27/03/2021
LGBTQ activist groups have largely been totally silent on the issue of violent protest in the wake of riots against proposed new powers for police, which took place in Bristol City Centre on Sunday of last week and during which 2 police officers were seriously injured. We reached out to our contacts at various LGBTQ campaign organisations for their views on the hotly discussed topic, but no one wished to get involved. Even usually vocal activists were slightly thrown by the topic, and either said that it was not an LGBTQ issue or that they did not know what to make of it. We did get two quotes however: one gay man in his fifties who works in the city centre said that the crowds had been intimidating and frightening and that it was a disgrace that the Socialist Workers Party group had placards reading “Kill the Bill”. However, another man who told us he was queer said “Get and read history. Women would have no vote if suffragettes hadn't broken a few windows, and gay men would be criminals if people hadn't fought the police and burned buildings”. The discussion is likely to go on in the news media for many months.
