There is a problem within the left which, from when I became active at 18 to this very day, I have felt powerless to address. The problem in question is known within the realm of LGBTQ+ activism as the "hierarchy of equality" or the "hierarchy of oppression". It is present in government as well, which is why (workplaces and public services notwithstanding) racist harassment is unlawful but homophobic harassment is not. The hierarchy runs as follows: Race trumps Religion; Religion trumps Sex; Sex trumps Sexuality; Sexuality trumps Trans. Disability doesn't even come into it.
At 18 I was a member of the SWP. When we were building up to Respect I was told by an organiser (who will remain nameless, partly because I'm terrible with names) that I can still defend women and queers, but not at the expense of making inroads into Muslim communities. If my views on women's rights and LGBTQ+ rights would make it more difficult for me to recruit Muslims then I was to keep quiet. This, apparently, was policy.
In other areas of the left it is not so formal a policy, but it is understood nonetheless. I have tried to highlight attacks on LGBTQ+ people, inequalities in law, abuse by officials, and always been told "yes, that's terrible, but we need to concentrate on racism and the effect on the working class". What about the divisive effects of other forms of discrimination upon the working class? Do these not have any effect? Or do we simply not care? Did the miners' strike teach us nothing?
The effect upon me, particularly as a teenager, was that I considered being part of the left required me to sell out where I came from in order to defend where others came from. That I would not be able to defend both. The events of yesterday brought this all to a head, and it is that which has prompted me now to try and fight the hierarchy of equality within the left.
Yesterday I attended a UAF event in Dudley, having travelled from London for the purpose. I was meant to be defending a mosque, but instead arrived at a concert in a car park. During the course of the day, I was threatened with serious assault by a man who didn't want me speaking with Muslim boys because I was "a troublemaker". I was groped at the breast. I was surrounded by over a dozen lads at one point demanding to know if I "have a dick or a pussy or a bit of both", then making transphobic and misogynistic remarks and getting quite intimidating and abusive. When they finally decided that I was female, I was told "we need blokes here, not bitches, so get the fuck out of Dudley you bitch". This from people whose mosque I was there to defend. One-way solidarity is not solidarity, the EDL had broken the police lines by that point, somebody had been stabbed, and when I am facing the enemy alongside a community I do not want to also fear the community I'm fighting beside. At that point I walked away, indignant with rage at my alleged allies.
What hurts the most about yesterday, however, is not that it happened, but that I know the left will tolerate it. The dignity of veteran activists traded away in the defence of religion. History shows me that it will be tolerated, because for so long as I have been in the left, I have never seen that behaviour challenged. The left is complacent in this regard, assuming all is hunky-dory with neither consideration nor analysis. It is not enough. I therefore have arrived upon a set of demands, which will constitute the price of my continued participation in the anti-fascist movement.
1) That UAF work with community leaders to ensure that the communities know that activists will travel, in our own time and at our own expense, to stand alongside them. That these activists do so out of the good of our hearts, that we may hold different views or embrace identities that they see as sinful, but that while we are their allies we ought to be respected.
2) That the leadership of UAF publicly, both in words and in deeds, renounce the hierarchy of equality and work at all times to ensure that all communities are represented equally in the fight against fascism. They are to work to ensure that all forms of prejudice and discrimination are fought on an equal footing, and that the only hatred which is tolerated from within the movement is hatred against the Nazis.
If this cannot be achieved then I'll walk away, and I would urge and implore any self-respecting LGBTQ+ person to take a similar stance.
Queercore Punks
126 members
Description
Homophobic speech of any kind is not tolerated.
Can I get comments on this please?
by Joey
Apr 4, 2010
Race trumps Religion;
Religion trumps Sex;
Sex trumps Sexuality;
Sexuality trumps Trans.
Disability doesn't even come into it.
At 18 I was a member of the SWP. When we were building up to Respect I was told by an organiser (who will remain nameless, partly because I'm terrible with names) that I can still defend women and queers, but not at the expense of making inroads into Muslim communities. If my views on women's rights and LGBTQ+ rights would make it more difficult for me to recruit Muslims then I was to keep quiet. This, apparently, was policy.
In other areas of the left it is not so formal a policy, but it is understood nonetheless. I have tried to highlight attacks on LGBTQ+ people, inequalities in law, abuse by officials, and always been told "yes, that's terrible, but we need to concentrate on racism and the effect on the working class". What about the divisive effects of other forms of discrimination upon the working class? Do these not have any effect? Or do we simply not care? Did the miners' strike teach us nothing?
The effect upon me, particularly as a teenager, was that I considered being part of the left required me to sell out where I came from in order to defend where others came from. That I would not be able to defend both. The events of yesterday brought this all to a head, and it is that which has prompted me now to try and fight the hierarchy of equality within the left.
Yesterday I attended a UAF event in Dudley, having travelled from London for the purpose. I was meant to be defending a mosque, but instead arrived at a concert in a car park. During the course of the day, I was threatened with serious assault by a man who didn't want me speaking with Muslim boys because I was "a troublemaker". I was groped at the breast. I was surrounded by over a dozen lads at one point demanding to know if I "have a dick or a pussy or a bit of both", then making transphobic and misogynistic remarks and getting quite intimidating and abusive. When they finally decided that I was female, I was told "we need blokes here, not bitches, so get the fuck out of Dudley you bitch". This from people whose mosque I was there to defend. One-way solidarity is not solidarity, the EDL had broken the police lines by that point, somebody had been stabbed, and when I am facing the enemy alongside a community I do not want to also fear the community I'm fighting beside. At that point I walked away, indignant with rage at my alleged allies.
What hurts the most about yesterday, however, is not that it happened, but that I know the left will tolerate it. The dignity of veteran activists traded away in the defence of religion. History shows me that it will be tolerated, because for so long as I have been in the left, I have never seen that behaviour challenged. The left is complacent in this regard, assuming all is hunky-dory with neither consideration nor analysis. It is not enough. I therefore have arrived upon a set of demands, which will constitute the price of my continued participation in the anti-fascist movement.
1) That UAF work with community leaders to ensure that the communities know that activists will travel, in our own time and at our own expense, to stand alongside them. That these activists do so out of the good of our hearts, that we may hold different views or embrace identities that they see as sinful, but that while we are their allies we ought to be respected.
2) That the leadership of UAF publicly, both in words and in deeds, renounce the hierarchy of equality and work at all times to ensure that all communities are represented equally in the fight against fascism. They are to work to ensure that all forms of prejudice and discrimination are fought on an equal footing, and that the only hatred which is tolerated from within the movement is hatred against the Nazis.
If this cannot be achieved then I'll walk away, and I would urge and implore any self-respecting LGBTQ+ person to take a similar stance.
J.T. McKillop