Take a stand - Defend equality

Over the course of time we get used to it.

(Guest Post) “It” being a methodical onslaught on privileges (such as free comprehensive health care), freedoms (such as the freedom to live with the ones you love where ever they may come from in the world even if you earn less than £18,600 per year) and our rights.

Sometime last year the Government issued their now (in?) famous “Red Tape Challenge”. As part of this, one of the proposals was to repeal the Equality act 2010.

This suggestion prompted a deluge of responses from across the Country to leave the act alone. The act was brought in at the end of the last Labour Government after a tortuous amount of consultation and involvement stretching over years.

The new coalition government in their infinite wisdom started swiftly to make the changes by simply failing to implement sections of the Act (protection over Dual discrimination) http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/equalities/equality-act/faq/ and watering it down where they could (the move away for the requirement to equality impact assess policy changes to simply paying “due regard” to equality).

However on the 15th May this year, it seems clear that it was time to focus on our rights. Issuing a double whammy of two sets of consultations on repealing two sections of the equality act, removing equality act questionnaires and reconsidering and reviewing the Public Sector Equality Duty the proposals have explicit intention to scream out:

· Tribunals have no place in preventing future discrimination

· People making allegations of discrimination have no place demanding that they should be protected from harassment

· People making allegations of discrimination have no business asking for answers from their respondents before their day in court

· The Public Sector Equality Duty has no place in making sure that unfair and discriminatory decisions don’t take place.

The organisation I work for has set up a website for people in Northamptonshire to respond to the proposals here [http://defendequality.co.uk] but if you live outside Northamptonshire you can learn more about the proposals and find a suggested set of words to complain to the Government Equalities Office on both enforcement@geo.gsi.gov.uk and thirdpartyharassment@geo.gsi.gov.uk

Don’t forget to write to your local MP. You have until 7th August 2012 to take action. If you don’t ... you very well might regret it.

(Guest post by Anjona Roy: photo Kelly)

A Man's a Man for A' That

Tonight (January 25) is the anniversary of the birth of Scottish Baird, Rabbie Burns and is the traditional time to mark his life with poetry, haggis and a glass (or three) of whisky. However, like many people I will be celebrating his life over the weekend. My Father was born and bred in Scotland and he loved to read Burns and recite out loud. While I must admit to being at times somewhat linguistically challenged at some of the poetry, I don't think anyone with any social conscious cannot fail to be moved at the simple beauty and meaning of his language in A Man's a Man for A'That and not understand its message of liberty, equality and universal human rights.

(It helps of course if you have a 18th Century Scots/ 21st Century English dictionary)

Hat tip "The Macalmans" check Youtube version for some "Notes for the Sasunnach and other strange folks" i.e dictionary of some of the more unusual words.

The Newham homophobe and the real Gestapo

It seems that former Councillor and religious fundamentalist Alan Craig has got bored with stirring up religious hatred over so called “Megamosques” and has now started picking on Gays and Lesbians. In an article published on his blog (and to its shame The Church of England Newspaper) he has compared Gay and Lesbians activists to Nazi, storm-troopers and to the Gestapo (Hitler’s secret Police).  He even uses the term Gaystapo.

Now, it is a free country and he is perfectly entitled to hold such medieval views on homosexuality no matter how abhorrent all right minded people think of them. But to accuse them of being Nazi's and Gaystapo is not only an unforgivable insult to the memory of the tens of thousands of gays who were gassed and murdered in Concentration camps during World War 2 (see picture above) but in the lead up to Remembrance Sunday it is also in my view a slur on British war dead.

Such as Squadron Leader Roger Bushell (left) who was part of “The Great Escape” and one of the 50 unarmed allied airman shot in cold blood by the real Gestapo - or British Special Operation Executive heroine Violette Szabo (right) who was brutally tortured by the Gestapo and later murdered in a Nazi death camp.

Nazi's and the Gestapo in particular were quite simply utterly vile and utterly evil monsters. To compare Gay activists with such psychopaths in order to score cheap political points is just repugnant. To compare them with the animals who murdered war time British heroes and heroines is a disgrace to their memory.

Craig thinks that his sort of Christianity in this country has a hard time. I can agree that sometimes people of faith are seen as easy targets for unnecessary mockery and ridicule. But as pointed out in the comments on his blog, no-one in recent history has been kicked to death in Britain just for being a Christian. While time and time again we see that Gay people are targeted, beaten and murdered just because of their sexuality. Craig doesn’t appear to care that publically denigrating Gays in such a way may result in further bloodshed. Since he must know that expressing his views in such ways will be counterproductive to his "cause" I am forced to conclude that this is actually all about Craig. He is just a self seeking publicist who will do anything, no matter how revolting, just in order to draw attention to himself.

On lighter note here is a link to the video I took of Craig when he was soundly defeated as a Newham Councillor and Mayoral candidate last year. The ordinary people of Newham showed him what they thought of his extremism and bigotry.