- Conference
- Lesbian,Gay,Bisexual & Transgender Conference 2005
- Date
- 29 July 2005
- Decision
- Carried
This Conference welcomes the decision of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission to allow Belfast Pride to take place, after local opposition to the event.
Conference also notes that several Pride events (in Riga, Latvia, Warsaw, Poland and Jerusalem) have met with local opposition and in the end have taken place either after a Court has overturned a ban or in the face of the event being banned from taking place – often in the context of homophobia and even violence.
Conference believes that Pride events are a key means of demonstrating LGBT visibility and of underlining the need to combat all forms of discrimination and creating a society free from fear.
Conference therefore calls on the National LGBT Committee to work with both the TUC LGBT Committee and the International Lesbian ad Gay Association (ILGA) to make clear the need for states to protect the rights of freedom of association and expression for LGBT communities, believing that attacks on these are the first steps to stigmatising LGBT people as second class citizens.
Conference further calls on the National LGBT Committee to write to the Northern Ireland Parades Commission to underline the importance of protecting future Pride events, so that our basic rights are not curtailed.