Why Secularism is Vital for Gay Rights

London 5th September 2011

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) has confirmed its strong support for the Campaign  for a Secular Europe, and plans to be actively involved in the March in London on September 17th.

GALHA believes that a secular society benefits everyone, but that LGBT people are the single group who has most reason to defend secularism and to fear attempts to undermine it. To take a few examples, across Europe

- In Britain Anglican Bishops, who as part of the established church in England have reserved seats in the House of Lords, have tried to use these to exempt religious organisations from equalities legislation

- The number of state funded religious schools is increasing in England, despite their having an even poorer record in dealing with homophobic bullying than the rest of the sector

- In Italy the Roman Catholic church has used its influence to pressurise the Italian Parliament into rejecting protection for same sex partnerships, and against the recognition of hate crimes based on sexual orientation. They have also campaigned vigorously against both civil partnerships and marriage equality across Europe     

- In Russia the Orthodox church has used its influence to obstruct gay people's right to march in Moscow          

- In The UK there have been moves to recognise some aspects of Sharia Law which potentially threaten the rights of gay people          

- Some religious groups have also tried to block adoption by same sex couples

GALHA Chair Adam Knowles explained:

"Whatever your beliefs, you have an interest in a secular society. Secularism is the only way of ensuring that everyone  has an equal say in the laws under which we all live, and that no one group enjoys a privileged position. This is not about being 'anti-religion'. In fact a secular society protects religious groups as much as it does agnostics or atheists, and many religious believers support secularism.

"Of course everyone has the right to express their views, and to live by them – provided that this does not violate the rights of others. Religious believers, and supporters of other beliefs and ideologies, should also be free to campaign and lobby, but on the same terms as everyone else, with no special privileges.

However it's no coincidence that most of the groups who want to undermine secularism are also hostile to LGBT rights and gay equality.

So

- If you believe that LGBT people should be as free to express their love and sexuality openly on the same terms as everyone else

- If you are gay and you believe you should have the right to marry the person that you love

- If you believe that children, especially those who may be gay, should not be subjected to anti- gay religious indoctrination

- If you believe that people who volunteer to adopt children should be judged on what they have to offer, not on the gender of their partner

- If you believe that religious belief should not be an excuse to treat gay people worse than straight people

Then you really need to support this campaign."

Further details of the campaign and the rally can be found at:

http://secular-europe-campaign.org/march-rally/