LGBT Solidarity: Diversity & Inclusion

June 28th is the anniversary of the raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969 which gave rise to the modern Gay Pride movement which is celebrated at this time each year. As we approach the anniversary of Stonewall, this is an invitation to stand in solidarity with people who are LGBT. May we work to build a world where all people, no matter their perceived differences, are celebrated and loved.

May we celebrate diversity as a blessing that enriches us all.

Transcript

Dear friends,

Welcome to this meditation on appreciation and inclusion.

Sunday the 28th of June is the anniversary of the raid on the Stonewall Inn and the riots that followed in New York in 1969.

This gave rise to the modern Gay Pride movement which is celebrated at this time each year.

It's a time when we are given the opportunity to remember people who have suffered death,

Discrimination and persecution on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity issues.

We begin our reflection by bringing ourselves into the present moment,

With eyes closed and just noticing our presence here.

Be thankful for this time to stop and reflect.

Be thankful that we are encouraged to pause from activity.

Let's pause now for one minute,

60 seconds,

To reflect on the importance of the individual identity of each of us.

The right of each of us to be who we are,

Me to be me,

You to be you.

Each of us to live comfortably in our own skin and to notice how important our own identity is to us.

A one minute pause.

A one minute pause.

A one minute pause.

Welcome back.

President Obama referred to the Stonewall Riots in a call for full equality during his second inaugural address on the 21st of January 2013.

He said,

We the people declare today that the most evident of truths,

That all of us are created equal,

Is the star that guides us still.

Just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall.

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.

For if we are truly created equal,

Then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

Words of President Obama.

In the last little while,

We have all been thinking about inclusion and diversity.

We've been thinking about the killing of George Floyd.

The Black Lives Matter movement.

The need for change.

The need for equality and respect for people of colour.

So as we approach the anniversary of Stonewall,

This is an invitation to stand in solidarity with people who are LGBT.

LGBT and more,

Because the acronym LGBT is growing all the time.

Now it has reached LGBTQIA+.

But let's keep it simple and more memorable by just referring to the simple categories lesbian,

Gay,

Bisexual,

Transgender.

But at the same time,

Including all people who suffer discrimination because of their sexual orientation or identity.

And first can I say that a person's sexual orientation is his,

Her or their own business.

And how boring and one-dimensional does a person's life have to be before being gay becomes the identifying feature of a life.

I mean,

Being a gay dancer in a club seven nights a week is one thing.

But what about a gay brain surgeon or a gay nuclear physicist?

What is the predominant characteristic in their lives?

Our sexuality is an important and fundamental aspect of ourselves,

But let's keep things in perspective.

Even yet we see people having to go on TV or to the newspapers to explain their position in terms of their sexual preferences or non-preferences.

We don't demand that people come out as regards their preference for fish and chips as compared with pizza.

We don't segregate them or ostracize them by reference to their taste in music.

Nor do we separate people into groups who prefer wine or those who prefer beer and try to keep them apart.

We don't have to look very far for examples of abominable treatment suffered by people just because they happen to be gay or transgender.

But before we take a couple of examples to illustrate the point,

A reminder that this is a meditation rather than a civil rights speech.

So we must remember to place ourselves as if we were the brother or sister or family member of the people I'm going to speak about.

We ask in each case,

How would I feel in that situation?

How would I feel if I was wearing those shoes?

So let's start in Ireland.

In September 1982,

Declan Flynn,

A gay man aged 30,

Was attacked and killed in Fairview Park in Dublin.

Just a 15 minute walk from my home.

His death came about as a result of a series of beatings meted out to gay men in Dublin who used Fairview Park as a meeting place at that time.

His father never knew Declan was gay until he was killed.

Imagine if you were Declan's father,

Mother,

Brother or sister.

How would you feel on getting this news of his death at the hands of four young men who described themselves as out that night,

Queer bashing?

Let's pause to put ourselves in that position.

Just 60 seconds again.

Welcome back.

Welcome back.

Declan's murder and the widely criticised judgement,

The attackers received suspended sentences.

These were the catalyst for the gay pride movement in Ireland.

It can be said to have led in the end to the decriminalisation of same sex activity.

The introduction of the Civil Partnership Act in 2010.

And finally the passing of the Equal Marriage Referendum here in 2015.

But it was a long,

Hard,

Painful struggle.

On the day the referendum result was announced,

The square in Dublin Castle was filled with LGBT supporters.

A multicoloured,

Rainbow coloured,

Happy throng.

David Norris,

Who was the driving force of this campaign for law reform,

Was there.

And he was naturally delighted that the Irish people had voted for this constitutional change.

The first country in the world to do this in a popular vote.

David was born in 1944 and he spent much of his adult life complaining for something that was now going to benefit the LGBT community.

Let's pause for one minute again.

This time to put ourselves in the shoes of David Norris.

Would any of us have been as brave and as consistent in our efforts?

Would any of us have been as brave and as consistent in our efforts?

Welcome back.

My wife Fran and I will be married 45 years in September.

When we got married,

Ireland was predominantly white,

Catholic and heterosexual.

It became a standing joke that before TV and before the Late Late Show there was no such thing as sex in Ireland.

It was also a joke that before David Norris there was no gay person in Ireland.

Except for one or two theatre owners and they were probably just putting on an act.

Christine Velle wrote a poem that captures the position of gay people in an exclusively hetero Ireland.

I stay here out of fear.

Fear of judgement,

Fear of ridicule,

But most of all fear of abandonment.

I'm afraid that if I come out of this lonely little closet,

What waits beyond will be a much greater peril.

And she goes on,

Or perhaps it will be the release I've been looking for,

So I'll take a chance.

But would you,

Could you,

Take a chance in the old Ireland?

That's just a micro review of the Irish situation.

And turning for a moment to the UK.

Alan Turing,

A British mathematician and logician devised the Turing machine,

The first systematic method for breaking secret codes used by the Nazis in their war planning.

His work is considered to have shortened the Second World War and saved thousands of lives.

At the end of the war Turing was given an OBE for his code breaking work.

But it was not all plain sailing.

Our computer genius was gay and in March 1952 he was convicted of gross indecency.

He was sentenced to 12 months of either imprisonment,

Which would stop him working,

Or hormone therapy,

Chemical castration.

He opted for the hormone therapy and it's almost certain that he died by suicide.

Imagine if you were his brother or sister.

Let's pause to put ourselves in that position.

.

Welcome back.

In 2009,

Following an internet campaign,

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for the appalling way Alan Turing was treated.

And in 2013,

60 long years after his death,

Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous pardon.

Thanks to all this,

We are well on the road in this part of the world compared with countries where the death penalty and torture is meted out to people just because they are LGBT.

As of 2020,

14 countries still have the death penalty on their statute books as the penalty for homosexual acts.

But regularising the equal legal status of gay people is one thing.

Ending on the ground discrimination is another matter.

So during this time when we commemorate the Stonewall riots,

Can we make it our resolution to stand up for the rights of every person to live in the skin into which they've been born?

Whether that is rainbow coloured,

Or black,

Brown,

White,

Or any of the other marks that on the surface draw attention to our differences.

Skin colour is not a choice.

Sexual identity is not a choice.

Each of us is very different from every other person.

But when we are injured and when we bleed,

What comes out is always red.

We are all entitled to the same respect.

Luckily in some places people of all nationalities,

Colours,

Beliefs and orientations are treated with equal dignity.

In some places differences celebrate it and long may that be so.

Discrimination against gay people seems thankfully to be on the decline.

But a lot more needs to be done for the protection of transgender people.

Here in Ireland in 2015 the government passed the Gender Recognition Act.

This enables trans people to achieve full legal recognition of their preferred gender.

It allows for a new birth certificate that reflects the change.

It is good to see that as the legal position here.

But transgender people are abused and even murdered in places across the world.

As if the issue itself was not worthy enough for trans people.

Can you imagine for a minute just how difficult it must be for someone who has appeared for years as one gender,

Then undergoes gender reassignment and then appears as the opposite gender in his or her own town or place of work.

Talk about courage.

Talk about bravery.

How would you or I manage that?

Would we go to a new city?

A new place of work?

You might just be lucky enough to have a workplace where your work colleagues will celebrate the fact that you were a unique person,

Redesigning your own body to match the blueprint in your own brain.

And remember that all this bravery is being displayed in a world where it appears that there is not even one footballer in the UK Premier League who has ever come out as gay and proud to support the cause.

A couple of years ago a bus was sponsored at the Brighton Pride Parade.

It was decorated in the rainbow colours and it was called the Official Bus of Gay Professional Footballers.

The open top bus was the centrepiece of the parade,

But the bus travelled empty.

This stunt highlighted the fact that none,

Not one of the 500 or so players registered in the UK is openly LGBT.

An impossible statistic.

It suggests that even now the environment within football is not one which is encouraging players to be comfortable expressing their own sexual orientation.

So there is a lot to be done.

We see how people have united to get behind the slogan,

Black Lives Matter,

And they do.

We need a push to make it clear to people that LGBT lives matter also.

So at this time,

Around the anniversary of the birth of Pride,

Can we remember to continue to enjoy and celebrate all our differences?

And when we do think of differences,

Can we concentrate on the more important questions of life,

Such as How about we go for a pint?

Or,

Would you prefer tea or coffee?

Or,

Did you see the match last night?

How did you cope with the lockdown?

Where are you hoping to go on your holidays?

Let's conclude with a prayer.

May we be grateful for the gift of our lives and the gift of other people in our lives,

Remembering that each of us is created with dignity and worth.

May we love one another and do nothing to others that we would find hateful to ourselves.

May we work to build a world where all people,

No matter their perceived differences,

Are celebrated and loved.

May we celebrate diversity as a blessing that enriches us all.

Namaste.

Reviews

I found this meditation and prayer very encouraging, honest and thought provoking. Thank you for putting it together, so it can eyes of folk from around the world.
Tony thank you for opening my eyes to the struggle of those who just want to be themselves. Namaste 🙏

Love is Love! The world would be in a much better place if we embraced our differences. Educated ourselves, learnt from each other and to just take the time to understand. Wouldn’t that be easier and much more interesting and loving. As Mother Theresa once said “if we have no peace, we have forgotten that we belong to each other”. We Are One! What right does any person have to call someone else different when we all share 99% of the same DNA. Well presented Tony! 🙏 💕

Amazing meditation for queer and trans people and allies 🙏🏿🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Beautiful words about our LGBT brothers and sisters/community. Thinking of my brother Luis who passed away 17 yrs ago from aids.
If everyone thought like you the world would be the loveliest of places. God bless you, friend.🌈🧡💚💙💜🤎🌈 🙏

Well said, Tony 😊 Inclusion and celebrations of diversity benefits every community 🙏 Thankyou

Thank you, Tony. A beautiful and gentle call to action to love ourselves and each other. Sending love to you from Chicago.

Thank you as always for the thoughtfulness and kindness.

Thank you for this wonderful meditation on an overlooked topic!

As a Mom of 2 gay children, I appreciate this so very much. Thank you. ✌🏻❤️🙏🏻

Less of an actual meditation but more of a moving and poignant reflection. Beautifully done. Thank you.

Thank you Tony for this beautiful meditation about the importance of love and acceptance for all people regardless of race or sexuality. As a gay man coming out in the mid 80s in small town middle America I know now how far we’ve come for the younger generations who will be able to be themselves without as much fear as many before them. But as you say there is still much to be done and I pray we will continue to see positive change for all who have been and are still discriminated against due to sexuality and race. Peace love and light to all. ❤️🙏🙏🙏

Thank you Tony, for this heartfelt and thought provoking meditation inviting listeners to put themselves into the shoes of LGBT people and their loved ones. For my entire life I’ve dealt with the fear of abandonment by family and friends for being who I am. Progress has been made but for many of us, these remain lifelong wounds.

Thankyou Tony. That was powerful. I have 2 LGBTQ sons. May the world continue to grow in acceptance and love.

Thank you so much. This was the only meditation I found when I did a search for LGBT on this site. As a gay man I truly appreciate the gentleness, love, and inclusiveness expressed in your meditation. 🙏🏼

Delightful as usual. It is so nice to just include everyone! ☮️💖🙏🌈 Thank you Tony! ☘️

Excellent my friend. I really appreciate your message. I agree that every person has the right to be who they want to be without fear of being harmed. May you have peace and happy upcoming anniversary. ( just had our 44th sat) Namaste 🙏

Tony,

Thanks for sharing, you have a unique and beautiful way of making things understandable. I never considered or knew many of the things discussed by you here, so thanks again. Very best wishes.

Namaste 🙏

Siobhán

I always love your compassionate and wise insights and want to thank you for this in particular. I grew up in the Catholic Church and suffered what I can only describe as homophobic spiritual violence, threats of Hell and condemnation. Many years later I became a Buddhist and started a journey of healing and forgiveness toward those who had injured me. Your specific inclusion of LGBT dignity here rather than just a general compassion for beings is a hugely valuable blessing. It is so often overlooked but you skilfully offer direct doorways here toward spiritual recovery from oppression - gratitude and solidarity-namaste

Beautiful tribute Tony. Thank you. 🙏💖

A beautifully mindful meditation Tony that touches my heart and life personally. I am grateful for your inclusion here of trans people, as you rightly point out their courage and resilience is extraordinary in the face of challenges faced wherever their lives are lived. Highlighting heteronormativity is key in breaking down assumption and opening up diversity. The poem also touched me heart, please can you remind of the poet's name. Thank you for this meditation, during g Pride month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. All good wishes and love to you and Fran on your 45th wedding anniversary in September. Namaste