GALHA featured in Time Out London

The following article appeared in a December 2009 issue of Time Out London written by the columnist on LGBT issues and events Paul Burston. Reproduced with kind Permission of Time Out London Magazine: www.timeout.com/london/

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Humanism and gay rights

For 30 years, the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association has pressed for gay rights in London and across the UK. Paul Burston learns about their vital work from the group's Henry Lawson.

In 1977, following a campaign spearheaded by Mary Whitehouse, Gay News was successfully prosecuted for blasphemous libel after publishing a poem about a centurion fantasising about Jesus on the cross. This religiously motivated attack on gay freedom of speech contributed to the creation of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

The group recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. Over the past three decades, guest speakers as diverse as Stephen Fry, Angela Eagle MP, Polly Toynbee, Peter Tatchell and me (on behalf of Time Out) have all been welcomed to the monthly meetings at Conway Hall. But what exactly makes a gay or lesbian humanist? GALHA's Henry Lawson explains all.

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association exists to promote LGBT rights as human rights, combating religious homophobia in particular, and promoting humanism. 'Many people confuse humanism with simple atheism and opposition to religion. While most humanists are non-religious, humanism is essentially about using human reason, experience and empathy to understand the world and to determine what makes for a good life and how best to live it.

It draws on a rich historical tradition going back to the Renaissance and beyond, including philosophers and thinkers like Hume and Mill, but also a wide range of other cultural figures. Precisely because it lacks a "set text", humanism tends to be much more open and questioning, and interested in exploring different ways of living. It's no surprise therefore that humanism has a particular appeal to many gay people. Key gay humanists range from EM Forster (possibly the greatest early twentieth-century British novelist) to Peter Tatchell and Stephen Fry, who was the winner of GALHA's 2009 award for services to humanism and LGBT rights. It's noticeable that most of the serious opposition to gay rights in modern Britain comes from the major religions. Humanism, in contrast, sees homosexuality as an entirely natural expression of human love.

GALHA's key activities include campaigning to promote gay rights and humanism, organising regular social events and providing information about humanism and LGBT issues. Campaigning can include issuing press releases and other media relations, organising public meetings or participating in demonstrations and marches. Campaigns this year have focused on issues that directly affect gay people, such as the stance of the Vatican on homosexuality, homophobic bullying in schools and attempts by religious quacks to "cure" gay people of their sexuality. GALHA is also happy to give credit to religious groups where due, for example in supporting the Quakers in their recent conversion to gay marriage.

GALHA aims to provide a sense of community and belonging to its members. Its regular monthly meetings cover both serious social and cultural issues and more lighthearted themes. The group is very successful at bringing together people of all ages. The committee alone includes members in their twenties and their seventies. There is also a growing number of women members.

Recent events have included: celebrations of the Darwin bicentenary; GALHA's own birthday; a look at major figures such as Thomas Hardy and Edward Carpenter; the only European election hustings specifically for the gay community; and a look at Islam's record on gay rights.

While GALHA's first 30 years have seen huge advances both for gay people and for humanism, religious fundamentalism poses a growing threat, both here and in the wider world. History shows again and again that gay rights can be lost as well as won. GALHA is determined to make sure this doesn't happen, but to do this we need more people to join us in our fight.

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