Anarchists Not Impressed with "Rebellion"

Bristol's highly active anarchist movement, which in places has some crossover with trans-inclusive feminism, gender revolution and radical wings of the lesbian and gay movement, has sharply criticised some of the activities of the “Extinction Rebellion” protests which took place recently in the city, and which also occurred in other cities. At first, this criticism might seem somewhat unlikely. Both anarchists and the Extinction Rebellion activists have a vision of a very different society, and utilise civil disobedience and direct action protests to further their aims. However, Bristol's anarchists, who are mostly based at the B.A.S.E. Centre, formerly known as Kebele, have launched a high profile series of graffiti posts on hoardings around the city, criticising the middle class elements within Extinction Rebellion and urging full scale social revolution as opposed to any type of reforming of the current economic system. Meanwhile, it is hard to judge the final verdict of LGBT people on the recent Extinction protests. Some gay people have reported to us that they went along to the protests and found them “like a festival, welcoming and enjoyable”. However, other gay people have reported that NHS workers were obstructed from getting to work and that disabled people, including people with HIV or users of wheelchairs, were marginalised by the able bodied bicycle using fraternity within the movement. The protests did not really affect either of Bristol's gay villages around Frogmore Street and Old Market Street.