The police interacting with trans protesters vs the police interacting with aggressive homophobes at Glasgow Pride.
Idk about you but this speaks volumes to me
Over here in the UK most pride events have a stand run by police to show they support pride and the struggles of LGBTQ people. They’re lying. The want control of the crowds but have no concern for the struggles of LGBTQ activists or peoples, they will arrest you in a hearbeat if you oppose their presence. They do not care, they are not welcome at a protest against oppression, where they just continue to oppress us.
Glasgow Pride was an absolute mess.
At least five trans and queer activists were arrested. Three were arrested for protesting the fact that Scottish officers were allowed to march at the front. Two young activists were arrested for having a banner that read ‘These faggots fight fascists’.
So, ya know, police arrested trans and queer activists for practicing their freedom of speech and reclaiming slurs for themselves, while not arresting actual homophobes. And just to make matters worse Pride Glasgowhad released a statement saying they approve of the arrests.
Fucking mess.
To clarify, of the two arrested over the these faggots fight facists banner, one was an IWW legal advisor who was attempting to inform the banner holder of their rights and prevent the police treating them violently. You can read their statement here.
Quote:
Statement on the events of 19 August 2017 at Pride. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY
I am one of the five arrested on the 19th of August 2017 at Glasgow
Pride. I am a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and was
attending the Red and Black bloc to show solidarity with the LGBTQ
community in their struggle. A key goal of the bloc was to highlight the
interconnected nature of different struggles and to use the opportunity
to further express solidarity with the progressive movements of the
world, including with that of Charlottesville which recently experienced
the murder of Heather Heyer by the Nazi movement. While I am not a
member of the LGBTQ community, I attended in solidarity with my comrades
from the community who organised the Red and Black bloc. The reason I
am releasing this statement is to illuminate what happened, contrary to
many falsities I have seen circulating on the internet, and to provide
the movement with a personal account of events which the police will
most certainly try to cover up.Early in the march, I noticed
that a person was being intimidated by the police. The problem appeared
to be a placard the person was holding which wrote ‘these faggots fight
fascists’. Being a trained legal observer (although not attending in
that capacity), I approached to make sure everything was OK. I was told
that everything was under control and moved away. Soon it became evident
that everything was not under control, particularly since the person
holding the sign was visibly distressed and the police were trying to
isolate them. I approached again and told the person holding the sign
some basic rights that they needed to know, such as the right to not
provide any personal information to the police unless under arrest. The
police started shouting at me to move back, to which I responded that I
just wanted to make sure that they were not taking advantage of the
person’s visibly vulnerable situation. The police began moving the
person away from the rest of the bloc, stating that they are under
arrest for holding the sign which someone had complained about. At this
point, it is important to note that the usage of the term ‘faggot’ was
employed in an assertive, positive manner; the reclamation of
negatively-associated terms has long been a key tactic of many
movements. Moreover, the person accused was at the time wearing a
rainbow flag. The charges of homophobic hatred are therefore completely
false, and represent an attempt to silence the very community Pride is
all about. The police had no intention of letting me talk to the person
and quickly became aggressive and started telling them that they are
under arrest. The person holding the sign was visibly distressed and
said that they don’t want to go with the police, at which point,
attempting to diffuse the situation, I put my arm in between the person
and the police. Suddenly I found myself grabbed by many hands and tried
to leave, but I was unable to do so. Finally, without provocation, I was
tackled to the ground and handcuffed. The charges against me are
obstruction of the police, attempt to rescue, resistance to arrest, and
intimidation of officers. I was just trying to make sure that this young
person was treated in a humane manner, while the police was clearly
attempting to escalate the situation.Inside the police station,
the police made absolutely no effort to calm the person down; indeed,
they actively attempted to further their distress. When they were taking
our details the person was right next to me and I observed the entire
process. At one point, the police asked them for a lawyer; unprepared
and intimidated, the person was unable to answer. I told them the name
of a lawyer that specialises in protest situations, and was promptly
told in a very aggressive manner to be quiet and to not have any contact
with them. Later, again noticing distress, I tried to comfort them by
saying something along the lines of ‘everything is going to be all
right’, at which point I was again told to be quiet. All this time the
person was becoming increasingly upset. The last time I heard of the
person was when walking past their cell on my way to have my
fingerprints taken- they asked if their parents had been notified, and
received the response ‘yes, and I don’t think they are very happy with
you young man’. This is once again an act of intimidation by the police
towards someone visibly shaken and no way in compliance with basic human
compassion. Being held in custody, especially when it is one’s first
time, is a deeply traumatic experience and the police did all they could
to accentuate its negative impact. A key reason I am writing this
statement at all is to expose the sadistic nature with which Glasgow
police dealt with a vulnerable human. I cannot say any more out of
respect for confidentiality, which is why I have strictly mentioned
incidents that directly involved me. I am not making any inferences on
the psychological state of this person, nor am I trying to portray
myself as some type of hero; I am merely describing a situation where a
fellow human was very visibly distressed. I hope that the people reading
have understood enough of the extent of the psychological violence that
the police of Glasgow employed.The actions of my bloc and my
participation within it were informed purely by the desire to express
solidarity with all oppressed groups in an anti-capitalist,
internationalist manner. We never came looking for conflict, which can
be evidenced by the fact the bloc had a very loose and non-securitised
formation. Contrary to some positions I have seen circulating in the
Internet, we never attempted to sabotage anything and definitely did not
incite any type of homophobic hatred. Many of the people in the bloc
are themselves members of the community and the rest of us came purely
to express our solidarity and did not lead or instigate anything. Many
attendees of the bloc have routinely put their bodies on the line
fighting precisely the behaviours and ideas that have been attributed to
some of us. Furthermore, a very small minority of those attending had
their faces covered (not that face-coverings legitimise police
violence); the organisers did not. There were many flags and banners
which made it very difficult to mistake the bloc for a far-right force.
It is too early to provide an analysis of the motivations of whoever
felt threatened by our presence; at this point, the information on this
statement will have to suffice. To conclude, I want to extend my
solidarity to the three other trans arrestees.We call on all
interested in showing their solidarity against these five unjust arrests
to attend the demonstration outside Glasgow Sherriff Court today at
9.00 and to then enter and attend the trials.Panos
Clydeside Industrial Workers of the World
IMPORTANT READING
Statement was released on 21-08-2017 so the ‘today’ referred to has passed as of this reblog.
New updates will be posted on: https://www.facebook.com/clydesideiww/
QueerAnarchism 