Jonathan Allen•4 years ago 1.1h and 1.1j – Non-inclusion of LGBTQ people in Newham Diversity Monitoring'Ensure residents involved are diverse in terms of gender, age bracket, ethnicity, disability and other characteristics.' How do you propose to ensure the involvement of LGBTQ people when they are not included in diversity monitoring produced by Newham? I refer specifically to the diversity monitoring form for Ageing Well. I commented specifically about this in my answers to the initial survey. No response was forthcoming – no surprise, this is Newham.1.4h – Apartheid for LGBTQ people'Co-design and pilot a variety of activities/groups for residents aged 50+ who identify as LGBTQ.'You do nothing to ensure the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the activities described in the Plan but will not exclude them if they want to participate. You then seek to make LGBTQ people a special case in what amounts to a form of apartheid or quarantine from those from other groups. I stress again that the majority of Newham residents come from cultural backgrounds that are fundamentally homophobic. Is it an accident that people over 50 are also more likely to be prejudiced against LGBTQ people?Newham’s attitude to LBGTQ people is ambivalent. You seek to steer a course that pays lip service to the Equality Act 2010 as it applies to LGBTQ people. You don’t exclude but you don’t include either. You cynically fly the balkanized version of the Freedom Flag from the Town Hall once a year but now seek to promote a policy of segregation. As far as I am aware, in the interests of equality, the provision of services dedicated to specific racial and ethnic groups was done away with years ago. The libraries stopped having black interest sections and this move to equality was also applied to gay interest literature. What other groups do you propose should have apartheid services like the ones to which you refer?Perhaps, in the interests of equality and integration, you should offer free workshops on Equality and Diversity that include LGBTQ as a protected characteristic for Newham’s culturally homophobic communities. Perhaps you should end what amounts to your don’t ask, don’t tell policies.I don’t expect any response to my comments unless it’s from some tame Newham Council apparatchik who will turn out to be little better than a gay version of an uncle tom.
