| Boris right to ditch bogus gay quango - Good riddance, LGBT Advisory Panel |
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| News - Latest UK News | |||||||
| Friday, 01 August 2008 19:16 | |||||||
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"Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was quite right to scrap the so-called 'Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Advisory Panel' formed by former Mayor Ken Livingstone. It was elitist, unelected, unaccountable and anti-democratic," said Brett Lock of the LGBT human rights group OutRage!. "Statements by members of the Advisory Panel to the press have been misleading and disingenuous. Instead of negatively sniping at the Mayor, LGBT groups should concentrate on presenting Boris with practical and constructive policy ideas for the benefit of LGBT Londoners," he said. LGBT Advisory Panel member Pav Akhtar, a Labour Party activist, told the press this week: "Boris Johnson's attempts to woo the LGBT community rings hollow given his disbanding of the Mayor's Lesbian and Gay Advisory group." "What Mr Akhtar neglected to mention was that this panel was only launched by former Mayor Ken Livingstone shortly before the mayoral elections. It looked like an election stunt and only existed for the last few weeks of Livingstone's term. No one elected the panel. They were hand-picked by Ken and were not necessarily representative of the LGBT community," added Mr Lock. "For many years, Ken refused to appoint an LGBT Advisor, to compliment his Race and Women's Advisors. He also refused to set up an LGBT Advisory Panel until the run up to the 2008 Mayoral election. Ken downgraded LGBT rights to second tier. "During the controversy over his invitation of the terrorist-supporting, sexist, anti-semitic and homophobic Islamist cleric Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi, there were pleas to Ken to meet with LGBT groups to discuss their concerns. He rejected these LGBT pleas. Similar requests to give an advisory role to the quarterly LGBT Forum meeting, which meets at City Hall, were also shot down by Ken Livingstone. "Ken Livingstone imposed his straight Women's Advisor, Anni Marjoram, as chair of the LGBT Forum. He refused to allow the Forum to elect its own chair, make policy recommendations, propose resolutions or take votes. It was a rubber stamp – undemocratic, unaccountable and powerless," said Mr Lock. Mr Lock's OutRage colleague John Hunt added: "City Hall's LGBT Quarterly Forum was never a democratic institution under the previous chair, Anni Marjoram. Indeed, the audience were furiously slapped down a few years ago for attempting to introduce elements of democracy, [voting on a Qaradawi motion by show of hands], and the Forum was pointedly renamed Meeting of London's LGBT Organisations." Mr Lock continued: "Given Mayor Johnson's past homophobic insults and poor track-record on LGBT equality, he should be scrutinised very closely. We certainly hope that the long-running LGBT Quarterly Forum will continue to meet and that he will consider instituting some of the democratic reforms that were vetoed by his predecessor, Mr Livingstone. "Boris should not be criticised for scrapping the bogus Advisory Panel. OutRage! rejects the efforts by Labour Party activists like Pav Akhtar to use LGBT issues as a political football. Instead of petty party-political point-scoring, gay Labour activists should concentrate on pressing their own party to stop mistreating LGBT asylum seekers and end the ban on same-sex marriage," said Mr Lock. Further information: Brett Lock, OutRage! – 0770 843 5917
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