Brody's Scribbles... Peter Tatchell- Beyond Gay & Straight

Peter Tatchell  Photo By Gay Cornwall

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) July 7 | In his 'Comment Is Free' column in yesterday's Guardian  UK newspaper, Australian-born British activist, Peter Tatchell, known for his work with LGBT social equality programmes & organisations wrote:

"LGBT identity is largely a defence against homophobia. Faced with victimisation, we had to defend our right to be LGBT and create our own community institutions to fill the void created by an uncaring, bigoted society. But when legal equality and social acceptance have been won, will there be any need for a separate LGBT identity and community? If one sexuality is not deemed more valid than the other, much of the raison d’être for distinguishing between gay and straight disappears."

Tatchell, reflecting on the events spanning a forty year long period from the formation of the Gay Liberation Front in London during the early 1970's to the present day movement championed by LGBT Equality organisations such as Stonewall and others, stated:

"Saturday's gay pride parade in London celebrated 40 years since the formation of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in Britain. This was a watershed moment in British queer history. For the first time, thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people stopped hiding in the closet and suffering in silence. I was one of them. We came out and marched in the streets, proclaiming gay pride and demanding our freedom.

This is the ultimate paradox. GLF spawned a movement that created the conditions for its own dissolution. The more we secure the acceptance and human rights of LGBT people, the less we need a separate gay identity, community and movement. In a queer-friendly society, the differences between homo and hetero lose their significance. When no one cares who is gay and who is straight, there will be no point in maintaining a distinction between the two sexualities. Labelling people and behaviour becomes irrelevant. The movement becomes redundant."

 The pinknews.co.uk republished the entire column yesterday: [Here]