Breakthrough for gay
PART THIS year's Labour Party Conference had the first debate on sexuality that Labour has ever had. got adequate backing for a strong wide-ranging resolution to get on the Conference agenda.
Among other things the resolution demands: • the removal of all legal discrimination (including the discriminatory age of consent); • The enforcing of full equal opportunities at local government level: •and the outlawing of all other forms of discrimination.
It was a major achievement to get a debate at Conference - but the majority for the resolution (over one million votes) was an enormous step forward. To tinc out how LCLGR managed this. and what significance it will have. Nick De Marco spoke to Peter Purton. Treasurer of LCLGR and Conference delegate from Ealing South CLP. What was the signiticance of the victory for the Gay Rights resolution? The vote was the single most important step forward for Lesbian and Gay rights since the emergence of the Lesbian and Gay movement in Britain. For the first time the issue was taken from the fringes and put in the centre of labour movement concerns.
It means that the Labour Party is now committed to an uncompromising programme of Lesbian and Gay rights. We can now fight our oppression with the full authority of the Labour Party and T.U.C.
It creates the opportunity to begin to win the labour movement to the understanding that sexuality must be an integral part of any genuinely socialist programme. As this was the first time Lesbian and Gay rights was even discussed at Conference how did you manage to secure such a big majority in favour of the resolution? Firstly, we launched a well-organised and coherent campaign to get on the agenda, and lobbled massively to secure the votes we needed.
Secondly, we consolidated the alliances we had begun to bulld with other sections of the oppressed. in particular campaigns for women's rights within the Party and, specially important, the movement.
We had organised jointly with the black sections movement to support each others' demands (e.g. supporting each others' resolutions for Conference) and this proCeSS greatly strengthened campaigns.
At Bournemouth this alliance became a genuine example of the unity of the op:
rights! pressed in struggle. support of numbers of heterosexuals such a8 Buchan who have been fighting for our demands for many years. had it not been developments of the miners' strike. for the NUM and the willingness of the miners to take on board the struggles of women, blacks created an entirely new situation within sections of the trade union movement. gave us the strength to approach directly other trade unions. What trade unions supported Conference? Among the major unions to vote for the Lesbian and Gay rights resolution were the NUM, NUPE, COHSE, NUR, ASTMS. TGWU. ASLEF. ACTT. How did you manage to gain the sup-
ort of the traditional manual unions
ike the TGWU? We persiatently lobbied the union delegations and ligures in the trade unions to arque our case amongst the delegations. We had significant support from the likes of Ron Todd and Peter Heathfield in particular. Vice unions to the AIDS hysteria made it easier toe us to gain their support. resolution from the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) and NALGO at the T.U.C. meant also that we were able black sections to arque that Lesbian and Gay rights was already TUC polley. Why did the NEC want the resolution remitted? Fundamentally they got cold feet over both our lowering the age of consent. I believe this was a cover for the right wing who would much rather have the issue brushed under the carpet. After Socialist Viewpoint, No 8, November 1986. Page 11
discrimination What do CLABOUR.. BOURNEMOUTH. LABOUR 85 solidate our movement impossible. from the for its Nor should we torget the unwavering Party. MEPs Christine Crawley and Janey For all this we still might not have won for the historic received The support of Lesblans and Gay men response and lesbians and gays To have the public support of the NUM We must step you at UCATT. TASS and enlisted support of leading The positive responses of the health ser- The successful Lesbian and Gay rights all one cannot
simultaneously assert opposition to all
Tand maintain a discriminatory age of consent.
you now expect from the Labour leadership? We can be sure, even judging only by the immediate response of the gutter press to the vote, that this will become an election issue. It would be perfectly in character (given the response of the leadership to ditch other policies which fundamentally challenge the accepted consensus of the British political establishment) for the Party to attempt to backtrack on its commitment. Our struggle now has to be to con-
victory across the labour and make such a retreat What reaction did the resolution get
gay community, the Labour Party and the press? The response of the gay press, not noted
socialist Jeanings, has been dramatic front page headlines. We expect an influx of Lesbians and Gay men into the
Rank and file delegates were extremely enthusiastic in the support they gave at Conference. Five years ago the bigotry ot William Evans, the delegate from Ogmore who spoke in the debate, would have
much - more favourable than the Jeering and heckling which came from CLP delegates.
The unprecedented coverge on TV and in the press showed the importance of the debate. Journalists were forced, for the first time, to explain the demands of lesbians and gay men. Where do you go from here?
Sup our campaign in the trade unions. Those unions that supported us must be forced to fight for these policies amongst their membership.
Within the Party we must ensure the new NEC sub-committee becomes an effective vehicle for implementing policy.
Finally we intend to organise a massive drive for organisations to affiliate to and individuals to join LCLGR.
LCLGR Contact Bill Forsythe, Membership Secretary: 17. Osborne Rd, Southville, BRISTOL BS3 1PR.
26 Groups attend Conference Miners Support Groups: the fight is
stepped up! A SUCCESSFUL conference of Miners' Suport Groups was held in Sheffield last Saturday October 12. It had been originally motivated by the Oxford Miners' Support Group and was than organised by 7 Support Groups who met twice in London to plan the Conference.
It was a working conference designed to emphasise the continuing importance of the Support Groups and of the issue of the victimised and imprisoned miners to the labour movement as a whole. It was felt by the organising groups that many Support Groups were winding up or running down their activities because there was no national focus to which they could relate and through lack of knowledge about what was going on in the other areas.
Twenty-one Support Groups, including Women's Support Groups, send delegates to the Conference and 5 more groups sent observers. The Kent miners sent a delegation as did the National Rank and File Movement. The Supporting Groups were: Leicester, Birmingham, Oxford. Richmond & Twickendim Coven- Hillingdon, Islington (London), try, Brent, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hackney. Reading, and Durham MSGs; South Yorks Defence Campaign; Leeds Miners Defence Campaign; Waltham Forest Miners' Support Committee; Hatfield, Coventry, and Oxford Women's Support
Groups; Camden Trades Council & Labour Party MSG; Sheffield Women
Against Pit Closures: Hull Trades
Council Disputes Committee; Scot-
tish Central Region Federation Trades Councils MSG; National Rank and File Movement/Hatfield; NUM;
Dirty Thirty; Coventry Colliery: Kent
NUM; and NUM Yorkshire.
The Conference was opened by
Sammy Thompson, who is vice pres!-
dent of the Yorkshire NUM. He stress-
ed the importance of the Support
Groups, both during the strike and
now, gave a detailed update on the
victimised and imprisoned miners in
Yorkshire and about the very difficult conditions the Yorkshire NUM now faces over pit closures. He was followed by Iris Knight from WAPC and Carole Trelawney from SACTU.
An important part of the Conference was the reports given on their activities by each Group present. For the first time it was possible to get something of a national picture of the state of the Groups. Many of the reports showed a similar picture. Attendance had failed to varying degrees since the strike, the groups had consolidated into a hard core of supporters, yet when they took initiatives, they found that the wider support was still there and could be mobilised.
The reports showed that there is still a viable support movement that can play a significant role in support of the NUM and in support of the victimised and imprisoned