Ken Livingstone in an interview with GayRussia.Ru
06/06/2006
Submitted by
Nikolay Alekseev, Human Rights LGBT Project GayRussia.ru
Ken Livingstone: "Equality of gays and lesbians is a fundamental human rights"
Mayor of London has given exclusive interview to project GayRussia. Ru
Ken Livingstone is known as a LGBT friendly politician, openly supporting emancipation of sexual minorities. Together with his colleagues from Berlin and Paris, he is considered as one of most gay friendly mayors in Europe.
Over the last months, the Mayor of London has repeatedly stated support to the Russian LGBT community and its right to peacefull demonstration in Moscow. In particular, Livingstone acted with sharp criticism of the position of the homophobic Mayor of the Russian capital Yuri Luzhkov. Last tuesday, Mayor of London has condemn the violence that accompanied the first gay pride in the Russian capital.
Ken Livingstone has declared: " The Russian people suffered greater casualties than any other country from Nazism - whose targets were not only Jews and Soviet citizens but also homosexuals. To see open fascists and Nazis parading in Moscow, and assaulting gay and lesbian people, is to trample on the memory of all those who fought against Nazism and particularly the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in the fight against fascism ". Mayor of London has emphasized, that the Moscow mayor should support the right of gays and lesbians on peace demonstrations.
Livingstone has emphasized on Tuesday: " I strongly oppose the positions of both the Mayor of Moscow and the former Mayor of Warsaw, now the president of Poland, in banning gay rights marches and the support to this given by a number of religious authorities. I strongly endorse the European Parliament resolution of 18 January 2006 calling on all to "firmly to condemn and oppose homophobic hate speech or incitement to hatred and violence" and to treat lesbian and gay people with "respect, dignity and protection ".
Before events of May 27th, in Moscow the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has kindly agreed to give an exclusive interview to project GayRussia.Ru
GayRussia.Ru: Is the City Hall of London financing LGBT organizations? If yes, why is it important for London to do it?
Ken Kivingstone: London has an active lesbian and gay community with hundreds of voluntary and community groups. As Mayor of London I do not fund community organisations, although my administration holds regular meetings with them and works closely with London’s wider lesbian and gay community to support innovative projects and events.
For example, this year London is hosting Euro-Pride 2006 and as the festival’s main sponsors we are fully engaged in a programme of activities. City Hall will also be hosting an exhibition celebrating the diversity of lesbian and gay Londoners to coincide with the arrival of EuroPride to London in July 2006.
London is also home to a series of other vibrant lesbian and gay cultural events. I support the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and backed the London’s successful bid for Various Voices 2009, the European lesbian and gay choir festival. Visit London, London’s official tourist organisation, has been working closely with us to develop an official guide to lesbian and gay London to be distributed before EuroPride.
There is ongoing work to combat homophobic hate crime and discrimination in the capital. I am developing an anti-homophobic bullying campaign with Stonewall, the UK’s leading lesbian and gay rights campaign group to tackle the endemic problem of homophobia in London’s schools. In April City Hall hosted an LGBT police liaison officer conference and an LGBT Health Conference will take place in June 2006.
My support for London’s lesbian and gay community recognises and celebrates the positive contributions these communities have made to London’s rich and varied culture.
GR: Every year, you do your best to take part to the London Pride. Why is it important for you to take part in it?
KL: Pride is part of our city’s cultural calendar. Pride events bring people together to celebrate lesbian and gay culture and encourage resistance to homophobia.
GR: You were the first Mayor in the UK who opened a registry for same-sex couples. Do you think it speeded up the process on the national level?
KL: When it was introduced in September 2001, the London Partnerships Register was the first of its kind in Britain. Nearly one thousand couples have registered. The government has now introduced legislation giving same-sex relationships legal recognition. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 gives lesbian and gay couples comparable legal rights to married couples, especially in areas such as benefits, parenting and immigration.
GR: What is the work of the City Hall in the field of HIV prevention? Do you have any specific programs connected to gay community?
KL: I advocate comprehensive sex education and other measures that are proven to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, notably HIV/AIDS.
The GLA works with a variety of partners who are in charge of implementing the National HIV Strategy, which places an important focus on prevention with gay men. Our activities in sexual health support efforts to halt increasing HIV rates among London’s diverse communities.
I support World AIDS Day commemorations in London, together with AIDS service organisations, Londoners living with HIV and our partner organisations in the statutory and voluntary sector.
You asked Mayor of Moscow to lift his ban on the Gay Pride which we are very thankful for.
Equality for lesbians and gay men is a fundamental human right. Equality includes the right to hold Gay Pride Parades and other public events, which celebrate the contribution of the lesbian and gay communities to the life of the world's great cities.
GR: Do you believe that Russian LGBT people will ever have the same level of recognition as they have now in the UK?
KL: Yes. Each country has its own specific traditions and culture. And different countries solve different problems of universal human rights at different times. But people will struggle for equality and in the end they will achieve it. There is a healthy tradition of progressive struggles, such as in South Africa and Venezuela, who have championed lesbian and gay equality.
GayRussia.Ru, Interview conducted by Nikolai Alekseev
http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=5240
Mayor of London has given exclusive interview to project GayRussia. Ru
Ken Livingstone is known as a LGBT friendly politician, openly supporting emancipation of sexual minorities. Together with his colleagues from Berlin and Paris, he is considered as one of most gay friendly mayors in Europe.
Over the last months, the Mayor of London has repeatedly stated support to the Russian LGBT community and its right to peacefull demonstration in Moscow. In particular, Livingstone acted with sharp criticism of the position of the homophobic Mayor of the Russian capital Yuri Luzhkov. Last tuesday, Mayor of London has condemn the violence that accompanied the first gay pride in the Russian capital.
Ken Livingstone has declared: " The Russian people suffered greater casualties than any other country from Nazism - whose targets were not only Jews and Soviet citizens but also homosexuals. To see open fascists and Nazis parading in Moscow, and assaulting gay and lesbian people, is to trample on the memory of all those who fought against Nazism and particularly the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in the fight against fascism ". Mayor of London has emphasized, that the Moscow mayor should support the right of gays and lesbians on peace demonstrations.
Livingstone has emphasized on Tuesday: " I strongly oppose the positions of both the Mayor of Moscow and the former Mayor of Warsaw, now the president of Poland, in banning gay rights marches and the support to this given by a number of religious authorities. I strongly endorse the European Parliament resolution of 18 January 2006 calling on all to "firmly to condemn and oppose homophobic hate speech or incitement to hatred and violence" and to treat lesbian and gay people with "respect, dignity and protection ".
Before events of May 27th, in Moscow the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has kindly agreed to give an exclusive interview to project GayRussia.Ru
GayRussia.Ru: Is the City Hall of London financing LGBT organizations? If yes, why is it important for London to do it?
Ken Kivingstone: London has an active lesbian and gay community with hundreds of voluntary and community groups. As Mayor of London I do not fund community organisations, although my administration holds regular meetings with them and works closely with London’s wider lesbian and gay community to support innovative projects and events.
For example, this year London is hosting Euro-Pride 2006 and as the festival’s main sponsors we are fully engaged in a programme of activities. City Hall will also be hosting an exhibition celebrating the diversity of lesbian and gay Londoners to coincide with the arrival of EuroPride to London in July 2006.
London is also home to a series of other vibrant lesbian and gay cultural events. I support the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and backed the London’s successful bid for Various Voices 2009, the European lesbian and gay choir festival. Visit London, London’s official tourist organisation, has been working closely with us to develop an official guide to lesbian and gay London to be distributed before EuroPride.
There is ongoing work to combat homophobic hate crime and discrimination in the capital. I am developing an anti-homophobic bullying campaign with Stonewall, the UK’s leading lesbian and gay rights campaign group to tackle the endemic problem of homophobia in London’s schools. In April City Hall hosted an LGBT police liaison officer conference and an LGBT Health Conference will take place in June 2006.
My support for London’s lesbian and gay community recognises and celebrates the positive contributions these communities have made to London’s rich and varied culture.
GR: Every year, you do your best to take part to the London Pride. Why is it important for you to take part in it?
KL: Pride is part of our city’s cultural calendar. Pride events bring people together to celebrate lesbian and gay culture and encourage resistance to homophobia.
GR: You were the first Mayor in the UK who opened a registry for same-sex couples. Do you think it speeded up the process on the national level?
KL: When it was introduced in September 2001, the London Partnerships Register was the first of its kind in Britain. Nearly one thousand couples have registered. The government has now introduced legislation giving same-sex relationships legal recognition. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 gives lesbian and gay couples comparable legal rights to married couples, especially in areas such as benefits, parenting and immigration.
GR: What is the work of the City Hall in the field of HIV prevention? Do you have any specific programs connected to gay community?
KL: I advocate comprehensive sex education and other measures that are proven to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, notably HIV/AIDS.
The GLA works with a variety of partners who are in charge of implementing the National HIV Strategy, which places an important focus on prevention with gay men. Our activities in sexual health support efforts to halt increasing HIV rates among London’s diverse communities.
I support World AIDS Day commemorations in London, together with AIDS service organisations, Londoners living with HIV and our partner organisations in the statutory and voluntary sector.
You asked Mayor of Moscow to lift his ban on the Gay Pride which we are very thankful for.
Equality for lesbians and gay men is a fundamental human right. Equality includes the right to hold Gay Pride Parades and other public events, which celebrate the contribution of the lesbian and gay communities to the life of the world's great cities.
GR: Do you believe that Russian LGBT people will ever have the same level of recognition as they have now in the UK?
KL: Yes. Each country has its own specific traditions and culture. And different countries solve different problems of universal human rights at different times. But people will struggle for equality and in the end they will achieve it. There is a healthy tradition of progressive struggles, such as in South Africa and Venezuela, who have championed lesbian and gay equality.
GayRussia.Ru, Interview conducted by Nikolai Alekseev
http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=5240
