Lesbians and Gays support the Migrants is a British advocacy group promoting solidarity between the LGBT+ community and refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.[1]
Name
editThe group is named in reference of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, an LGBT+ organisation that supported the striking miners during the 1984-85 miners' strike.[2]
History
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In April 2016, the group held a protest outside the Home Office against new rules that would deport non-EU workers from Britain if they failed to reach an annual salary of £35,000. In the protest, the group symbolically burned £35,000 worth of fake bank notes featuring the face of Theresa May, the Home Secretary at the time.[3]
In March 2017, several members of the group were arrested and charged with terrorism after organising a protest at Stansted Airport to block a deportation flight. In June 2017, the group co-organised a counter-protest with Action for Trans Health against a far-right "Gays Against Sharia" demonstration in Manchester organised by the English Defence League.[4]
In August 2018, the group occupied the British Airways i360 observation tower in Brighton in protest over the company's sponsorship of Brighton Pride, which the group deemed pinkwashing.[5] In December 2018, the group placed over 200 posters on top of advertising spaces in the London Underground. The posters carried information on how to block deportation flights and used the slogan "See It, Say It, Stop It."[6]
In January 2019, activists from the group disrupted the Airline UK Annual Dinner 2019, distributing sick bags to the gathered airline industry and government representatives and holding a speech calling for airline companies to end their contracts for deportation flights.[7] In August 2019, the group responded to British Airways' 100th anniversary campaign, which featured a "love letter to Britain" by 100 British celebrities, by running a counter-campaign featuring 100 letters from BA staff and migrants opposing the Airways' participation in deportation flights.[8]
In July 2022, the group held a die-in protest at Pride in London against the participation of the Metropolitan Police in Pride, lasting 23 minutes to mark the 23 people who died under Met custody since 2021.[9]
References
edit- ^ Field-Pellow, Kendall (November 13, 2019). "Political Profiles: Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants". Wessex Scene. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ Picard, Ida-Sofie (8 December 2016). "Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants". Red Pepper Magazine. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Cowburn, Ashley (6 April 2016). "Activists burn £35,000 in fake bank notes at Home Office to protest Theresa May's new immigration rules". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants to counter far-right Gays Against Sharia Manchester protest". Pink News. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "BREAKING: Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants occupy British Airways i360 in Brighton". 4 August 2018.
- ^ Barnes, Tom (18 December 2018). "International Migrants Day: Activists replace 200 Tube adverts with instructions on how to stop deportations". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Bjrn, Sam (31 January 2019). "I crashed an airline industry dinner with 13 other anti-deportation activists – and this is why". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Parsons, Vic (11 August 2019). "British Airways 'must stop deportations' – Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants". Pink News. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Smoke, Ben (3 July 2022). "Anti-police protestors storm London Pride parade". Huck Magazine. Retrieved 21 July 2022.