Liverpool March Against Homophobia Report
Smash Homophobia
Robbie Folkard (Manchester CS and UMSU LGBT General Member) reports on the massive demonstration and opposition to homophobia.
Around 2000 people took part in the March Against Homophobia in Liverpool last Sunday. This was an unexpectedly high turnout, and the biggest demonstration in Liverpool for years. The horror and revulsion at the recent wave of homophobic attacks has obviously hit hard, and people have come out onto the streets accordingly. There was also a large number of trade union activists and their banners. The march itself was quite vibrant and we chanted slogans from ‘Out of the Closet, Onto the Streets’, to ‘We’re here, we’re queer, we will not live in fear!’, to ‘When Bigots attack, we fight back’.
There were some downsides to the march however. The most glaringly obvious is that we took a ridiculous route, missing out most of town and taking to the remote back streets to The Picket, where the closing rally was held. The route for the most part was unproductive, we couldn’t actually march where the attacks took place for ‘forensic reasons’, and for the majority of the route we completely lacked an audience.
The other major downside was the ‘homocentric’ nature of the march. The equally important issue of Transphobia was completely sidelined, and many didn’t even bother to recognise it- this was highlighted by a high-profile Stonewall presence and a myriad of LGB Book and Community groups. Also there was no event to mark Transgender Remembrance Day, contrary to what we had been told. On the upside, there were some people who didn’t either ignore the ‘T’ or assumed it was for ‘Token’, such as the NUT delegation, whose LGBT caucus carried a ‘Teachers Out and Proud: Challenging Homophobia and Transphobia in Schools’ banner.
The rally for the most part ranged from the utterly tedious to the highly emotional. Marie Causer, mother of murdered Michael Causer, was particularly touching. There were at least 3 councillors, one from the Liberal Party, and two from Labour. The first Labour councillor essentially just promoted the record of the government and little else, which hardly went down well. The second was more interesting, as she talked of the constant stream of homophobia she had suffered since coming out a few months ago. Other speakers included someone from the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Edge Hill LGBT Officer. The win must go to Gary speaking from Homotopia, who opened their speech with ‘We must put transphobia at the heart of all our battles’.
After the rally over 100 people decided to defy the permitted route and marched en masse from The Picket right into town and through the main shopping district. This was perhaps the best, and most important part of the day. LGBTQ people took it upon themselves to collectively march and protect each other through city centre, without a police ‘escort’. It is vitally important that our movement doesn’t rely on the police. For us to march through those streets behind a police escort would have meant little. But we all marched and protected each other, and were collectively empowered through that. This march then ended with a short rally where there were speakers from trade unions who spoke on how the labour movement must take up the question, and fight for, LGBT liberation.
Afterwards the police made a great deal of complaints about our actions, and said that we most likely will have spoilt any chance for ‘a future event or demo’. Whatever. It’s about time they realised that if we want to march, we will. If we want to demonstrate, we will. And if we want to collectively respond to a rise in homophobic and transphobic attacks, we will. We don’t need their bloody permission or ‘protection’.