Hello my name is Jo Frazer and I’m a gay woman who lives in maidstone.
Welcome and thank you all for coming tonight. I know that for some it may seem strange to hold a hate crime event as part of the celebrations of LGBT history month, but for me the two things can and do belong.
It’s so important that we stand out and proud together and help people to realise that LGBT people in Kent are your Doctors, your lawyers, your teachers, your postal workers, your project managers, your social workers, your road sweepers -
we are everywhere and we don’t want to be tolerated, we don’t want to be ‘accepted’ as if we’re something other, odd or strange.
No - we want to be recognised and respected for who we are and the contribution we make to society.
Martin Luther King said ‘our lives being to end the day we become silent about things that matter’ - well I matter, you matter, we matter -
every black gay man matters.
every disabled lesbian matters,
every muslim bisexual matters
and every elderly transgendered person matters.
So by being here tonight we can start the journey together - we can make a change and celebrate who we are whilst at the same time as saying ‘enough is enough’.
