30 years ago yesterday (February 11th) Mark Ashton died. Founding member of Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners, and real-life hero of 2014 film Pride had been diagnosed with HIV/Aids just twelve days earlier.
Thirty years today since the death of #MarkAshton, founding member of @LGSMpride, @switchboardLGBT volunteer, and activist. #ItsNotOver #HIV pic.twitter.com/7aLLGMqqUd
— Steve Taylor (@danophile) February 11, 2017
It’s poignant to mark the anniversary in 2017 when there’s a genuine and growing sense of the kind of protest and solidarity that Mark led in the 1980s. And especially so in February, LGBT History Month, which started with news items that definitely show progress (progress, not perfection). The Turing Pardon came into effect and new HIV infections across England have decreased by a third in one year.
Stigma not sexuality affects your mental health
Three new reports highlight the unsurprisingly links between LGBTQ identities and mental health:
- An Australian study makes it clear poor mental health doesn’t come from your sexuality, but probably the stigma and sexual trauma of growing up gay in a heteronormative world.
- It’s even worse for LGBTQ people brought up religious, who are 12 times more likely to experience poor mental health.
- In London, 40% of LGBTI people have poor mental health. That’s 32,000 people in total.
What’s the solutions? Good support networks, GPs trained on inclusion and the end of institutionalised homophobia in the church. Expect this week’s Church of England General Synod to be all talk and no action on that one.
V Grateful to @SteveChalke for saying what the Church just does not want to admit & refuses to accept ahead of Synodhttps://t.co/RtgBqx4b3C
— Jayne Ozanne (@JayneOzanne) February 11, 2017
This book is… not allowed?
Transgender author Juno Dawson has been on a schools tour promoting her new young adult novel Margot and Me. At the start of the week, one parent was angry her 12 year old daughter came home with This Book is Gay. And unrelated on Friday, Buzzfeed News revealed Juno’s visit to a Catholic school had been cancelled in a transphobic shun. So that’s another two reasons to support #SREnow.
I’ll say it again: Young LGBTQ people: you deserve Sex Ed too and there is nothing inappropriate about it.
— Juno Dawson (@junodawson) February 10, 2017
Hashtag Love
If you need a burst of internet-style hugs, look at two hashtags that didn’t mess around. #احب_المثليين_ولست_منهم (‘I’m straight and I love gays’) showed a remarkable display of rainbow solidarity from Saudi Arabia, while #BlackGaysSlay started by Mikey in Detroit is equally as empowering to scroll through.
#احب_المثليين_ولست_منهم
How can you not love them pic.twitter.com/N8JU73Ku4W— ayosh (@heart_stirring) February 3, 2017
It’s way too many white gays in #boyskissboysselfies. So I started #BlackGaySlay for us! pic.twitter.com/juWDXoGSeH
— Muva Mikey (@Mikey_Talks) February 10, 2017
Buy me a Valentine’s Day card. You’ve still got time. Last post isn’t til 5pm. And you only need to pop to Sainsbury’s. Or send one to your MP. Really.
Shoutout @sainsburys for representation in their Valentine’s Day advertising ❤ pic.twitter.com/vNaZLdYvQj
— Molly Goodwin (@Goodwin17Molly) February 3, 2017
Down Under and Out
Same-sex marriage is back on Australia’s political agenda. This week, its Parliament heard any bill legalising same sex marriage would ‘destroy the whole human race’. Enter reality TV show Bride and Prejudice. Chris invited his devout Jehovah’s Witness parents to his wedding (in Florida, where it’s legal), telling them ‘you can choose all of me, or you can choose none of me.’
Buzzfeed summed up the whole story of the show and outpouring of social media support.
Follow me on Twitter @JoeyKnock for more #LGBTQProgress news throughout the week.