While American gay soldiers cannot upload an It Gets Better video to YouTube without putting their job at risk, Britain’s Lance Corporal James Wharton doesn’t have that problem. Here he appears in a campaign from advocacy group Stonewall, explaining why
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Mark
Nice video – marred only by the constant referencing of Stonewall. Stonewall are launching/stealing the It Gets Better campaign to divert attention from the universal disgust the LGBT community in Britain felt towards Stonewall, when Stonewall’s leader Ben Summerskill was caught campaigning against LGBT marriage equality at the party conferences. As a result of the backlash against Stonewall, Stonewall now claims to have changed its opinion on marriage equality. But they are NOT campaigning for it. And the vile quisling Ben Summerskill remains the head of Stonewall.
Stonewall in Britain has less support and legitimacy than the HRC thanks to their appalling duplicity.
Joe
Keep things grassroots. Whenever our cause has been lifted up to the ‘corporate’ level it’s become distorted.
However, I am not above letting organizations try and redeem themselves. I was unhappy with HRC for a very long time, but if they work their asses off to make it up to me and the community, I will forgive them and restart my contributions.
If Stonewall in the UK has gotten itself into shit in the past, but is now trying to work their way back into the good graces of people, then I say let them have a chance. Everyone deserves to have the ability to earn forgiveness…
But on the topic of the video, good for this guy and the British military to show all those cowards and hypocrites over here in the USA just how silly we’re being about DADT.
tavdy79
@Mark: it’s also worth bearing in mind that Stonewall doesn’t even represent the entire LGBT community: they exclude trans, intersex and genderqueer people. That’s another reason why a lot of gay people won’t have anything to do with them.
Jeffree
I hope that we see similar videos from service members from other countries who have fully integrated GLB people into their armed forces.
Canadians, Israelis, Swedes, etc., we NEED to hear from you!
T
I can’t speak for Stonewall’s record but the message he provides is good. Let’s take every victory we can. Role models and inspiration are cherished things.
Hue-Man
This video is a reminder that American military face not only the danger of bullets fired at them but also the stress of knowing that one slip-up could mean the end of their career. I’ve never understood Stonewall’s position on equal marriage; it would seem obvious to join the legal certainties of institutions – marriage and divorce – that have been around for millennia rather than creating a new untested legal fiction that ceases to have any validity once the unioned couple leaves U.K. soil.
Dan
@TAVDY79 Stonewall fights sexual orientation discrimination. There are plenty of groups that are just focused on gay and lesbian issues. Most gay equality groups on Earth do not cover trans issues simply because most trans people self-identify as heterosexual, and most gay people do not crossdress.
Pip
@Hue-Man: This video is also a remind that British men are SO DAMN SEXY. Wtf. I want to go to England.
Fagburn
It’s more fun to watch if you imagine a bell being rung everytime he says “Stonewall”…
robert in nyc
Actually, Mark No. 1….that’s not quite accurate. StonewallUK’s leader, Ben Summerskill, recently conducted a poll of StonewallUK’s 20,000 membership and it was found that the majority support it. This in part is what brought about his sudden reversal. Plus, there has been mounting pressure by the majority of LGBT activists in the UK to support it. Some of Stonewall’s own co-founders also exerted some pressure on Summerskill. So now he’s said it will be part of the campaign for marraige equality without any madate to compel religious denominations recognising or officiating them.
Now that the Liberal Democrats who form part of Prime Minister conservative government coalition have officialy endorsed it as Liberal party policy and Labour’s new leader, Ed Miliband, has declared support for it and I’ve no doubt so will his party, then it doesn’t leave any choice but for Cameron to support it if he wants to remain in power. His party didn’t exactly win by a landslide, in fact there was a hung parliament and without the cooperation of the Liberal Democrats, he would not have been able to form a government. With two of the three parties endorsing it, its going to become increasingly difficult for Cameron to sit on the fence and do nothing. He does so at his own peril. With 61% of the British public supporting it, he can’t ignore it.
robert in nyc
Actually, Mark No. 1….that’s not quite accurate. StonewallUK’s leader, Ben Summerskill, recently conducted a poll of StonewallUK’s 20,000 membership and it was found that the majority support it. This in part is what brought about his sudden reversal. Plus, there has been mounting pressure by the majority of LGBT activists in the UK to support it. Some of Stonewall’s own co-founders also exerted some pressure on Summerskill. So now he’s said it will be part of the campaign for marraige equality without any madate to compel religious denominations recognising or officiating them.
Now that the Liberal Democrats who form part of Prime Minister David Cameron’s conservative government coalition have officialy endorsed it as Liberal party policy and Labour’s new leader, Ed Miliband, has declared support for it and I’ve no doubt his party too will adopt it as official policy. Actually, marriage equality was part of the Conservative Party’s manifesto, so it won’t leave Cameron much choice but to support it if he wants to remain in power. His party didn’t exactly win by a landslide, in fact there was a hung parliament and without the cooperation of the Liberal Democrats, he would not have been able to form a government. With two of the three parties endorsing it, its going to become increasingly difficult for Cameron to sit on the fence and do nothing. He does so at his own peril. With 61% of the British public supporting it, he can’t ignore it.