Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants

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Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants (LGSMigrants) is an activist group of LGBT people standing in solidarity with migrants.

Formation and reception[]

The group was set up to represent the "idea of queer communities coming together to stand in solidarity with other marginalised communities, of seeing the connections between the oppressions of traditionally separate communities and building bridges across these divides".[1] Its name is a deliberate reference to Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, an activist group during the 1984–85 miners' strike.[1]

David Levesley of British GQ describes the group as "one of the best things about the British queer scene: a vanguard for modern British queer activism, who work with a selection of other amazing LGBTQ+ groups who all exist to spread ideas of compassion, international equality and better treatment of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Determined to bring Pride back to its political roots, an important reminder of how queerness is always a radical act, they're not a club night, but when they do anything you should sit up and take notice."[2]

Actions[]

Benjamin Smoke of LGSMigrants was one of the "Stansted 15" who were initially convicted of terrorism offences after taking part in non-violent action to stop a deportation flight leaving Stansted Airport on 28 March 2017.[3] In 2018, Virgin Atlantic said it would no longer assist the Home Office in deporting people classed as illegal immigrants, following pressure from LGSMigrants and the Windrush deportation scandal.[4] Later that year, LGSMigrants activists placed 200 posters over adverts on London Underground trains, showing the public how to prevent deportations.[5]

In 2019, they replaced bus adverts with messages criticising Pride in London for failing to incorporate marginalised communities[6] and used bots to spread messages on the dating app Tinder on Valentine's Day to airline passengers on how to spot and stop a deportation on-flight.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Picard, Ida-Sofie; Nelson, Jenny (8 December 2016). "Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants". Red Pepper.
  2. ^ Levesley, David (4 July 2019). "Where to go for the best London Pride possible". British GQ. Condé Nast.
  3. ^ Taylor, Diane (10 December 2018). "Stansted 15 activists vow to overcome 'dark, dark day for the right to protest'". The Guardian.
  4. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (29 June 2018). "Virgin airlines says it will no longer help to deport immigrants". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Barnes, Tom (18 December 2018). "Activists replace 200 Tube adverts with instructions on how to prevent deportations". The Independent.
  6. ^ Davies, Caroline; McDonald, Henry (6 July 2019). "Pride in London organisers fend off pinkwashing claims". The Guardian.
  7. ^ Gayle, Damien (14 February 2019). "Valentine's Day Tinder messages aim to stop deportations". The Guardian.
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