Tag: England

Children given ‘discriminatory and offensive’ anti-LGBTQ+ leaflets while trick or treating

Read more at Pink News.

As first reported by Manchester Evening News, at least two children were given leaflets that featured the logo of Grace Fellowship Manchester, a group “dedicated to Biblical Christianity” and based at St Stephen’s Church in the town of Middleton, which is five miles northeast of Manchester. Its website shows that it appears to be linked to Grace Community Church in San Antonio, Texas.

The one leaflet, a photograph of which was shared by a parent on social media, was headlined “ARE YOU A GOOD PERSON?”

Underneath the header was a graphic of a mobile phone with a mimic text exchange.

“Hey, I’ve got a question for you. Are you a good person?” the first mock text message reads.

“YES! I’m good! Not perfect… but I’ve never done anything that bad!” the reply reads.

In response, the next text states: “The Bible says; Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, no swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.”

“Is that really in the Bible?”

“Yes!” the text confirms. “It’s 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. But keep reading to find out how you can be forgiven and have eternal life.”

Surrounding the text exchange were the words including “Homosexuals”, “Drunkards”, “Idolators” and “Swindlers”.

“God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman”

Another leaflet including the statements: “God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman. And anyone who indulges in sex outside of marriage…. no such person will inherit the Kingdom of God. BE NOT DECEIVED!

“God isn’t being cruel in warning us. He shows us we’re in trouble so that we’ll realise how desperately we need his help to fix us.”

In Grace Fellowship Manchester’s Statement of Faith – which lists several pages of scripture from the Bible – whilst there are verses from Corinthians included, there is no direct citation from Corinthians 6:9-10.

The church says that its Statement of Faith was “written by the elders” of Grace Community Church in San Antonio, Texas, which does cite Corinthians 6:9-10 in its own Statement of Faith. A slightly differently worded version reads: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Grace Community Church’s views on LGBTQ+ issues are not particularly inclusive, stating that God only created male and female, “God intends for sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are so married to one another” and the “only acceptable alternative to marriage between one man and one woman is the faithful single life of celibacy”.

“Discriminatory and offensive”

Speaking to the Reach PLC outlet, mum Victoria Loop said she was “angry” with the content of the leaflets, saying it is “just not appropriate for young children”.

” I am not against people expressing their opinions for the most part but when it becomes discriminatory and offensive it is just wrong,” Loop said.

“There were other leaflets amongst the other children’s treats however they were more appropriately worded and not on this level. My views on the matter is that there was quite some degree of misjudgement when deciding to include this particular leaflet in treats to young children.

She added: “I have many friends and family that this would hurt very deeply and I am angry on their behalf as much as for my daughter having to ask questions as why some people haven’t yet got the message in this age that homophobia, no matter how benign this may seem to some, is not acceptable. Let alone giving this opinion to children with no consideration of their innocence or family circumstance.

“I am aware that this may be an unpopular stance from many different religious groups, however the method of delivery of their rhetoric and beliefs in this case needs questioning and scrutinising. We have age restrictions on many things such as films and television and restrictions on products and publications for the protection of children.”

“Blatantly homophobic literature”

Local councillor Dylan Williams, who is a gay man that attends church, criticised the leaflets for both their homophobic and sexually explicit content.

“I believe most Christians will be upset by this blatantly homophobic literature and would condemn it. I am also concerned that people think it acceptable to give literature on it with adult words and sexually explicit language to Children as young as six,” Williams told Manchester Evening News.

“Homophobia seems to be becoming more and more prevalent leading some members of the community to feel unsafe and this is and should not be acceptable in our society. We must say no to hate.”

PinkNews has approached Grace Fellowship Manchester for comment.

0

Over 100,000 people march in biggest trans Pride event in history

Read more at LGBTQ Nation.

Over 100,000 people marched in London’s Trans+ Pride event on Saturday, making it the biggest trans Pride march in the world, according to The Guardian. The event’s theme, “Existence and Resistance,” was developed in response to the recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman in non-discrimination law is based on biological sex rather than gender identity.

“It was an emotional and powerful day,” the event’s co-founder Lewis G. Burton told the aforementioned publication. “At a time when the Supreme Court is making sweeping decisions about trans people without consulting a single trans person or organisation, and when a small, well-funded lobby of anti-trans campaigners continues to dominate headlines and waste public resources, our community came together to show what real strength, solidarity and care looks like.”

The march began at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday and proceeded for just under two miles, from near the BBC Broadcasting House to the Parliament Square Gardens. The event’s speakers included Heartstopper actress Yasmin Finney and activist Caroline Litman, whose trans daughter took her life in 2022 after waiting nearly three years for gender-affirming healthcare, the BBC reported.

London Trans+ Pride began in 2019 as an alternative to the city’s more commercial Pride march. This year’s event gained over 40,000 additional participants, compared to last year’s crowd of 60,000, the BBC noted.

“The message was clear: We will not be erased,” Burton said. “Our existence is natural, historic and enduring. You can try to take away our rights, but you will never remove us from society. We are a part of humanity – and the public will not stand by while harm is done to our community.”

The event occurred in the aftermath of a recent Supreme Court case in which For Women Scotland (FWS), an anti-trans organization, mounted a legal challenge over the definition of a woman under the country’s 2010 Equality Act. After the court ruled that the law’s definition of a woman is based on “biological sex,” the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said trans women and men “should not be permitted to use” the public restroom facilities that align with their gender.

Alex Parmar-Yee, from Trans+ Solidarity Alliance — one of the groups that marched in the weekend event — said the EHRC’s guidance “has not provided any additional clarity, and actually is going to devastate the lives of trans people [who] will lose access to essential services and spaces.”

“The main concern really here is that it feels like there’s not been a consideration of trans members of the community, and that this guidance will pass behind closed doors, without the scrutiny, and without visibility, and without democracy,” Parmar-Yee added, saying that she and other trans organizations are pushing for the government to provide greater transparency around trans-related policies and guidances.

Speaking with Attitude magazine, activist Litman expressed concern over The Online Safety Act, a newly enacted U.K. law that requires websites with explicit adult material to conduct user age checks. Critics of the law worry it’ll be used to block age-appropriate LGBTQ+ resources for minors.

“It’s really scary,” Litman said. “[My late daughter] Alice got a lot of help and support online, whilst feeling very isolated in her own lived experience world that didn’t really have anything for her. Her online world really protected her – and so both these legislations are really concerning and need to be seriously looked at for reversal.”

When asked what she would tell her daughter now, Litman said, “Find your community. That’s what I’d say – find your community. Because they’ll save you, they’ll look after you, they’ll nurture you and support you and get you through this. To do this together. That’s what I’d say to her. And I love her. Love. I love, I love, love, love, I love.”

0

Judge bizarrely rules that police at a Pride parade threatened the safety of transphobes

Read more at LGBTQ Nation.

Just days before this weekend’s Pride parade in Northumbria in Northern England, a judge ruled that the local police department’s chief constable wrongfully allowed uniformed officers to march under a Progress Pride flag at last year’s celebration.

In a controversial decision critics say is riven with bias, the judge claimed officers marching with the flag breached their duty to impartiality and endangered imagined protesters with “gender critical” views.

The judicial review was brought by a female event participant who objected to police officers “associating with messaging which was supportive of the cause of gender ideology,” The Times of London reported.

In her challenge, plaintiff Lindsey Smith highlighted a decision to allow officers to station a police van decorated in colors “indicative of support for the cause of gender ideology… namely the colors of the Progress flag.”

The “messaging which was supportive of the cause of gender ideology, including in the form of placards, chanting, imagery or flags,” was a threat to her personal safety, she said.

The judge in the case, Mr. Justice Linden, agreed, ruling it was “contrary to the uniformed officers’ duties of impartiality”, as well as the chief constable’s “own duty of impartiality, to participate in the 2024 march in the way that they did.”

“The fact that they wore their uniforms, marched as a contingent and carried the Police Pride and other flags demonstrated their support for the cause as police officers,” the judge said, and by extension indicated hostility to those with “gender critical” views.

“It is not hard to imagine circumstances in which officers in question might be called on to deal with a clash between gender critical people and supporters of gender ideology, and therefore situations where the former had cause for concern as to whether they were being dealt with impartially,” the judge wrote.

The judge implied this “perceived” bias would influence officers’ decisions to permit “gender critical” people to demonstrate at all and could result in attempts to “eject a gender critical person from the march.”

Smith’s lawyer, Paul Conrathe, said the ruling was of “national importance.”

Referring to so-called “gender ideology,” Smith said British police “must be above the fray and avoid taking sides” on what he called “contested issues.”

Northumbria police responded that their “primary aim” during last year’s march was “to keep people safe.” The event also provided the force “with an opportunity to engage with people including those who may have less confidence in policing,” they said following the ruling.

The department added that senior Northumbria officers would “work through the ruling to understand the implications.” They did not clarify whether officers would be allowed to march in the Pride parade this weekend.

0

Angry UK mob rampages trans picnic, burning Pride flag & threatening to stab people

*This is being reported by LGBTQNation.

Several men tore down Pride flags and threatened to stab several attendees of a transgender picnic event last Thursday — one man even burned one of the flags. Event organizers reported the incident to police but said that they didn’t expect a positive outcome.

The group behind the event, Trans Mutual Aid Manchester, held a “Trans Picnic in the Park” event in Platts Field Park from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. last Thursday. Though the organizers said the picnic featured “sunshine and lovely food,” they also said a group of men tried to violently harass and intimidate picnic goers.

“The first pair tore down a Progress Pride flag we had raised to show where we were to people coming to the event, and after threatening to violently assault one of our members with a knife, had his partner burn the flag in front of our group, before leaving,” Trans Mutual Aid Manchester wrote in an Instagram post.

In a second incident, three men approached the picnic while “shouting abuse, then tore down the remaining trans and nonbinary pride flags before running off with them, the organization added.

“Whilst thankfully no one in our community was physically harmed, thanks in part to the intervention of several of our members, this blatant attack on our right to feel safe as a community is a disgusting display of the impunity and hatred with which parts of our society treat their trans siblings,” the Instagram post continued.

While organizers reported the incidents to police, they said that they “do not expect any positive outcome from this” and added, “This was an obvious attack on our community, perpetrated by those who know they will face no repercussions for their attack.”

“We hope this can be something of a wake-up call to know the kind of rampant abuse we face by those who know they can attack us freely.”

The organization said it would take additional safety and security measures for future events and asked for allies outside of the community to help defend trans and nonbinary individuals.

Anti-trans sentiment in the U.K. has increased over the last year following the release of The Cass Review, a report claiming that gender-affirming care has no benefits for trans youth. The report has been widely criticized for excluding the experiences of trans people and trans-affirming medical studies. Nevertheless, government officials have repeatedly cited the report while restricting access to gender-affirming care for trans kids.

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑