Tags: LGBT
Terry Sanderson’s memoir shows gay and secularist activism go hand in hand - Opinion Out Loud Ep 016
Posted: Tue, 4th Jan 2022
Helen Nicholls reviews The Reluctant Gay Activist, the revised memoir of former NSS president Terry Sanderson.
Ep 59: The advancement of religion
Posted: Tue, 19th Oct 2021
Should organisations be entitled to tax breaks and other privileges solely on the basis that they 'advance religion'?
Under the Charities Act 2011, any organisation can register as a charity if one of its purposes – or even its only purpose – is 'the advancement of religion'. But should this be enough to entitle an organisation to public funding, along with the reputational boost that comes from being a charity? What counts as a 'religion' anyway, and why does it exclude non-religious worldviews such as humanism? And what happens if the ideology espoused by that religion conflicts with widely shared values, or the law?
In this episode, Emma Park discusses these questions with Megan Manson, Head of Policy and Research at the National Secular Society, and co-author of the 2019 report, For the public benefit? The case for removing 'the advancement of religion' as a charitable purpose.
Megan also gives an update on charities recently brought to light by the NSS whose only or main charitable purpose is the advancement of religion. Some of these have openly advocated unpalatable views, from extremism and jihad to misogyny to gay conversion therapy.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
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Podcast produced by Emma Park for the National Secular Society (2021). All rights reserved.
Ep 53: Religion and LGBT rights: fifty years of change
Posted: Tue, 6th Jul 2021
The history of LGBT rights in the UK has involved persistent struggles against prejudice, entrenched views – and organised religion.
In this episode, Emma Park speaks to two leading campaigners for LGBT equality and social acceptance in Britain. Her first guest, Peter Tatchell, has been campaigning on these issues since 1967. Since 2011, he has directed the Peter Tatchell Foundation, which campaigns for human rights around the world. His story has been told in the documentary Hating Peter Tatchell, released this year on Netflix. Emma's second guest, Terry Sanderson, started campaigning for gay rights in 1969. Terry joined the National Secular Society in the 1990s and was its president from 2006 to 2017.
The two speakers talk to Emma Park about their long experience of fighting for LGBT rights from the late 1960s to today. Each of them shares personal memories of what it was like to be gay in those years, and some of the highlights of their campaigning. They also describe the resistance they encountered from religious organisations every step of the way. Finally, Peter discusses the ways in which such organisations continue to oppose LGBT equality today, and Terry considers how far it is possible to be both gay and religious.
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Notes
Ep 32: Nick Duffy on 'conversion therapy'
Posted: Thu, 20th Aug 2020
In this episode, Emma Park speaks to Nick Duffy, current affairs editor at Pink News, about so-called 'conversion therapy', the type of psychological practices that it can involve, and the harm it can cause to those who undergo it.
They consider the case for banning it altogether along with the difficulties of defining it, and the response of other countries where it is a problem, such as the US and Canada.
Emma is then joined by Megan Manson, head of policy & research at the NSS, to discuss what the society has been doing to oppose the practice of 'conversion therapy', and how faith schools that preach against LGBT identities are implicitly supporting it.
Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark
Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts
Notes
- Stop anti-LGBT 'conversion therapy'
- Tackle charities promoting 'conversion therapy', NSS urges minister
- Review status of charity promoting 'conversion therapy', NSS says
- This is the reality of gay 'cure' conversion therapy taking place in Liverpool – Liverpool Echo
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