The morality of gay sex shouldn’t have been the central LGBT issue of the past election, but sadly that was all we got

The past 5 years have been great for gay rights – that certainly can be said. Gay marriage was legalized by 2014 in England, Wales and Scotland and statewide in the US in 2015. Just this year gay marriage was legalized in Taiwan, the first country in Asia and it is now legal in 22 countries. These accomplishments gave me the confidence to come out to my friends and family that I was growing up living in a world that was slowly becoming more and more accepting of people like me.

However while this had been the fantastic result of decades of hard work done by activists, it has had the unfortunate side effect of removing all LGBT issues from the mainstream discourse. Obviously this election was never going to be centred around gay rights and I didn’t expect it to be. Yet, while watching hours of debates and interviews, not once was the topic of LGBT rights ever discussed except to ask Tim Farron about his views on the morality of gay sex. While someone’s personal views don’t bother me as long as they fully support my rights to live my life how I want to, I understand that for some people this is an issue on the ballot box. Therefore if the topic comes up as it did with Tim Farron, it does need to be clarified.

However the fact that this was the only time any LGBT issue came up in the election makes it appear that all else is fine. If the first anniversary of the worst mass shooting in American history and the death of 49 LGBT people 9 days ago goes to show, there is still plenty of work that is needed to be done both here and across the pond. Like with many attacks on LGBT people, the attacker came from within the community.

While they are often ridiculed, safe spaces like the Pulse nightclub are still essential. They provide a place for LGBT people to be themselves. A space where they are not targeted for who they are – whether they are set alight, covered in homophobic slurs or knocked unconscious. Personally I’ve been physically shoved off a raised dance floor because someone felt insecure that, shock horror, I might find him attractive. Even in 2016, William Lound, a transgender man was murdered at the University of Salford.

Any quick browse of Grindr highlights the problems that persist. Profiles often list ‘no femmes’, ‘no fats’ or racist judgements that are made out as ‘preferences’. Given that Grindr is well-known for being very, very gay, you’d be surprised at the amount of profiles that identity as ‘straight’ and only look for guys who are ‘masculine’ – ironic given that Grindr is an app only for men. Society perpetuates the stereotype of gay people as effeminate therefore making these men feel that their sexual identity is emasculating and at odds with being male. The fact that people still feel this way in 2017 is tragic.

LGBT people from poorer backgrounds or from non-white ethnic groups still face enormous struggles for acceptance within their communities even if things have significantly improved for others in society. 24% of homeless young people identify as LGBT and 69% of them say they are homeless as a result of parental rejection. In America, this figure is 40%. While these figures are undoubtedly much better than they were in the past, they are still shocking given that 7.6% of UK citizens identified as gay or lesbian in a 2015 YouGov Poll. As there are so many LGBT people rejected by their parents living on the streets, it really shows how society is letting them down, especially as these people are vulnerable to sexual abuse, drug abuse and violence.

I can at least be thankful that I’ve grown up in a loving, accepting household but there are too many out there still who don’t.

The AIDS epidemic steamrolled through the gay community in the 1980s and 90s killing thousands of people and continues to today. While there are forms of treatment that now exist, in 2014 there were still 103,700 people diagnosed with HIV in the UK and nearly one fifth are unaware of their infection. HIV does not discriminate who it infects affecting both the British African and the general community. PrEP – a lifesaving drug that significantly reduces risk of HIV transmissions is not available on the NHS and sexual education regarding queer sex is terrible. Thank god for the Internet as YouTube has been my saving grace in this department.

The rights we have won are too at risk. We have a government that is currently in negotiations with the DUP – a party who ran on the campaign slogan “Save Ulster from Sodomy” and are strongly against gay marriage. While Ruth Davidson has rightly asked Theresa May that LGBT rights are not up for grabs as part of any coalition, we still have not received an confirmation from May herself.

If Britain is taken out of the European Court of Human Rights, the future of gay rights are called into question. The Equality Act, which prohibits the discrimination of LGBT people in the workplace and public services is founded on European laws. Article 12 has been used to argue for same-sex marriage in court as it gives every citizen the right to marry. Article 8 gives people the right for respect in the privacy of their own home. Like with the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, the future of gay rights has not been guaranteed by the Conservative government. Personally I would like to know that my rights are guaranteed a future and I am horrified that this has still not been addressed.

Gay marriage is still not legal in Northern Ireland despite there it being legalised for three years now elsewhere in the UK. Yet there seems to be little drive from our politicians to campaign for this, even though the three main parties all support same-sex marriage as do a majority in Northern Ireland.

In a world where one of the most prominent figures of the gay community is Milo Yiannopoulos, a man who broadcasts the worst stereotypes of the gay community and believes the closet is where gay people belong, we must seriously evaluate how we advocate for gay issues on the main stage though acknowledging at the same time the astounding progress that we have made. While we can’t expect society to change overnight or the problems faced by the gay community to be resolved easily, why should one wish for less when much more is needed to be done. 2017 has already seen 13 transgender people murdered in the US – so no, don’t treat discrimination towards the LGBT community as a thing of the past.

Photos by: Karl Spencer and Em Coulter, Tunnel Leeds