Stonewall supporters have awarded the Quaker Lesbian & Gay Fellowship (QLGF) the title of community group of the year for their long-standing commitment to equality. At the Stonewall awards ceremony the group was presented with a cheque for £5,000. Paul Campion, a long-standing campaigner who received the award on behalf of QLGF, said “this generous…
A positive Quaker initiative at the United Nations that was started almost 15 years ago came into sharp focus this week as a media storm descended on Raquel Rolnik, the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing. Encouraging governments to issue ongoing ‘Standing Invitations’ to the UN has been a long-standing project of the Quaker UN Office…
A new report has highlighted that “self-harm rates remain shockingly high across the female prison estate and reoffending rates are staggering, especially for women receiving short custodial sentences. A change in attitude is needed in how women are dealt with in the criminal justice system. Diverting women away from custodial settings and investing in those women who do need to be held in prison is…
The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality by Mark McCormack, a review By Stephen Cox An old gay campaigning slogan was “Gay Liberation is Everyone’s Liberationâ€. The theory went that in a society that was not hostile to male homosexuality, and which did not use fear of homosexuality and…
by Stephen Cox A review of Pushing at the frontiers of change: A memoir of Quaker involvement with homosexuality by David Blamires and published by Quaker Books David writes that “it is a little odd being a historian of your own life…â€Â This book sets out how Quakers moved from having little particularly interesting to…
Five Christians, who were forcibly removed from the steps of saint Paul’s cathedral in London as they prayed during the eviction of the Occupy London camp, have today delivered a letter to the canon pastor of the cathedral, Michael Colclough. In the letter they ask the cathedral authorities to clarify whether they gave the police…
At Meeting for Worship for Business today we agreed to continue to meet on the steps of St.Pauls but from now on will be meeting on SATURDAYS at 1pm before the Occupy General Assembly. An Epistle was agreed as follows Epistle from the Quaker Meeting for Worship at Occupy the London Stock Exchange. 4th March…
At 25 years of age, he has spent nearly a quarter of his life in prison. Despite his tender age, he has the look of a man who has already seen too much. Sat in a plastic garden chair Aref looks into the near distance as he answers our questions. Surrounding him are his friends…
The Quaker Meeting for Worship at Occupy LSX outside the cathedral of saint Paul has produced a minute backing the “ring of prayer†if the Occupy camp is evicted. The ring of prayer was first mooted in 10/2011 but an initiative this month from Christianity Uncut, a group of Christians campaigning against government cuts, gives…
Quakers in Sheffield have been giving practical support to their local Occupy group including access to their toilets and kitchen for washing up. (See this Nayler post.) In Norfolk, Quakers agreed to give financial and practical support to Occupy Norwich, after hearing about the group at their Area Meeting for business. They were informed by…