24/03/2020
As one would imagine, the global efforts to delay the spread of the Covid 19 Novel Coronavirus, so that health care systems have the opportunity to respond to the illness, has dominated many media this last week. Some of the rolling news channels have been criticised for their coverage, with social justice activist and broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen going on BBC-1’s Sunday morning programme to criticise the Corporation’s alleged scaremongering. The newspapers, particularly the tabloid Daily Mail, was singled out by many commentators online for its interpretation of NHS and government statistics. Some accused it of trying to panic people. But in amongst all the fear that the coronavirus has sparked, there have been some inspirational stories of resilience and community building. Radio Free Europe, the famous dissident broadcaster, said that in Italy, immigrants from Georgia had been streaming their own modern satirical takes on traditional folk songs to entertain themselves and other people who are locked down in their apartments. Cable news channel Euronews agreed, airing footage of people in Spain, where the close knit apartment blocks in cities like Madrid are lit up, locked down tenants chatting with neigbhours over their balconies and having a glass of wine in the Spanish spring air. On BBC Radio Five Live, late night callers to Stephen Nolan’s popular Sunday night phone in programme spoke of their localities coming together, with grass roots groups being set up to arrange food supplies for those self-isolating and offering emotional advice and support. Many LGBTQ people will be involved in these initiatives. Just as many of our community are drawn to professions such as in the NHS, so we will bring our skills together to help elderly neighbours and friends, and those at risk from the virus. It has been noted by a number of writers and bloggers as well that the experience of the AIDS pandemic years of the eighties will give gay men in particular an experience of living with uncertain times and social dislocation that can smooth and ease the process for the wider society. A note of caution was struck by some LGBTQ organisations in the United States, who warn that the gay and trans communities could be particularly impacted by the Covid19 Coronavirus. According to the popular gay weekly The Advocate, a coalition of more than 100 groups, including National LGBT Cancer Network, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, Whitman-Walker Health, Senior Citzen Gay network SAGE, New York Transgender Advocacy Group, and the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance have said that the illness might have a disproportionate impact on LGBTQ people. Why, you may ask. Well, the coalition of groups say that our community has a higher incidence of tobacco smoking than a control sample and therefore experience more respiratory illness. In addition, there is a problem with homophobia in US health care which may make some reluctant to engage with professionals. You can visit the Advocate website at advocate.com to empower yourself with the full text of the open letter, but also positively, the many suggestions made by the coalition of organisations to stay healthy.
Other reports we have noted over the past week, include reports from China Radio International striking a positive note in the way in which the control of the coronavirus spared seems to be working after strict containment measures. On All India Radio from Delhi, transmitting on shortwave, there was even a report on the unprecedented co-operation between India and their traditional antagonist, Pakistan, as the two countries worked together to deal with the virus. Some left wing groups however, including those which have a strong LGBTQ rights platform, have been blogging and podcasting online with an analysis of the way in which the state has been exercising its arsenal of coercive measures during the corona health issue, for example, by banning strikes in parts of Italy. They speculate that once assembled, some governments may be more reluctant than others to disassemble this apparatus once the crisis has passed. Time of course, will tell, along with how the public have been changed by this experience. Perhaps as one columnist at the Guardian newspaper said, we will all learn the value of community and mutual support amd that might be one small positive.
