Page 19 - Fyne Times Spring 2014
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that same sex relationships are sometimes or
always wrong. A thriving ‘scene’ in London,
Brighton or Manchester is no protection
against the problems of real life.
Austerity hurts LGBT communities.
The lack of affordable housing combined
with caps on housing benefit and the
government’s threatened removal of HB
altogether from under-25s hits young LGBT
people not welcome in the parental home
and many are homeless. Alongside this,
studies show that up to half of young LGBT
people have mental health issues. But the
local authority-supported groups that used
to offer support are being lost through the
paring back of services to the statutory
minimum.
Combine this with the continued blight
of homophobic bullying in schools and
colleges which continues, in part, through
government policy of encouraging faith-
based free schools, which are able to teach
that being homosexual is sinful, and it’s no
wonder young people coming to terms with
their sexuality or gender identity can have a
rough time.
Do hate crime statistics show an actual
increase, or an increase in reporting?
Homophobic hate crime comes in second
only behind race hate in police statistics,
while austerity is causing hate crime units
to lose specialist staff, and the charity sector
faces cuts in grants.
Last year was marked by awful incidents
of bigotry against trans people, and a
disproportionate level of reported hate
crime. NHS cuts mean trans people also
face greater difficulty accessing services
to enable them to transition. In sexual
health, the big increase in reported HIV
infections among gay and bisexual men and
widespread ignorance about the condition
screams out for effective public information:
but the funding is lacking, leaving it again
to a heavily squeezed voluntary sector.
Many LGBT people took jobs in the
public sector when it had the reputation
of being more LGBT-friendly. Now, after
hundreds of thousands of job losses, those
remaining are in the third year of a pay
freeze. Inflation has not been frozen, and
everyone is struggling – some on in-work
benefits that are also being squeezed, as well
as being demonized as scroungers by the
government.
Our victories are recent and not yet deeply
rooted in society. Under the pressure of
austerity, all work on equality is squeezed
– LGBT rights has only just joined the
equality agenda and can easily become an
optional extra, a luxury for when times are
better. If that happens, we lose our visibility
and our specific issues disappear, and
progress can be reversed.
So, before the wedding party, let’s get the
band to play a clarion call to the LGBT
community to mobilise in defence of our
sisters and brothers abroad, to challenge
the reactionaries advancing in Europe, but
also to defend those many in the LGBT
community at home who are being crushed
under the government’s austerity measures.
Peter Purton
TUC LGBT/disability officer
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