Discrimination Against Lesbians in Britain

inequality Against sapphics in BritainLesbianism and the problems of identification in contemporary BritainIn Britain, sapphic wo workforce may non watch had to work to get down their internal activities decriminalised, as homosexual had needed to do yet their lives were non free of problems. However, men even homosexual men had more social, economic, and political power and status than British women did as a whole take hold. Men had a greater control of and over their own bodies than either straight or homosexual women had in the spry post-war period, and indeed before then as swell up. British homosexual women would have to campaign for greater rights as both women do, and as lesbians to challenge the dissimilarity and expected grammatical gender roles from a patriarchal and heterosexual dominated society. In other words, British lesbians had to counter sexual discrimination as well as orientation discrimination before they were able to feel fully secure in publici sing their sexual orientation and identification. Changing public perceptions of their different gender roles and sexual orientation was, as the main lesbian rights groups realised was not going to be easy, as their experiences during the mid-seventies proved.8In Britain the sixties was a decade that brought about some wide-ranging social changes and promised further changes for the future. Lesbian women could certainly regard the handiness of the contraceptive pill and the legalisation of abortion as being an improvement for the choices that all women were able to bushel in relation to their own bodies. During the 1960s expectations about the gender roles of women began to change, as feminism meant that fewer women were watchful to become wives and mothers without having a career first. Lesbian women also realised they did not have to put up with marriage and children just because it was expected of them to do so. The decriminalisation of male homosexual acts at the end of th e 1960s could also be viewed as a demonstration that British society was slowly becoming less(prenominal) illiberal in its attitudes towards spate that embraced alternative lifestyles. For the more radical lesbians the social changes in the 1960s were the chokele of the process of fighting discrimination, rather than the end of the process. British lesbian women and dauntless men were encouraged to start cheery gazump movements by the apparent success such groups in the United States were having in mending social attitudes, especially in cities like newfound York and San Francisco.9 British lesbian and jocund pride organisations began in earnest during the early 1970s with the objectives of enabling their members to have pride in their orientation identification, as well as aiming to reduce the level of social discrimination which their own members had to endure. The hope was that reduced social discrimination and reduced fear of such prejudices would allow all lesbian wome n to readily admit their sexuality with pride. These lesbian pride organisations as a whole found that changing social attitudes towards them and their sexual orientation was a slow process, after all generations of social prejudices could not be expected to vanish overnight.10The effectiveness or otherwise of lesbian and jovial pride movements since the 1970s has been an area of much debate. Depending on which criteria are apply to judge the joyous pride movements the achievements of these organisations will alter.11 If judging the achievements of the lesbian and gay pride movements solely in terms of their ability to have anti-discrimination legislation passed these movements were undoubtedly a failure before the election of the bare-ass apprehend government in 1997.12 The only lesbian women to gain from anti-discrimination legislation in the midst of the early 1970s and 1997 did so because they also came under gender equality, race relations and disability legislation. Gove rnments from the early 1970s did not believe that legislation was needed to prevent homophobic discrimination, leaving lesbian and gay pride organisations on their own to lower such prejudice aimed at their members. New grasp has taken more stairs than any previous governments to pass legislation to reduce homophobic prejudices and promote the rights of all lesbians and gays. New Labour legislation has included passing legislation to end discrimination upon the grounds of sexual orientation to up dress down the opportunities for all lesbians and gays to be openly identified as such without fear of homophobic discrimination. Besides specific legislation to protect lesbian and gay rights, lesbians can also use the Human Rights Act of 1998 to pee sure that their orientation being publicly identifiable is not detrimental to their rights or their safety.13 Under New Labour, lesbian women have finally received legal equality with heterosexual men and women. For instance, lesbian women and gay men are no longer dismissed from Britains armed forces if they openly admit their sexuality. Lesbian women and gay men now also have the right to marry each other in civil partnerships. The introduction of civil partnerships means that lesbian women in long term partnerships have the same rights as married and co-habitant heterosexual couples in terms of property, taxation and inheritance rights, as well as the same benefit and pension entitlements. Lesbian women now have the same rights as heterosexual women when it comes to the detention or adoption of children.14In respect of the lesbian pride movements they probably had a more immediate impact on changing social attitudes towards them than they did in influencing governments to pass legislation which tackled discrimination against them. Lesbian and gay pride organisations did not use the same tactics to publicise their sexual orientation. The more radical lesbian and gay pride organisations were happy to shock heteros exuals in British society with the tone and the methods in which they present their identifications of sexual orientations. More radical groups were even prepared to out famous people to make headlines and raise public awareness of lesbian and gay issues.15 Other more moderate lesbian and gay pride groups were less keen on showing their sexual orientation and identification in such an flamboyant manner. The more moderate lesbian pride groups would have preferred to be open about their sexual orientation and identification without using over the top publicity stunts. Moderate lesbian groups would have fitted in with insider pressure groups, which attempt to achieve their objectives behind closed doors, rather than in public. Radical lesbian and gay pride groups are examples of outsider groups that have little influence with governments and rely on publicity to transmit their objectives to public attention.16The campaigns of lesbian pride groups were not as successful in changing p ublic perceptions of lesbian women as a majority of those groups would have hoped from the early 1970s. This was especially the case during the period of Conservative governments between 1979 to 1997. The Conservative party more than the Labour and Liberal/Liberal Democrats parties like to represent traditional family set instead of promoting the rights and the lifestyles of lesbian and gay pride groups. When in office the Conservatives prevented lesbian and gay groups form educating tutor pupils about their sexual orientations and identification through the infamous section 28. Lesbian and gay groups lobbied New Labour to have the section removed as soon as possible. The media did not al vogues help lesbian and gay groups convey the messages to the public that they wanted to be sent out, especially right wing newspapers did not want to change public perceptions of lesbian women. The right wing newspapers often portrayed the objectives of lesbian and gay groups in the most negativ e perspective possible.17 Despite the efforts of some politicians, religious groups, and parts of the media the number of people who happen to be publicly prepared to be known as being lesbian and gay in Britain has increased noticeably since the 1970s. It is harder to argue out right that such a situation is in all due to the attempts of lesbian and gay pride groups to alter the attitudes of British society. After all changed reactions towards their orientation and gender identification could have resulted from the campaigning of such groups, or alternatively could just have been a protraction of increasing indifference to how other people chose to live their lives.18Thus in conclusion, lesbian women in Britain have not always felt comfortable or able to openly display their sexual orientation, and their gender identification due to the nature of British society. The immediate post-war society in Britain has remained predominantly patriarchal and heterosexual in terms of social a nd gender relationships as well as expected behaviours, roles, and identifications. That situation meant lesbianism did experience in Britain, it was just well hidden. The 1960s were a decade that kick started the process of altering British society, and provided the stimulus for lesbian and gay pride groups to emerge during the early 1970s. The legacies, influence, and success of such groups are exceedingly debatable. Although these groups certainly raised the profile of lesbians and gays in Britain they actually had little affect on the mainstream political schedule prior to New Labour gaining office in 1997. Lesbian and gay pride groups may have attempted to increase acceptance of their lifestyles and their alternative identifications, yet changing public perceptions of lesbian women has not been general or overwhelmingly favourable. The way in socialisation operates in such a haphazard way means that the predominantly heterosexual and patriarchal nature of British society wi ll continue for a considerable amount of time, even if the acceptance of lesbian women should continue to improve, and more fluid gender roles should make grow further.BibliographyAbercrombie N, Hill S Turner B S (2000) Penguin Dictionary of Sociology 4th edition, Penguin, capital of the United KingdomEatwell R Wright A (2003) Contemporary Political Ideologies 2nd Edition, Continuum, capital of the United KingdomHobsbawm, E (1994) Age of Extremes, the Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991, Michael Joseph, LondonWhitakers, (2007) Whitakers Almanack todays world in a single volume, A C Black, LondonYoung H, (2003) supping with the Devils Political writing from Thatcher to Blair, Guardian Books, London1Footnotes1 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p.2 Judt, 2007 p.4853 Martin, 2003 p. 2334 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 3145 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 3146 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 3147 Sandbrook, 2005 p. 5998 Eatwell Wright, 2003 p. 2149 Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 4281 0 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 31411 Judt, 2007 p. 78512 Abercrombie, Hill Turner, 2000, p. 31413 Young, 2003 p. 21614 Whitakers, 2007 p. 60415 Judt, 2007 p. 78516 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 33617 Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 2000 p. 31418 Judt, 2007 p. 785