IRSCNA: LGBT Pride Solidarity

The North American section of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement issue a statement to commemorate the 39th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

28 June 2008
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

LGBT Pride Solidarity

On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America send solidarity
greetings to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people on the
occasion the 39th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that marked
the birth of the gay liberation and gay pride movements in America and
worldwide.

The Stonewall Rebellion began on 28 June 1969 when New York City
police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the Greenwich Village
neighborhood that catered to gay and transgendered customers. Unlike
previous raids, this time the patrons fought back. The Rebellion grew
to involve 2,000 protesters doing battle with 400 police officers over
several nights. The chant of "Gay Power!" became a rallying cry for
oppressed sexual minorities worldwide.

Many of the patrons of the Stonewall Inn were Black and/or Hispanic,
thus placing the Rebellion firmly in the broader context of the social
uprisings of Blacks and Hispanics against oppression in 1960s America.

After two decades of struggle by gay rights activists in the South of
Ireland, homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993 after the European
Court of Human Rights ruled that the southern statelet was in
violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Although further
gains have been made in the area of legal rights, violence against
sexual minorities has increased, especially in the North of Ireland.

For over thirty years, the Irish Republican Socialist Party,
representing the political leadership of the Irish Republican
Socialist Movement, has supported equality for gays and lesbians,
beginning with the party's first convention in 1975, when along with
People's Democracy it became one of the first political parties in
Ireland to support gay rights.

The IRSP became the first political party in Ireland to explicitly
include bisexuals and transgendered people in an equality statement
passed at its 2000 convention, which stated, "The IRSP affirms its
commitment to full equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and
transgendered people."

On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America demand full equality
for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people in all spheres
of life, in America, Ireland, and worldwide.

Full equality in all spheres of life means we support the right of
LGBT people to adopt children and to marry, rights that are taken for
granted by heterosexuals.

Further, we demand that rights and privileges ultimately be detached
from marital status, and that family relationships be defined by the
people in them, not the state. People's rights should not be
determined by their willingness or ability to participate in state
sanctioned arrangements.

We condemn all physical and legalistic attacks on LGBT people, and we
stand in solidarity with the victims of homophobic, biphobic, and
transphobic violence. We demand an end to all violence and
intimidation against LGBT people, including mistreatment by police.

We demand that all people regardless of age have free access to
information about their bodies and sexual health unfettered by
political and religious doctrines that transform natural human
bodily functions into matters of shame or disease.

We demand that the medical and psychiatric establishments stop
enforcing sex/gender apartheid through the creation of false diseases
and the denial of medical care.

We believe each human being has an inherent right to define their own
sexuality, whether it's lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual, or
whatever label they choose to apply to themselves, and we believe each
human being has an inherent right to define their gender identity.

Solidarity and pride!

# # #

Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
PO Box 88341
Tukwila WA 98138-2341
USA
irscna@irsm.org
http://www.irscna.org/
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html