There’s a lot to celebrate this year. Fifty years since the Stonewall riots in New York. This was a major landmark in our history. It’s an event that led to decades of change around the world.
Now, it’s not only legal to be LGBTQI in 125 countries, but we can get married in 32 of them. Of course, that means there are 70 countries where being LGBTQI is illegal.
And nine countries where it’s punishable by death.
We’ve still got work to do.
Here in London, I attended Pride at the end of June. My boyfriend and I held hands as we walked through Soho, and later along the South Bank of the River Thames.
But there are many parts of London where we won’t hold hands.
And certainly not kiss. They’re called PDAs – Public Displays of Affection.
Of course we’d like to, like any happy couple. But like many gay couples, we feel intimidated. And we have good cause.
Homophobic and transphobic crimes have more than doubled in London in the last five years.
2019. It’s a great year to celebrate progress as a result of Stonewall. But there’s still a lot to do.
David C Dawson writes contemporary thrillers featuring gay heroes in love. His third book For the Love of Luke came out in October 2018.
He lives in London with his boyfriend and in Oxfordshire with two cats.
