[GAY LPYS can be contacted care of LCGR…]
Class Fighter1983 1983-05-01Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 2 →
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GAY LPYS can be contacted care of LCGR, 6IA, Bloom Street, Manchester 1 or 13 Buxton Road; FOR THE eighth successive year, the Standing Orders Committee refused to include the issue of gay rights on the agenda of the LPYS Conference at Bridlington.
The newly-formed Gay LPYS group went with the intention of pointing out, through interventions, leafletting and fringe meetings, that this issue should no longer be dodged by the YS.
Friday and Saturday were mainly spent leafletting and slapping "Gay 16 OK" stickers on anyone who stood still long enough. About 350 people also signed a petition to get gay rights discussed at conference..
Stickers Whilst the petition was totally ignored. by the platform, many people still had their stickers on by Monday afternoon.
Our major event was a fringe meeting on Sunday where members of _Gay. LPYS, Gay Youth Movement and Peter Tatchell talked of their experiences of oppression and prejudice as lesbians and gay men.
We aimed to show that far from being irrelevant, and merely a product of capitalism, being homosexual is very important politically.
Sacked Anti-gay attitudes affect between 10% and 20% of the population -in employment (people are sacked and discriminated against for being homosexual), in the law (gay men arrested for consenting relationships under the age of 21, and lesbians losing custody of their children) and in society genreally.
It affects them now and needs to be dealt with now whatever the Militant line may be!)
The meeting was certainly a success - probably the best attended fringe meeting of the weekend, attracting over 300 people.
We devoted the rest of our efforts to en juraging new-founc su,porters to invite Gay LPYS speakers to their branches, to affiliate to Labour Campaign for Gay Rights, to forward resolutions on gay rights for the next LPYS conference and to give financial support.
Deep-rooted Whilst the weekend was a success for Gay LPYS and may end up with a debate on gay rights at-next year's conference, there will still be a lot to do. Supporting gay rights is easy. Getting rid of deep-rooted, anti-gay prejudices and attitudes and creating a climate where lesbians and gay men can feel totally comfortable in the YS is the real test.
JOHN ISTED CLINT BELL Gay LPYS London N19.