Alan Whitaker (UCU NEC - LGBT Rep) Is organised religion inherently homophobic? Although it would be comforting to be able to answer this question in the negative, and despite the efforts of groups such as the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement to persuade us otherwise, barely a week now passes without some blatantly homophobic practice being presented for our inspection, usually dressed up as the exercise of religious conviction or conscience.
We might have thought that the colleges and universities in which we work would be free from this sort of thing, so it is distressing to report that homophobia is alive and kicking in at least one institution. Canterbury Christ Church University is refusing to permit civil partnership ceremonies on its premises. It almost defies belief that at a meeting of the governing body on 5 December 2006, they approved a decision not to allow civil partnership ceremonies to take place on University premises, although they are sportingly allowing receptions after such ceremonies to go ahead.
As if this were not enough, we find the government entering into a shabby compromise with organisations such as Catholic adoption agencies, who have managed to secure a 21-month opt-out of the forthcoming regulations outlawing discrimination against LGB people in the provision of goods and services. If you wonder why this is unacceptable to us, imagine a situation where a club or society decided that it would need a 21-month period to adjust to a new piece of legislation requiring it to cease discriminating against black or disabled people, and obtained a concession allowing it to continue discriminating during this period.
At the LGBT TUC conference last year UCU moved an emergency motion condemning the violence, much of it sponsored by churches and religious groups, that had accompanied Pride events across Europe, and particularly in former Soviet block states. Speaker after speaker came to the rostrum to support the motion, which was passed unanimously.
It is abundantly clear that the battle for LGBT equality is not yet won, and that if it is to be won, the union movement needs to play a leading role in ensuring that it happens. The presence of homophobic practice in a place where our members work is an affront to all trade unionists, and if it can happen in one place, it can happen in others. Evidence is beginning to emerge of FE colleges blocking emails and access to websites containing the words lesbian or gay, ostensibly on the grounds of the need to protect young people who attend colleges. We must not let pressure from religious groups or anyone else short-circuit our right to full and unequivocal equality with other oppressed groups – the only equality worth having.
Guardian Article - 'University bans gay marriage ...' (06/02/07)
Guardian Article - 'University censured over ban ...' (01/02/07)
UCU Criticises University Ban (31/01/07)
Details of Motion Passed by CCCU UCU Branch (30/01/07)
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