'Smash the Backlash' was a demonstration held in May 1987 which saw 3,500 people march through Haringey in North London to protest against racism and bigotry.
A thread for LGBT+ History Month 🧵
The march was one of the first UK demos to specifically highlight the experiences of the Black LGBT+ community.
It sought to mobilise support for lesbian and gay rights and called for solidarity with the struggles of other minoritised people.
Local community groups Haringey Black Action and Positive Images joined together to organise the protest, with support from Haringey Council's Lesbian and Gay Unit (a number of whose staff were also involved with the pioneering Black Lesbian and Gay Centre project).
The Labour council in Haringey had made a manifesto commitment to promote gay equality and set up the Lesbian and Gay Unit in 1986 – the first of its kind in the country.
Council leader Bernie Grant pledged "to give lesbians and gay men a voice like everyone else".
In a climate of homophobia and anti-AIDS prejudice, the Lesbian and Gay Unit aimed to address institutionalised discrimination against LGBT+ people.
Sub-groups were established to give emphasis to the most disadvantaged within the community.
Efforts to implement more inclusive polices, such as representing positive images of LGBT lives in education, were met with resistance from some conservative and religious groups in the Borough – a backlash experienced nationally by similarly progressive local authorities.
“Lesbianism and gayness is a positive expression of sexuality and lifestyle, not a perversion or illness.”
This press release was issued by Positive Images, to explain their grass-roots campaign to challenge heterosexism.
