Socialist Resistance

An archive of socialistresistance.org, 2006–2022

Champions of equality: Trade unions and LGBT rights

Event  |  posted 21 February 2018

Book launch and discussion with

Peter Purton, author of Champions of Equality
and
Jane Connor, Lesbian and Gay Support the Miners.

Peter Purton was the TUC’s first LGBT officer. His book, of interest to everyone interested in equality and trade union history, reveals how LGBTtrade union members organised to win recognition, then support, and how trade unions supported the struggles of LGBT communities in Britain and across the world.

This is an inspiring tale, and in the dangerous world of the twenty-first century, it is a warning call to the LGBT community and those supporting it, to wake up to new threats, to remember how past victories were achieved. The labour movement has much potential as an active participant in the unfinished fight for equality, but this book shows the need for mutual engagement to make change possible.