penwing.site

A couple of things I want to talk about in the Queer space.

No, I'm not dead. No I haven't been ill. I've been suffering from a case of "can't-be-arsed-and-what's-the-point-anyway-itis". I'm hoping this will clear up as I work on Queer Commons (the working title for what I discussed previously). I have a site up, I need to do some work on it and write a couple of articles to start it, but I hope that I can open it up more fully on Monday. If you're interested in a sneak peak, or want to help with an article or with theming or anything else, drop me a line.

The other side of politics I've been discussing tonight (see last entry)was The Equality Bill and the Tories. A brief discussion with @lawandsexuality through the medium of Facebook comments about where the Tories would likely go with Equality.

Warrington, where I live, is split into two parliamentary constituencies the boundary being, pretty much, the Mersey. They are represented by "the Helens" - Jones for the North and Southworth for the South. Apparently there's going to be some major work on redirecting the Mersey as we will be switching Helens at the next election. Both Helens are in fairly safe seats - I normally get no election publicity except from the very fringe parties.

Remember me talking about how we are excluded from harassment protection in certain circumstances in the new Equality Bill? Lynne Featherstone asked Ben Summerskill of Stonewall - the representative organisation for UK "gay men and lesbians" - about this. His response:

I can certainly say on the issue of harassment we are not convinced that there is a need for protection in this area.

In the UK we have a limited number of groups fighting for Queer (or LGB(T)) rights. Stonewall (who I have publicly distanced myself from) play a very safe and cosy game but attract a lot of criticism from Queer activists. NUS LGBT Campaign and individual Student Union LGBT groups are student specific. Schools Out is teaching specific. Trade Unions are specific to their members. Queer Youth Network is youth orientated. There's something missing. Something for the activist who isn't young, isn't in a trade union or a students' union.

As a result of last minute change of plans, I was able to attend Sunday's Pride is a Protest and Queer Cafe meeting. Finishing the minutes is next on my todo list but I wanted to offer some personal comments first.

TransLondon have announced that it will not be participating in London Pride this year. They cite three reasons:

• The apparent lack of seriousness with which Pride dealt with last year's "Toiletgate"
• The lack of consultation with the community
• The stereotyping/parodying of Transfolk

Letter sent to my MP about supporting the Equality Bill. As I have not received a reply whenever I've used WriteToThem, I daren't trust the EqualityBill.com e-mail your MP feature so this is being sent by regular snail mail.

Dear Ms Southworth,

Thank you for following up on my comments on the Digital Britain Interim Report. Following those comments I contributed further to the consultation on the proposed Digital Rights Agency and have included a copy of those notes for your own reference.

This is the third part of my discussion of The Equality Bill. My discussion starts here.

There is a point I feel particularly important towards the end of this article - exceptions to the rules on discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

3. Discrimination, Harassment and Victimisation