No room for complacency on LGBT rights
There’s never any space for complacency when it comes to LGBTQIA+ rights, say the Scottish Greens. The point will be emphasised by the Scottish Greens equality spokesperson, Maggie Chapman MSP in a parliamentary debate on LGBT History Month.
Speaking in the debate, Maggie will say:
“There’s never space for complacency when we celebrate LGBT History Month.
“LGBT history isn’t a gentle story of steady progress, of education followed by awareness, of recognition leading to rights, of a joyful journey out of the wilderness and into the sunny uplands.
“There’s a reason why we speak of liberation struggles – because they truly are a struggle.
“We have woeful memories, sometimes. We pretend that rights we now accept were always uncontroversial, except among those we dismiss as the enemy. We conveniently forget how contested they were, how uncomfortable they made people feel.
“This year, as we stand in solidarity and love, with our trans friends and relatives, those bearing the brutal burden of today’s moral panic, media obsession and political opportunism, LGBT History Month matters more than ever before. Not as a source of celebration, but of challenge.
“We’re rightly shocked when we hear those dusty old arguments against same-sex marriage dredged once again from history’s filing cabinet. But we should be just as horrified by attempts to normalise transphobic rhetoric. Especially, as we know, heartbreakingly, that it doesn’t end with rhetoric alone.
“The struggles go on, there is work to be done, in this chamber as in the world outside. We have learned some bitter lessons from the past few months, about the ephemerality of easy promises, about the collapse of consensus when the going gets tough.
“For many with whom we share both grief and hope, the going has never been harder. We stand with you.”