Christy Newman on pride under pressure
The strength that you gain when communities come together is the most powerful thing.
As anti-diversity movements gain momentum overseas, particularly in the US and Eastern Europe, their influence is creeping into Australian discourse — threatening hard-won progress for LGBTQIA+ communities. This isn’t just a culture war, or a battle of opinions; it’s about real harm and the unsettling rise of a political order that seeks to suppress, not celebrate, difference.
UNSW Professor Christy Newman explores why solidarity, allyship and speaking out are more crucial than ever.
Transcript
Christy Newman: The anti-diversity movements that are building ground internationally, particularly in the US and Eastern Europe at the moment, which are explicitly targeting minority communities, including LGBTQIA+ communities, are very concerning because we know there are local groups here in Australia who will be seeking to reproduce the rhetoric.
We know from the history of queer liberation. They will not succeed in suppressing gender, sexuality, diversity and other forms of diversity.
But what will happen is harms to the communities that are affected.
And also the bigger picture, which is particularly frightening, is that the rolling out of these laws demonstrates the rise of a new political order.
There is a real impact when we hear world leaders talk in this way about not only not supporting and celebrating these forms of diversity but actively seeking to suppress them.
Allies are an incredibly important part of our response to the attacks that are happening on LGBTIQA+ communities in Australia and around the world.
When we look at the history of social justice movements, the strength that you gain when communities come together is the most powerful thing over time. Recognising the history of collective action in these communities; which have achieved so much and have meant that all forms of diversity can live in the community, can survive, can thrive and can be celebrated openly in the world.
Image Attributions
Christo, Budapest Pride 2017, 5, CC BY-SA 4.0
Johnny Silvercloud, Black Lives Matter Protest, CC BY-SA 2.0
Christy Newman
Professor Christy Newman (they/them) is a sociologist of health, gender and sexuality at the Centre for Social Research in Health, and Deputy Dean Research for the faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture at UNSW Sydney. They are also an Associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute and the International Centre for Future Health Systems at UNSW. Christy is also the co-editor of the recently published Elgar Encyclopedia of Queer Studies.