IDAHO on the radio - Gaydio, BBC Radio Manchester, Radio City Liverpool.
It is also an important day to celebrate those who are achieving progress in the ongoing struggle to fight for better equalities.
I was very fortunate to be able to involved in a few broadcasts that pulled together a wide range of people with different experiences and from different backgrounds and different countries.
The day started with a packed 3 hour breakfast show by LGBT station Gaydio who had been putting together a special programme for IDAHO with The Lesbian & Gay Foundation.
The international feel was given through a broadcast from Manchester Airport who were flying the rainbow flag to mark IDAHO.
From Uganda to Manchester
Among the interviews featured on the show was one with Prossy Kakooza, a survivor of the awful regime in Uganda that persecuted her for her sexual orientation and still continues to persecute LGBT people .We could all learn a lot from Prossy, she is a strong independent minded young woman who has been through hell in her home country but now she is based in Greater Manchester she continues to support LGBT asylum seekers. I have had the pleasure of meeting Prossy before and I can tell you that she is a brave and courageous woman, she also has a wicked sense of humour. Prossy is a true inspiration, as are all those people in countries like Uganda who somehow manage to be heard despite the authorities trying to silence them. We all have a responsibility to fight for their freedoms.
From Manchester to St.Petersburg
A woman who I have not met in person is Olga Lenkova who works to support people coming out in St.Petersburg. Recently I was tasked with putting together some supporting information to show solidarity with our friends in St Petersburg to try and help to fight this terrible fear the Russians have of gay people and Olga agreed to be interviewed. I’ve visited St.Petersburg before but I didn’t feel comfortable there and I never knowingly met any LGBT people. I have spoken on the phone to a few people who work for organisations supporting LGBT Russians and I am full of admiration for the work that they do, in a climate that does not allow for frank and open discussion of homosexuality. Again countries like Russia need our constant focus to make sure we are thinking of the people who are struggling to live their lives against a suppressive regime that does not wish to acknowledge their right to exist. In her interview on Gaydio Olga quoted Gandhi: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
The purpose of the Gaydio programme was to highlight how important it is to remember that there are people at home and abroad that need our support and others that need to wake up to the fact that homophobia,biphobia and transphobia are issues which need to be challenged on a daily basis.
Marriage Equality
Also on the show from Manchester were Cllr’s Kev Peel and Bev Craig who are Manchester City Council’s LGB leads and Lynne Featherstone, the Government Equalities Minister who works tirelessly to ensure that equalities legislation is at the forefront of everyone’s agendas, something that cannot be easy when we have people telling us that somehow equality isn’t a priority when there are financial pressures on society. Miss Featherstone reassured the Gaydio listeners that equal marriage was still in the governments timetable for this parliament and the consultation on civil marriage is ongoing and nothing has changed in this area. It is important for that statement to be heard.
As the Gaydio programme came to a close (expertly steered by Chris Holliday, Emma Goswell and Paul Martin) it was lovely to meet students from The Manchester College who have spent months making viral adverts against homophobia . Read more about that here
Homophobia in Schools
Young people have been the focus of the Exceeding Expectations initiative for many years and changing attitudes to homophobia in schools is something that needs our support. As we are learning, when you spend time with young people and answer their questions about homosexuality they understand why it is important to challenge homophobia. Not to discuss these issues with them not only allows prejudice and misunderstanding to grow but it does nothing to help them understand the world that they are growing up in.
Gay OBE’s
The subject of homophobia in sport came up on Heather Stotts’ BBC Radio Manchester programme where Paul Martin and John Amaechi (both incidentally OBE’s from Manchester’s gay community and both awarded in the same honours list) were asked to discuss why issues of homophobia and transphobia were still current. It was very reassuring to hear this discussed on a daytime radio show aimed at a wide audience. It was good to have time for these issues to be talked about clearly and not challenged as something that doesn’t affect everyone.
When people wonder why so much time is spent discussing LGB&T issues it is necessary to remind people that these things only become an issue when they are not discussed or when people’s rights are denied . When we have equality and can freely discuss these topics there isn’t as much fear of the unknown and despair at what the future might hold for us all.
Pete Price
Another person that I have spoken to recently who has had his own issues with homophobia is Liverpool legend Pete Price. I was very pleased to be invited to talk to him on his Radio City show on 17th May. Pete is someone that has experienced homophobia first hand and has suffered many attacks and abuse both physically and emotionally and yet he will always speak out for those who are suppressed and remains defiantly true to himself.
A Rainbow Flag in Iran
One of the tasks of the day was to encourage people to fly the rainbow flag and send in photographs of how they did this. You can check these out on The LGF's Flickr gallery.The most inspiring one I think is the rainbow flag flying from a hill top in Iran. The determination by whoever did this is truly inspiring and the courage they have for standing up for who they are in the face of such terrible circumstances for LGBT people in that part of the world is something that should keep us motivated for the future. Marking IDAHO helps us to realise that everything we can do to raise awareness of homophobia,biphobia and transphobia adds to the fact that the world is changing, day by day.
However difficult it might be, people are listening.
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