GALHA Representative Addresses Rally Against Sharia Law

 

London – 20^th June 2010

 

GALHA representative Sue  Robson made the following speech to the “One Law for All” rally in Central London today:

 

“I represent GALHA, the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.

We Humanists pledge to fight this good fight, for the sake of those here in the UK who suffer under religious laws that operate now alongside our own civil system  - a system which, scandalously fails to protect them from harm and denies them equal rights with others living in the same country;    and we pledge to fight  also for the sake of those living in states in the grip of political Islam, such as Iran.

 

“As Humanists,we say that if we allow religious laws to treat females as inferior, and gay men and lesbians as criminals in the UK, laws which deny women and gay people a fulfilling personal life, and even permit rape, then we are letting down our sisters and brothers across the planet.

 

“Today is all about universal human rights. Rights are universal, and absolute -  not culture-specific and relative. Medieval religious laws that discriminate against, oppress, deny even the most basic human rights especially to women and gay people must be opposed here in the UK..

 

“Sharia cruelly denies fair access to divorce and custody rights to women.

So please think especially about what Sharia means for a woman today, in 2010 who,  like me 40 years ago,  has entered into a marriage to a man, under pressure from her culture and her family, and who has suppressed inklings that she might be gay because every message she receives from all around her says that  being gay is something too horrible to contemplate, and that if she is gay she will be cast out of society, destined to live a hopeless, lonely life.  She might be told that she will go to hell. 

 

“There comes a time when she can no longer deny her true nature, when she realises those messages are untrue.

 

“She might have children.  40 years ago, courts in the UK routinely took children away from a lesbian mother, and handed them over to the man even if he was hopelessly unsuitable as a care-giver.  That will happen to this woman  – and to her children, today in Britain under Sharia  - assuming that she will be granted a divorce.  She might not.  In that case she is condemned  to a forced sexual relationship with a man.  That’s rape.  Just like Britain years ago when rape within a marriage was not considered to be rape.

 

“How regressive is that?  We are going way back in time, allowing an outdated discredited law to apply only to women and children unlucky enough to belong to one culture, and we see a heinous crime – rape – being condoned.

 

“Those who support Sharia think they’re helping the anti-racist cause in a multicultural society.  We Humanists say No! They are unwittingly colluding with – supporting  - the racists. By supporting Sharia, they are saying,  in effect, that the liberal, fair, enlightened, non-discriminatory laws of Britain today that are available to the majority are not good enough for women and gay people in a minority culture.   That’s racist, sexist, heterosexist, misogynist, and homophobic.  One law for those fortunate to have been born to parents of one culture , another for the less fortunate who were born to parents of another culture.

 

“So, Sharia law disproportionately ruins more women’s lives and gay lives –  and , in an age when we strive to reduce inequalities,  we in the UK now have state sanctioned increasing of inequalities, as we now see women and gay people in our mainstream culture enjoying greater rights, ( than ever before) and more freedom to live their lives as they wish  while we also see women and gay people in a minority culture enjoying fewer rights, and being denied the same freedoms – even having their rights taken away!   

 

“We Gay and Lesbian Humanists stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone here today.   This is a human rights issue. Here in the UK, it’s an egalitarian issue, it’s a feminist issue. Elsewhere in our world, the issue is life - and death.   

 

“One Law for All!  Thank you.