One of the UK’s second queer married men has called for LGBT+ rights to get prioritised in the Government’s international policy, as legalised similar- sex marriage marks its 10- year anniversary on Friday.
On March 29, 2014, only after evening, at nightfall, at Islington Town Hall in London, Peter McGraith, 59, married his companion David Cabreza. The pair, who first met in 1997, today live in north London with their two adopted children.
The Republic of Ireland in 2015, Northern Ireland in 2020, and Greece last quarter are just a few examples of other European nations that have since legalized the work.
According to Mr. McGrath, discussions of LGBT+ issues in social settings must be as popular as those involving other human rights movements.
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Speaking to the PA news agency, he said:” I think I really want to use this anniversary very much to put a message to our politicians.
” The UK has promoted children’s and ladies ‘ right through all its relations, it’s baked into all sorts of job that we do in crisis relief, global treaties, bilateral and multilateral functioning. Those freedom are ideal there, and LGBT privileges should be too.”
Mr. McGrath noted that LGBT+ issues appeared to be” further down” the political agenda, adding that” I’m not saying that they do n’t get mentioned our embassies abroad try to do some work locally with the LGBT groups on the ground in the nations that they work in. But all of that wants to increase significantly.
Identical- sex marriages have increased yr- on- year since being legalised, with the projected number of people in like marriages at 167, 000 in 2022, away from 26, 000 in 2015.
Of these, males accounted for around six in 10 ( 61.2 % ), while females accounted for around four in 10 ( 38.8 % ).
Mr. McGrath argued that the legalization was a significant development that needed to be put in context because countries were still prosecuting homosexuals and he had always felt a part of a global community.
He continued,” It just seemed to me that that moment in the media spotlight would probably give whoever married first the right to speak out about LGBT rights forever.”
I do n’t like the notion that these are gay people handing back their cards and saying,” I’m alright Jack,” because in reality, we were saying,” Yes, we might have some cause for a party here, but I really do n’t want to be seen congratulating myself here, and I was n’t willing to be photographed chinking champagne glasses and looking privileged,” I said.
Another gay man, Andrew Wale, who wed shortly after midnight ten years ago, claimed that while things were “beginning to retreat a little bit,” LGBT+ equality had improved.
Mr Wale, 59, and Neil Allard, 58, wed at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton on March 29 2014 and had put off having a civil partnership as they “did n’t really consider it to be full equality”.
The pair, who now live near Malaga, Spain, said the main reason they decided to get married was for “legal security”, such as being next of kin. Because it “is more than that,” Mr. Wale said he wanted to make sure the wedding “did n’t just turn into a celebration of romance.”
He continued,” We were living in Brighton and we were very fortunate to be living there. As far as being gay, we were relatively safe,” despite our friends ‘ beatings in Brighton while they were holding hands a few months before we were married.
” So I hope equal marriage has helped that situation.
” But certainly, there’s a sense that things are turning back a little bit, beginning to retreat a little bit, I think there’s a number of causes, one of them being events like Brexit, one of them being extreme differing opinions about trans people. So there’s lots of things that continue to be problematic”.
Mr Wale added:” Nothing is particularly solved, but I think things have improved certainly in 10 years”.
Jesse Sperling, interim executive director of LGBT+ rights charity Kaleidoscope Trust, said:” As we celebrate 10 years of same- sex marriage being legal in England and Wales, we still have a long way to go in the global fight for equality”.
We can tell first-hand the significant contribution the UK government has made to promoting LGBTI+ rights globally as an organization that works to promote LGBTI+ rights. However, we concur that much more needs to be done to ensure that all foreign policy includes the protection of LGBTI+ people’s rights.
We are calling for the next UK government to implement the strategic priorities set out in our policy manifesto, including strengthening the role of the UK Special Envoy on LGBT+ Rights, addressing violence and discrimination against LGBTI+ people, and granting 0.3 % of international aid to organizations that fight for LGBTI+ rights.
