So Christmas, New Year and January are over and we enter another cold, winter month. A bit of a “dead” month maybe with nothing special happening, no bank holidays to look forward to and wondering where the first month of the year has already gone. However it is an important month for the LGBT+ community in the UK.
 
Our worship theme this month is Gospel according to …. over arched by the fact that this is LGBT History month. It’s been 50 years since the Stonewall Riots, a series of riots that took place after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn on 28^th June 1969. As this year progresses we will commemorate this more, especially as we move towards Pride in July. The Stonewall riots were a pivotal moment in LGBT rights and history.
 
When I consider that the Stonewall riots took place in 1969, 50 years ago that feels like a long time ago. Many of us may not have even been born then or if we were we may have been very young, I was only 3 when they took place so I certainly don’t remember them. When I look at where we are now it does seem like we have come a long way since then. But it’s not very long since Section 28, effectively banning any teaching or even discussing homosexuality in schools and other local authority run organisations, was repealed in 2003.
 
That’s only 16 years ago and much has changed in the UK since then. First Civil Partnerships and then Equal Marriage. People do seem more open to LGB issues, in-fact in some areas we might consider that being LG or B are no longer an issue.
 
For this we need to give thanks for all those who have fought for the rights we now take for granted and that is what LGBT History month is all about.
 
But we mustn’t forget the fights that are still being fought. The fight for the rights of our Transgender brothers and sisters. A fight that seems to occur daily on Twitter and in the real world. Where some women’s groups are fighting against transgender women being included in the rights that all women have because they don’t see them as women!
 
The fight for LGBT+ rights in the 72 countries around the world where same-sex activity is still outlawed. A reality for those of our friends we know who are seeking asylum in the UK because they are LGB or T.
 
So as we look back and celebrate the things that have happened over the last 50 years, let’s also look at the present and the work that still needs to take place and see what we can do. Let’s use this “dead” month of February to start or continue our own fight to improve the rights of other LGBT+ people.
 
Charlotte