I managed to get to the "vigil" on Friday. Apparently 10,000 others did too ... is this really what 10,000 people look like?
The two minutes' silence and Sue Perkins reading out the names of 30 people who had been killed in homophobic incidents over the past ten years, were moving and central to the evening. A lot of other people were trotted out to deliver speeches, some of which had little to do with Ian Baynham and the grief his family and friends must be experiencing. Despite compère, Sandi Toksvig's assertion that this was not a "political event", Chris Bryant took the usual opportunity for a bit of political point-scoring and, as usual, the SWP parasites were there in some force (where is the far left when we need defending against racially, culturally and religiously motivated hate?). :mad:
People respond to emotional situations in some odd ways. I found it difficult to find a place to stand from where I could hear the speakers. It wasn't made any easier by people who stood in the crowd and spoke to each other very loudly. A moment of quiet reflection in Trafalgar Square seems to be a contradiction. I think all the emergency vehicles in London turned out for the occasion.
At least the incidence of rising homophobic hate crime is being noticed through collective acts like this.
report