Defeat right wing attacks on gay rights

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"Blasphemy' and 'Heresy' were the charges regularly used by the Christian Church to condemn homosexuality.

But the trial and successful prosecution of Gay News and its editor last year were not simply a revival of ancient customs.

This initiative by Mary Whitehouse represented part of the gathering international drive towards the complete oppression of gays.

In December, Canadian police raided the offices of Body Politics (one of North America's major gay liberation newspapers), and charges have been brought under the obscenity laws.

Reactionary

This was followed by a visit to Toronto from Anita Bryant, in an effort to extend the "Campaign for Decency" she has launched in the US.

The main objective of this reactionary crusade has been the persecution of homosexuals, and withdrawal of the scattered democratic rights they have gained recent years.

The press witch-hunt of Jeremy Thorpe was an indication of the underlying pressures that were developing in Britain.

Hysteria

Since then, the hysteria generated by the bourgeois press on the issue of lesbian parents has been further proof (if any was needed) of the growing strength of this offensive.

These attacks have not gone unchallanged. Massive demonstration of gays erupted in North America, but this spontaneous movement has now largely evapoated.

In Britain, the Gay News Defence Committee was formed to campaign around the appeal which will be heard on February 13th.

In addition to its appeal for the funds that are necessary if Gay News is to continue after paying the fine and costs, the committee has been working to mobilise forces from the labour movement, student unions, women's and gay groups for The campaign's central demand has been for the repeal of the blasphemy laws. This diversionary call offers no real perspective for gays to counter the reactionary forces ranging against them.

The blasphemy law is only one light weapon from the vast arsenal at the disposal of the bourgeois state.

Its use comes at a time when the ruling-calss, and its police-force in the labour bureaucracy, rely increasingly on the repressive apparatus of the state to attack the independent struggles of the working-class.

Counterpart

Many forms of censorship will certainly be employed more frequently, and this is one lesson that must be drawn out of the Gay News case.

These developments also have their counterpart in the mounting efforts to restore the stability of the family. One aspect of that drive is the necessity to suppress homosexuality.

The campaign provides an opportunity to forge real links between the gay movement and the labour movement, by showing the necessity for a common struggle against repressive legislation.

The specific oppression of homosexuals is made far more severe by the same crisis of capitalism which threatens all workers with wage cuts, unemployment and political expression.

Wherever the defence campaign can be extended into trade union branches and constituency Labour parties, it must be taken up as the basis for a campaign to repeal all legislation which restricts the democratic rights of gay women and men.

The Gay News Defence Committee has called a national demonstration in London on Saturday February Ilth, two days before the appeal is to be heard.

THE DEMONSTRATION WILL MEET AT 1.30 TEMPLE

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PRESS, Wednesday Februar; 1, 19 =39n=