Green Party LGBT News

Greens' debate: Scottish LGBT history to be celebrated	25 January 2007
Summary The battle to ditch Section 28 and the need to recognise the contribution of the LGBT community to Scottish society will be marked this evening (24 Jan) when Greens lead a debate in Parliament.

Main Body

The battle to ditch Section 28 and the need to recognise the contribution of the LGBT community to Scottish society will be marked this evening (24 Jan) when Greens lead a debate in Parliament. (1)

The event, held by Patrick Harvie MSP to mark LGBT History Month, will give MSPs a chance to reflect on how Holyrood itself made its mark on LGBT history by facing down prejudice and abolishing Section 28, and will also celebrate the contribution LGBT people make to our society, bringing to light some aspects of LGBT history that remain untold or distorted.

Mr Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow, said, "At school we all learned something about the concentration camps, the gas chambers, the persecution and mass murder of Jews, Catholics, dissidents and disabled people under the Nazi regime. But how many of us were taught about the sexual minorities who suffered the same fate? Or that when the camps were liberated the few gay men still left alive were rounded up by the Allies and re-imprisoned?

"In recent years, LGBT communities around the world have highlighted the contribution they have made to society over the generations, from iconic figures like Sappho and Alexander the Great to individuals in science, business, politics, the arts and other walks of life. Aspects of history which had previously been airbrushed or ignored have been seen in a new light, and young LGBT people are able to see that sexual diversity has always been a normal part of human life."

Throughout February, a programme of events around Scotland will mark LGBT History Month, with the support of voluntary organisations, businesses, government, community groups, and religious, cultural and political organisations.

However, Greens stress that the Executive's failure to extend protection from "hate crimes" to the LGBT community means Scotland continues to lag behind the rest of the UK in terms of equality for sexual minorities. (2) When the Executive last year decided to shelve long-promised legislation to tackle "hate crime" against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, few MSPs from other parties objected.

Patrick Harvie, Green Glasgow MSP and LGBT campaigner, said, "Though great progress has been made in the battle for equality for sexual minorities, there remain serious gaps in legislation. The Executive's failure to class homophobic crimes as "hate crimes" has left the LGBT community without the same level of protection as their counterparts south of the border. Essentially, ministers are allowing intolerance and bigotry against certain groups in society to continue, without any legal measure to address it. Homophobia has no place in our modern, young democracy, and it's time the Executive acknowledged that."
Ends

Notes
1. Debate on the motion:
S2M-05406 - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month That the Parliament notes that February is LGBT History Month and that events will be taking place around Scotland to celebrate the lives of Scottish LGBT people past and present; congratulates the many organisations that have contributed to LGBT History Month, including voluntary organisations, religious groups, businesses and the Scottish Executive; regrets that LGBT history, from the horrors of the gulags and gas chambers to the achievements of LGBT people in all spheres of life, often remains unwritten and unspoken; believes that this represents a cultural loss to the whole of society; further believes that young LGBT people in particular have a right to learn about their cultural heritage in all its forms, and hopes therefore that many communities, including schools, will participate in LGBT History Month this year and in the future.

1. To find out more, and to find information about the programme of national and local events, visit www.lgbthistory.org.uk/

2. See www.scottishgreens.org.uk/index.php?id=5253

3. A photo of Patrick Harvie MSP is available at www.scottishgreens.org.uk/showimage.php?id=5527

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