as the media are concerned. Labour needs to stop pandering to the right and ensure we can all feel safe here.
Can we add disabled to the 'others' list? Totally agree with you Frances - the levels of intolerance across all sectors of society seem to be rising. Who people love, what they have under their clothes, man, woman or transgender; what they do in their bedrooms; and what colour skin they have, or indeed what their accent; is no one's business but their own! Discrimination is wrong no matter who it is levied against.
Somehow hate percolates through political discourse more readily than love. Seems to be the common denominator these days.
I agree wholeheartedly with your analysis but it’s far more widespread than the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone who becomes unable to work, those working all hours and still struggling to make ends meet are viewed as the problem. I saw a post on sub-stack last week from a Danish contributor that summed up the financial challenges really well. If you want the state to provide, pay the taxes. Paying pru aren’t means any of us who does not meet the criteria pays more or is excluded altogether and that could extend to the LGBTQ+ community. I believe that there are many inadequacies and inefficiencies across the public sector but external consultants paid extortionate fees do not have the insight to identify truly beneficial changes. Listen to the people on the front-line of service delivery and the out-upon middle managers juggling too many challenges and there may be a chance of genuine improvement. Sorry if this seems a bit off-topic but since my husband & I started our working lives as optimistic 16 year olds in the 1970’s, nothing seems to have improved for the majority of the population and is actually measurably worse across the spectrum. Still hoping.
Asking questions?
To do so is an act of power. It is a demand. The questioner assumes a position of power, however they might linguistically dress it.
And it is intended to disempower and dominate the recipient.
In the case of LGBTQ the intention is to delegitimise the existence of people identifying as such.
So acts of outright aggression.
Darling, if you've got an opinion on masculinity AND air fryers, you're so obviously gay. Ignore the monsters in the closet.
I can't, and never will, understand why people can't just accept other people for who they are. It's no one else's business who you love. I don't go around telling people I'm straight, I don't need to, because it's my business and no one else's. The people who are nasty to other groups of people, whether gay, disabled, in different ethnic groups etc, are usually totally inadequate bullies, who like to feel superior. I don't know how we get through to these people. Personally I don't care if you stand on your head painted purple with yellow spots, as long as no one is harmed. I think, deep down, it may be the fear of harm that drives these inadequates, as well as a lack of education. Perhaps the answer is just that, education from very young so that they understand that, no matter what, we are all human beings. No one has the right to make you afraid to be who you are. Sending you loads of love, you gorgeous Bear person ❤️ xxxxxxxxx (6'3"? Wow! I'm 5'1" and a scrape! I'd need a stool to hug you!)
Sadly, the Labour Party prefers to pander to a demograph that will never, in a million years, vote for them.
And then, as you say, we have the likes of a 'beloved children's author', and a twattish big-headed man who just won his appeal, both with a huge following of slavish, racist, misogynistic, terfy people.
The far right WILL win if nothing is done to correct the negativity and fear-mongering that is so pervasive in the world. The media and all politicians have a hell of a lot to answer for.
And I don't know of any politician who is capable of turning the tide.
That “filling pot holes with people” remark from a reform councillor that sounded like something from a 1970’s playground made me realise that while most (I hope) of us learned why prejudice was wrong there are people who just learned that it was “not allowed” but hung onto their prejudices.
I have seen it, the door for such comments opens a tiny bit and the relief in some people is palpable and they can laugh and say “whats not allowed” and if its well received more pours out along with the suppressed prejudice’s. If you can harness this it becomes powerful and the targets are dehumanised. I just don’t understand why we are so powerless to stop it. Maybe we used suppression instead of education in the past?
Oh my, there is so much to unpack here, I'm going to have to read this piece again. My teen years were in the 1970s, a dreadful time for those who weren't white and straight. Like many, I foolishly believed that after the Equality and the (equal) Marriage Acts were passed in 2010, that we'd at long last seen of the racists, homophobes and transphobes and that the UK had become a civilised safe haven for all. I should have known better - it wasn't gone, it had just crawled under some rocks. As you describe so well, the right-wing did what it always does. Led by its foul organs like the Mail and Telegraph, it put out tiny, few-and-far-between stories of people 'abusing the system' and watched like Iago with smug, cruel delight as the gullible and the downright stupid turned puce with anger and started to spew their hatred. It had never gone away, it had just been suppressed and it was unleashed on a biblical scale by the Brexit campaign of lies and the subsequent vote. I'd had no personal experience of the difficulties faced by those whose lives were miserable because they knew they'd been born into the wrong body but after long conversations with India Willoughby and a good deal of research that she pointed me towards, I completely get it and I see that the hate of trans people is the same as the hate that my friends who were LGB or had skin that was unacceptably dark to some pinkish/white people and that the hate is being spread in exactly the same way as it was 50 years ago. Quick anecdote: I had 4 gay friends at school, two were happily out and two preferred not to be at that time. Groups of us used to travel to the nearest town on the bus on Saturdays if we weren't in a school sports match to browse records and drink coffee and one particular day I was with one of my gay mates. We 'posh public school boys' were used to having the p*ss taken by local lads and mostly that's all it ever came to until one day when 5 skinheads approached us clearly looking for a fight. Well it was 5 vs 2 and even though my friend and I were bloody fit, hulking rugby players, we didn't have much chance and we were pretty badly beaten up. We returned to school nursing our battle wounds but gradually began to laugh, just a titter to start with but by the time we got back, we were in hysterics. A quick visit to the nurses at the "San" and we were up and running again and we did the only thing we could; we turned the whole episode into a comedy skit and performed it for the school at the end of term entertainments. We had the skinheads dressed and acting as Neanderthals. My friend said it was cathartic for him. Anyway Bear, FWIW, you and members of all minority groups have my wholehearted support and the wholehearted support of all civilised people in the UK. All the very best to you and your husband, Andy.
Sending love from Buckinghamshire 🐻 xx
I’ve emailed you Bear.
I feel pretty desperate too- but there are far more of us ( ppl who are pro LGBT 🏳️🌈 and inclusion) than there are bigots. 🫂🫂🫂
Since 2016 I believe that the right wing rhetoric has been emboldened with the 'fear' the stranger that then expands to the different ones. It prevalent on social media that promotes neoliberalism & libertarians advocating a contraction of the state, individualism & much reduced state support & intervention. Lowering taxes mean less money to support people with differences, making them some sort of burden on society. I fear it will worsen witb Farage/ Tice/ Bannon type pied pipers playing their divisive tunes into the ears of disaffected voters. The BBC can no longer be called independent, Sky News with Coates & Rigby are well paid to whisper Iago type doom messages pouring scorn on decent leaders whilst promoting party leaders who no longer care if they bend or brake the rules- up the 'ism's' including the newly arrived crytosism!
Long, long hug, dear Bear. It's awful but I promise you not everyone buys into the narrative.
I'm doing my best to inoculate the few of the younger generations to the toxic political language and as a result I hear they describe themselves as humanists and I see their compassion and resolve.
Take care ❤️
I hear a lot about Gay Rights. What exactly are these rights?
Gay people literally only got the right to get married in 2011!
The right to all human rights without any discrimination on account of their being gay?