Reader's Letter

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ELROPE. "NITED STATES:: OUT NOW! £1.25 €2.00 $2.50 Comrade, There has not as yet been an assessment by Socialist Press of the second Gay Workers Conference held in Leeds in February. This was attended by 100 people from all over Britain.

Although the various workshops generated interesting discussions on the situation of gays in the workplace (the general fight against victimisation and discrimination, and particularly the specific problems of Lesbians) and on the activity of gay people in unions, there was not sufficient discussion of these issues in the general meetings which were mostly very unproductive.

The conference did little to consolidate previous achievements and developed no real perspectives for future action.

This basic failure was largely caused by the dominance of the substantial IMG caucus. Despite frequent interventions from a few individuals, this encountered no organised opposition and was enotral hamnared hu the singlehousework"

If the movement is to make real gains, it will not be by a diversion into the policies proposed at Leeds. The call was for:

"a minimal basis of agreement that will unite people from all parts of the gay movement and the Trade Union movement in action"

This "minimal basis' turned out to be the slogan 'No discrimination on ground of sexual orientation'. which offers absolutely no clear political perspective, and went hand in hand with proposals for a "Gay Workers Manual'.

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It was obvious from the discussion that this will be accessible only to workers already actively engaged in political struggle and will do nothing to give firmer direction to present struggles or to draw in other workers.

It is more than a tactical error to ignore what remains the central nanklam of rau liharatinn - tha fant who actually come out as work, so that the movement yet no mass base.

Clearly the major area of our political activity must be in the workplace and the labour movement, but the fight in trade unions to end discrimination and victimisation must be accompanied by a campaign in the commercial gay scene, which is the only sector where gays are already organised.

What gay workers need is not charters, Slogans, or manuals, but a political programme of action to integrate their demands with those of all workers and to unite them in the struggle to achieve all these aims.

The Leeds conference did not satisfy this need. It remains an urgent priority forsocialists to fulfil what Lenin stated as our 'obligation to be in advance of everybody in bringing up, sharpening and solving every general democratic problem'.

Yours fraternally,

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SOCIALIST PRESS, Wetecadey Sit May, 1976