IRSP: Solidarity With the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Struggle

[Danielle Ni Dhighe <danielle@xxxxxxxx>]

29 June 2003
Irish Republican Socialist Party

Solidarity With the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Struggle

Today is Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgendered Freedom Day - sometimes
shortened to the more manageable title of "Pride Day" - and the
Irish Republican Socialist Party take this opportunity to express our
solidarity with the working women and men who continue to fight for
the liberation of sexual minorities. We in the IRSP recognise that the
discrimination and oppression confronted by non-heterosexuals are but
a manifestation of capitalism's tendency to divide the community, so
that those with a common interest in changing society remain divided.
Like racism, sexism, and religious sectarianism, heterosexism reduces
the democratic content of society and attempts to scapegoat one group
for the shortcomings of the capitalist system itself.

This day was selected to commemorate the struggle of lesbians and gays
because of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. There and then,
a handful of drag queens reached the limit of their tolerance for the
abuse meted out to them by the city's police force and took action.
Traditionally among society's most powerless, these individuals faced
down armed police and sent them into panicked retreat. Their actions
brought the broader lesbian and gay community into an explosion that
put the world on notice that no longer would the denial of civil
rights to members of sexual minorities be accepted. The IRSP is proud
to have as one of its US supporters a veteran of the Stonewall riots
and one of three people who went on immediately afterwards to found
the Gay Liberation Front, the most militant voice ever, at that time,
to speak out on behalf of homosexuals. We recognise that the GLF
demonstrated that the roots of this struggle lie in revolutionary
consciousness and we salute this American IRSP supporter for his
courage and pioneering efforts in that fight.

James Connolly told us that it was senseless to speak of national
liberation, if the society to be won would be one in which the
majority of its citizens - the working class - would remain oppressed
by capitalism. He stressed the need to gain the liberation of working
class women from their dual oppression by capitalism and sexism. We
in the IRSP recognise that members of sexual minorities form a
section of the working class community. Our struggle has as its
objective the liberation of our class - not a portion of our class,
but of the entire working class. And we recognise that this cannot
be achieved while any section of our class remains under the heel of
oppression.

The right to identify ones own sexuality without fear of reprisal is a
basic democratic right. Working class people have no interests in
preserving and promoting capitalist models of proper male or female
behavior. The working class has no interest in maintaining a
heterosexual monopoly on the expression of sexuality. The struggle
for socialism is a fight for an equitable distribution of the
benefits of life. This is as true about the ability to express ones
love and desire for another without fear, as it is about seeking a
fair share of society's wealth. As revolutionary socialists, we in
the IRSP support all struggles seeking greater freedom to attain
those things which give life meaning and value. As revolutionary
socialists, we in the IRSP oppose all forms of exploitation,
inequality, and injustice. We support the struggle of sexual
minorities to gain equality with other members of society and we
reject all forms of discrimination against them.

Stonewall is a part of our heritage, just as much as any fight waged
for national liberation, women's liberation, civil rights, better
working conditions, or fair compensation of labour, are parts of our
heritage. We are out for the freedom of the working class - straight,
lesbian, gay, bi, or transgendered. We stand in solidarity with all
members of the working class and especially with those fighting to
end all forms of social oppression.

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