The Labour Party is the party of equality. It was Labour governments that decriminalised homosexuality and introduced comprehensive legislative change on LGBT rights. The Labour Party has played a distinguished and major part in making the UK a more open and tolerant society on issues of sexuality and women’s rights over the past few decades.
Yet now, under political pressure, the debate within the Labour Party about its future direction is coarsened by misogyny aimed at women politicians, and open homophobia directed at a leadership candidate.
The polarisation of political views in the Party recently has degraded debate in both meetings and in the media. A partisan political approach has led to many to overlook, excuse and sometimes revel in prejudice expressed at meetings or in comments made on social media. This is destroying political debate.
The misogyny and homophobia that women politicians and party members experience on social media when people have political differences needs to stop but the frequency with which it happens makes reporting and taking action an endless task. We have relatively few out women politicians in parliament and in local government, so when high profile out women politicians are trolled online, degraded in meetings and receive death threats by email, increasing representation from this group can only be held back.
It is a labour movement tradition that there is an obligation on the chair of a meeting to ensure fair discussion and a safe place for all present whatever their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, faith commitment etc. When the pressure is on it is even more important that these values are kept to and it is essential if politics is going to be truly diverse and open to all. The lesson of the strides forward in equality in both the Labour Party and the trade union movement in recent times is the need to be pro active and vigilant.
There is a worrying further development, namely the denial of prejudice. In the back and forth on social media, broadcast media and in the press there are repeated denials that there is any sexist or homophobic motivation in criticism aimed at candidates and those who have openly taken a political side. This denial occurs even when clearly there is prejudice, and there is evidence that there is.
The homophobia aimed at Angela Eagle and openly gay members of the Wallasey Constituency Party which took place at a meeting in June has been widely denied. A significant media platform has been given to those who are denying this. The Vice Chair of the CLP Paul Davies stated on Newsnight that it was the fault of those who never raised issues of homophobic comments and gestures at the meeting but not once did he consider his role in creating an environment where people felt able to raise concerns. When people do not feel they can complain about intimidation because they felt intimidated, it is not an excuse, as Paul Davies states in the interview, it is a major failing in the culture that has developed in the party.
Instead of exposing prejudice and showing it up for what it is many in the media are riding the tide of post truth politics. We saw where the denial of facts and the prioritising of opinions unrelated to the real world got us in the Brexit debate.
When post truth politics is applied to matters of equality we should all be worried about where it will lead. Letting prejudice and fear back in to a progressive political Party will take us backwards as a society for sure.
It is ordinary LGBT people and women in public life who are now more fearful. It is us who will suffer the effects of this post truth politics and, of course, progressive politics itself.
Honor Cohen Ilford North
Emma O’Dwyer Hackney North
Carli Harper Greenwich and Woolwich
Katie Curtis Hornsey and Wood Green
Estelle Hart Gower
Melantha Chittenden Ashford
Vic Langer Hornsey and Wood Green
Chantel Le Carpentier Eastleigh
Katrina Gilman Telford
Ruth Meadows Telford
Natacha Kennedy Eltham
Deirdre Costigan Ealing North
Amy Lame Holborn and St Pancras
Katie Hanson Hackney South and Shoreditch
Content from our partners
Related
