The August 17th Movement

21/08/2024

Truly repulsive stuff.Please like, subscribe, comment, share - and help us take on the pro-war media: https://www.patreon.com/owenjones84

15/08/2024

"Protest With Pride" are now seeking donations.

If you haven't seen our previous alert regarding this group - Protest With Pride are a Socialist Workers Party project masquerading as a community protest group.

Do we have to point out how obscene it is? Using the vulnerability of our communities to raise money, and for what? More placards?

It's not just the q***r community used this way. The same people also wear the mask of Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) and raise money under that banner too. Local POC organisers don't see any of that cash. Standing up to racism is all well and good, apparently, as long as it doesn't actually involve standing with People of Colour in the process.

We condemn this. Protest With Pride is not a Pride organisation, it is a small number of vain, factional egotists cynically pretending to be one. They motivate unknowing people through dubious claims and false callouts, for the chance to play the hero and make some waves, then leave the scene without leading or organising.

Protest With Pride is not a community organisation, it is a threat to community safety.

Don't associate. Don't be used. Don't give to the grift.

13/08/2024

Norwich locals may be aware that there have been recent posts by a group calling itself “Protest With Pride”, using the Progress Flag.

Please be aware that “Protest With Pride” are the same SWP-led group who ignored requests by UEA Staff Pride Group, and Norwich Trans Pride not to give attention or energy to the local far right group attempting to protest at the UEA. SWP activists also threatened to
withhold solidarity from the earlier counter-protest at the UEA if we prevented them from selling papers.

Their posts make no mention of the involvement of SWP organisers, so it is easy to mistake these images as representing actions by allies or the wider Norwich q***r community.

Unfortunately, the leadership of “Protest With Pride” are not allies—they are opportunists. Their supposed opposition to fascism is rooted in vanity and selfishness. This is clear from their pattern of behaviour that is now well known in Norwich’s activism circles.

SWP activists such as Hugh Stanners have been observed employing tactics of co-option, appending themselves uninvited to causes such as BLM and the Palestinian liberation movement, disregarding and dismissing People of Colour and Palestinian activists to serve their own interests. This is clearly happening too within q***r liberation spaces, and it is long past due that this unacceptable behaviour is called out. What “Protest With Pride” is doing is not allyship. It reinforces racism, zionism and q***rphobia.

We should have spoken up for our POC and Palestinian allies much, much earlier, but now we issue this statement in solidarity.

There is also a tendency for these activists to carelessly leave protests without a clear, safe exit plan—sometimes the organisers leave without even announcing this to attendees. This carelessness leaves people in a vulnerable situation in close contact with the far right. This is especially dangerous to marginalised people.

For the health and benefit of all human rights activists and our shared communities in Norwich, we ask you to be aware of the motivations and behaviours of these groups.

We challenge Protest With Pride and the SWP to critically consider their past and present actions.

While this call out is focused on the leadership, we also want to reach out to those who may have the best of intentions—either as allies, or as marginalised people themselves. Please don’t allow yourself to be used as human cover for the political project of cynical and unsafe operators like the SWP and their front, Stand Up To Racism (SUTR).

You don’t need them. They need you.

23/12/2022

November 29, 2022 The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention voices its concern over the growing number of laws introduced in the United States that target transgender individuals and the transgender community. Anti-trans hostility in the US has become a staple of the Republican Party’s election...

20/11/2022

“Don't know what to say. was attacked to coincide with Trans Day of Remembrance by an individual, but merely a claw on the cat that is right wing media, politics, & religion. They hate q***r folk & advocate for our denial and deaths. Stochastic terrorism leads here. (1/3)”

19/11/2022

We were proud today to be able to support the march ahead of organised by Growing Roots Community & Ketts Rebellion

Attendees gathered and spent time in contemplation of memorial stones to those that have been taken from us, before beginning the short march from Chapelfield Gardens to City Hall.

The community showing was tremendous, with people from many organisations coming together in solidarity. We were also joined by other locals, with visible and audible support accompanying the speeches.

There was no showing from the usual handful of local anti-LGBT+ agitators, who were away & busy being vile about immigrants for the day (we hope they had a terrible time.) 🙂 This meant that we had a quiet day.

The speakers were superb, with impassioned memorials for our dead, alongside calls to action for at a time when people in power are whipping up hatred against the community for cynical culture wars. We know that they do this to divide and distract the populace from their own corruption and powerlust, and we know too that we will not accept or allow it.

Our focus today was on keeping the community safe from malicious photography that might be used to target individuals, and to assist the wonderful organisers and speakers.

We will be with you again tomorrow, for Conference at the Phoenix Centre.

18/11/2022

proud to know that tomorrow will be supported by and so many more local groups and organisations.

bring megaphones, bring flags, bring flowers.

we fight for trans liberation, and the liberation of us all.

07/10/2022

The trans kids is under coordinated attack by transphobes, which means it's a brilliant opportunity to respond (again) to the deception and aggression of the world's saddest conspiracists by raising money for their target!

https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/donate/

Hello! We rely on your donations to continue our work supporting young people and their families. Regular monthly donations mean we can plan ahead, keep our helpline services open for young people and families and carry on speaking up for trans rights. We’re a small charity operating under huge pr...

07/10/2022

We now have a Twitter:

Community defence, mutual aid, and solidarity movement formed out of the counter-protest at the Millennium Library in Norwich, on August the 17th 2022