26 April 2011
Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement CEO, Sharon Ferguson and her partner Franka were outside the gates of Buckingham Palace on Easter Monday along with other couples from the Equal Love campaign and a giant card for Will and Kate. With the whole country focussing on the upcoming celebration of the marriage of the royal couple it was important to highlight that this is still something that many of us are denied purely because of the gender of the person we love.
The card, whilst wishing the couple every happiness in their future life together, also called on them to show support for marriage equality.
Photos from the event are available.
Category: Action, Equal Love Campaign
The Government has just launched a new website to encourage the public to tell them where to cut red tape. One of the first areas to be examined includes the Equality Act – and one of the suggestions requiring comment is whether to scrap the Act altogether to cut unnecessary bureaucracy on business and the public sector.
The scrapping of the Equality Act would be disastrous for us as LGBT communities. The Equality Act ensures that the LGBT communities are served in the provision of health care and is key to the ongoing funding of HIV prevention services in the UK. It has already proved to be vitally important in stopping discrimination on the grounds of faith.
Therefore, we would like to urge you to please go on to the website and leave your own comments about why the Equality Act is important, and please encourage your friends, family, peers and co-workers to respond too. It doesn’t have to be an overlong comment, but it is important that we register our support.
You can be sure that if those people who oppose LGBT rights are made aware that the Equality Act could be scrapped, that they will lobby the Government to do so. It is vital that our voices are heard too.
Please therefore make sure that you share your support and voice to the need to keep the Equality legislation intact.
Please defend the act here.
Category: Action
20 April 2011
Sharon and Franka will be continuing the Equal Love campaign for marriage equality by visiting Buckingham Palace on Monday 25 April at 12.00 noon to present Will and Kate with a giant wedding card.
Rev Sharon Ferguson said: ‘We are really excited for Will and Kate and wish them every happiness for their future life together as a married couple. However, it just brings home to us once again that Franka and I are not able to celebrate our love in the same way.’
LGCM invites everyone who believes in equality, even if you don’t agree with marriage, to join us outside the main gate. The prohibition on marriage for lesbian and gay couples is homophobic and should be overturned. We should all have the right to choose if we want to get married or not. We should also have the freedom of religious expression to celebrate our union in a manner appropriate to our faith belief.
Peter Tatchell from Outrage commented: “We urge Kate and William to support marriage equality: the right of same-sex couples to get married. Their support would mean a lot. They take for granted the right to marry. Marriage is something that many lesbian and gay couples want but cannot have. Gay marriage is a simple issue of respect, equality and fairness. In a democracy, we should all be equal before the law. This means an equal right to marry, regardless of sexual orientation.”
For more information about the event and to let us know you are coming visit the Facebook event.
Category: Action, Equal Love Campaign, Previous Event, Uncategorized
