09/11/2024
One of the partner community stations which works with "ShoutOut" - South Bristol's BASE Radio, is at Dundry Church south of Bristol on Sunday 10th November, to broadcast a service of Remembrance. The Sunday nearest 11th November, the date in 1918 when the guns fell silent on the First World War, is Remembrance Sunday in the United Kingdom. Viewers to news networks such as BBC News and Sky News will note that many presenters are wearing red poppies, a symbol of war remembrance that is very popular. But it is not the only one. The Peace Pledge Union, the British section of the pacifist War Resisters International brings together secular, faith based and political campaigners against war and the Industrial Military complex. A spokesperson for the PPU explained why increasing numbers of younger people are wearing a white poppy instead. They said "Around the world today, we are witnessing the greatest intensity of war and violence so far this century. The destruction of Gaza and the attack on Lebanon continue unabated, as Iran and the wider region are drawn deeper into the conflict. The war in Ukraine grinds on with no end in sight, devastating civilian life. In Sudan, the civil war has led to a humanitarian catastrophe, with tens of thousands dead and millions displaced and facing starvation. Though the obstacles can seem insurmountable, it is vitally important that we continue standing up for peace. By wearing a white poppy, we bear witness to the full human cost of war, both in the past and today. This act of remembrance only sharpens our resolve to oppose war and struggle for peace. We are seeing a wave of new interest in white poppies in the run up to Remembrance Day this year, as white poppies are distributed on ceasefire demonstrations (see below), vigils and stalls, and adopted by a growing number of schools. In the run up to Remembrance Day, please wear a white poppy to show your commitment to working towards a peaceful future". A purple poppy was developed by the campaign group Animal Aid to promote awareness of the animals who have died in humankind's warfare over the centuries, but after misrepresentation by "gammons" and right wingers, changed this emblem to a purple ribbon. In 1996, the gay and lesbian civil disobedience group OutRage! laid a wreath of pink poppies at the London cenotaph in honour of the LGBTQ+ service people who had died in straight warfare. At the time, homosexual, bisexual and transgender people were barred from serving in the armed forces in the UK. Indeed, many LGBT+ left wing groups argued then as now, that as an essentially divisive patriarchal phenomenon, the LGBTQIA+ movement should oppose the military and be natural allies of the peace movement. Gay and lesbian, bisexual and pansexual people were allowed in the UK military after the year 2000. Wikipedia reports that trans people were allowed in the military from the year 2021. In 2019, a rainbow wreath was left at the Cenotaph by an adhoc coalition of LGBTQIA+ activists. At one time, the Royal British Legion complained about LGBT+ remembrance as an "insult to the war dead", but in 2021 issued a formal apology for this misrepresentation and acknowledged the role in war efforts of LGBTQIA+ people who have always been represented at every level in the forces.
BASE Radio transmits on DAB+ across Bristol and the service of remembrance is on Sunday morning, 10th November.
The Peace Pledge Union is available here: https://www.ppu.org.uk/news/wear-white-poppy-stand-peace-troubled-times
The community project the Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft at Jamaica Street in central Bristol sells both white and red poppies. https://prsc.org.uk/
Human Rights Campaigner Peter Tatchell wrote a booklet for Cassel's Queer Studies collection on resisting the military as queer emancipation: https://www.petertatchell.net/military/against_queer/
