My answer to this question is probably obvious, I would say no. Just because there is a specific thing that we may agree upon, why we agree and how we have come to this position is probably very different. This is a broad question and applies to a number of issues from who we can work with in a United Front on some issues, who will we engage with over an issue, who can we trust as comrades in solidarity, and who or what is an ally and what does it mean in terms of truly trusting them to actually stand with us (is it momentary, a single issue or is it broader)?
The rise of and normalisation of the far-right has always meant the increase in political attacks on those already oppressed in our societies; attacks against people of colour, attacks against migrants and foreigners, attacks against women’s rights and attacks against LGBTQ+ are part and parcel of the propaganda of the far-right and fascists. For obvious examples, take a look at Poland and Hungary, take a look at some US states where the far-right is in control, like Texas, and then take a look at the United Kingdom. What we have been witnessing for years is creeping fascism; attacks on the rights of marginalised people then the move to attack the rights of the general population. It doesn’t always require the far-right to be in control of a country … it is a process and we are living through it.
It comes as no surprise that in a political situation in which the left is extremely weak and there is no political party willing to fully oppose and counteract the usage of division and hate created by both mainstream and far-right politicians that we see an increase in hate; nor is it surprising that we actually see the exploited and oppressed buy into the hate and lies. As part of the rise and normalisation of the far-right and fascism, we are seeing the rise of another bizarre phenomenon, alliances between fascists and groups of people who would also be persecuted if the far-right and fascists come to power.
Strange bedfellows are not new, political struggles have sometimes created alliances that are surprising. Sometimes this arises out of who or what group is dominating political struggles and whether they are ignoring the needs of minoritized groups and their demands in the context of struggles. Sometimes this arises from groups unwilling to actually move in solidarity with other oppressed and exploited people, not recognising that these are their natural allies. Sometimes an alliance is done because they fear their “enemy” so much that they will ally with their enemies as well. Sometimes they may actually believe that these oppressed people deserve to be oppressed. Historically, parts of the working class have been fascists themselves.
The Invasion of Ukraine
Discussing this phenomenon in the context of discussions on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia where we have seen Stalinists, campists and the far-right aligning to support Putin and his invasion as part of a struggle against Western and NATO imperialism. These alliances are predicated on the belief that Ukrainians themselves have no agency, and no right of self-defence and self-determination. Some argue that somehow the fact that there are Ukrainian fascists damns the whole population Name me a country without fascists and I will say you are deluded. The normalisation of fascism means that there are few countries where there is no far-right or fascists. Those that demand multi-polarity seem to insist that instead of opposing both western imperialism and Russian imperialism, we simply pretend that Ukrainians have no right to defend themselves or to determine their future. Then there are the positions of some pacificists arguing that we must demand that the war stop as though the peace of the grave is the only choice for Ukrainians; we are not looking at a situation where civilian life is respected by the Russian invasion. Any negotiations must be between the Russian government and Ukrainian government. Again, this is part of the agency of Ukrainians who have not started the war and they cannot be ignored in any peace talks; parts of their country have been conquered and annexed; Ukrainians have the right to demand not only the return of these places but compensation for the destruction wrought by the invasion. People on the left that support the right of self-defence and self-determination have been called collaborators with western imperialism and NATO; this is absurd. They seem to be living in the past and holding tankie positions; Vladimir Putin is not a progressive, he is not a socialist; instead he is the dictator of a Kleptocracy attempting to revive Greater Russia … he is not an ally and I understand why the far-right supports him, what I find appalling is that people on the left are providing cover for him and supporting him … the enemy of my enemy is clearly not my friend; he is still my enemy and the enemy of socialists and all notions of socialist democracy that the left must support.
Feminism
The agency and demands of oppressed minorities are often ignored along with the specificity of their intersecting oppressions deriving from racism, gender, homo and transphobia, disablism and class; their demands subsumed in a wider movement against oppression. Whose perspectives dominate in a wider oppressed group often reflects the divisions in our society and as such this is then reflected in movements.
For example, liberal white feminists in the second wave of feminism during the struggle to reform sterilisation laws which prevented white married women from obtaining sterilisation without the agreement of their husbands ignored the reality that for Black, Native American, and Latina women sterilisation was forced on them, often following childbirth. Disabled women were routinely sterilised or encouraged not to have children as part of eugenic laws which existed in many states in the US and in other countries. In many countries, trans people were forcibly sterilised as part of their transition; this was only recently made illegal in the EU, but this policy still persists in some countries in Europe and elsewhere. In all cases, these laws are/were part of the general oppression that these groups of people live with on a daily basis. Oppression plays out differently within a broader group of oppressed people which depends on class, racialisation, disablism, cultures, religions, etc and if the views of those who oppressions are intersectional are ignored then do not be surprised that splits in a general movement happens.
Given the nature of the liberal feminist movement of the second wave of feminism and who dominated the movement (predominately white heterosexual middle class women), addressing these differences in personal and group history, culture and experience should have been reflected in the struggle; but the reality is, that rather than address these historical differences and come to a consensus on how to fight on these issues together, the reality of those facing intersectional oppressions was ignored. The movement splintered, those that were forcibly sterilised could not work with the mainstream feminist movements on this issue. Women of colour had to work together with religious organisations demanding a delay in sterilisations. Given that all they wanted was a delay in sterilisation and there was no opposition to voluntary sterilisation, this is a failure of the white liberal feminist movement which undermined the struggles of women of colour against sterilisation abuse.
These differences were not only around sterilisation abuse, it also impacted struggles around bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. When we say we are pro-choice that means that we support women’s choices to determine if, when and how many children they have; we are not only supporting their choices at a specific moment in time not to have a child. Supporting the right of bodily autonomy and reproductive choice are a general political position which has strong roots in grassroots feminism and political movements. Historically in the US, people on welfare benefits (especially younger racialised women) have faced pressure to use longer lasting contraceptives to get benefits, women in prisons were often “offered” sterilisation to get early release so as not to be a “burden” on society. Disabled people who have always been treated as a “burden” on society are routinely discouraged from having children and laws of guardianship still permit forced sterlisation of disabled women.
The Hyde Amendment predominately impacted women of colour and women that were poor; the relationship between oppression of marginalised people and their having higher income (and better jobs) and ownership of wealth means that the oppression faced by poorer people and women of colour differs than those who have higher incomes and wealth as they can cover costs for abortion. That means that the access to abortion and federal funding and the limits imposed by states to getting funds for Medicaid funded abortions meant that while abortion was formally legal, accessing it depended on your ability to cover costs for obtaining abortion. That meant that women of colour, and poor women were far less able to access their right to abortion. The fact that the Hyde Amendment still exists as federal law despite no federal law to guarantee the right to abortion on a national level speaks volumes.
This failure is not only a failure of the mainstream feminist movement far more concerned about glass ceilings than standing with women on the ground, it is a failure of the Democratic Party and the fact that they didn’t combat the Hyde Amendment, and they have done little or nothing to ensure not only reproductive rights and the right to abortion for all women; they have refused to address the issue of reproductive justice and the right to bodily autonomy for all women. Any alliances on the struggle for women’s reproductive justice must be based on the demands of women of colour, disabled women and working-class women and allied with the struggles of LGBTQ+ people; the reality is that we cannot trust liberal feminists to lead this movement. Their leadership has failed badly, our alliance with the democratic party as a whole has failed us. We need to have a movement to fight for ourselves and make demands and it needs to be led by women marginalised in our society.
Trans rights
The current struggle over the rights of trans people in the UK (and US) to self-identify and remove the “medical” certification of Gender Dysphoria as essential to get a gender recognition certificate (GRC) also has led to an incredibly unpleasant alliance between trans exclusive radical feminists (TERFs), anti-trans bigots and far-right Christian and fascist organisations.
Part of what we are seeing derives from the normalisation of the far-right and fascists as part of mainstream political parties (in Britain, the Tories; in the US, the Republican Party). In essence, the normalisation of the far-right and fascists as part of mainstream parties has led to increases in attacks on those already marginalised in our societies.
Following Boris Johnson gaining the leadership of the Tory party and the ascendancy of the far-right of the Tory (many one-nation Tory MPs just quit) we are seeing the consolidation of right-wing arguments in the party. Given that the right-wing of the Tory Party has adopted the terms and slogans of the far-right members of the Republican Party about “woke” culture as an “existential” threat to the UK; we (like the US) we are experiencing attacks on our human rights, especially the right to protest and the right to strike as well as attacks on the rights of migrants and refugees and trans people.
The reform of the Gender Recognition Act of 2004 (GRA) to be more consistent with changes already begun in Europe; this reform was proposed when Theresa May was Prime Minister. These proposed changes has led to the a vehement (and often vicious) response on the part of both Trans-exclusive Radical Feminists and Gender Critical Feminists; those that believe that women’s oppression relates to their sex (biological) or that sex is the root of women’s oppression, rather than their gender (social oppression). Many of their arguments that Trans people are “predatory” and “paedophiles” bear a strong resemblance to attacks against Gays and Lesbians fighting for their civil rights. Additionally, much of what has been argued about access to women’s only spaces are irrelevant to much of this discussion and already exists in the GRA, so that reform of the GRA would not change what already exists.
Recently the Scottish Parliament voted to change the requirements to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) in a Gender Recognition (Scotland) Reform removing the requirement of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, lowering the age of beginning the process to 16 (consistent with 16 year olds already having the right to vote in Scotland) and decreasing the time required to live in your self-defined gender. This reform was negotiated between political parties in the Scottish Parliament. It had the support of most Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) including some Tories. So the Scottish Greens supported it, the SNP supported it, Scottish Labour
supported it.
As Mike Picken writes:
“The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by the devolved Scottish Parliament, following six long years of debate, on 22 December 2022 by a two thirds majority of 86 to 39 votes. The Bill simplifies the process whereby a trans person living or born in Scotland could obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) to change their gender on official documentation. It would change the process to a system of self-identification for living in their new identity for three months, rather than the current complex process of medical diagnosis of mental ill health and the need to live in a new gender for two years. The legislation would also apply to 16 and 17 year olds enabling them to obtain a GRC for the first time, with some slightly different procedures and safeguards to those of adults.”
The Scottish Gender Recognition reform specifically stated that this reform did not affect UK laws around this issue. Laws that are passed through Parliaments are then sent for approval to the King to become law. The UK government refused to send to the King for royal assent on the excuse that it changed UK law and then using Section 35 on Scottish devolution which allowed the UK Parliament to veto a Scottish law if it threatened the laws of the UK; think of it as the nuclear option; it has never been used previously. The decision by the Tories to block the reform bill was aided by the fact that English Labour is divided on this issue; Keir Starmer does not agree that 16 year olds should be able to legally change their gender has put him at odds with Scottish Labour who supported the gender reform bill and some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party as well as members of the party.
In doing so, not only did the Tory government undermined devolution and the rights of the Scottish Parliament, but they also attacked a small oppressed group of people; note that this reform is far more consistent with changes that are ongoing in Europe. An obvious question is would the UK refuse to recognise a GRC from a European country where the medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria was not required?
To say the past week has been appalling is not an exaggeration.
On the 11th of February, a protest of Gender Critical feminists, right-wing Christian fundamentalists and fascists (the so-called Patriotic Alternative) at a Drag Queen story hour at the Tate Britain. Drag Queen story hours are something that began in the US but have been adopted around the world; they promote diversity and inclusion and that is something that the right-wing alliance cannot countenance. There was a counterprotest of anti-fascists but their movements were restricted (rather than those of the fascists, fundies and transphobes). Imagine that parents bringing their children to this event had to pass by a line of fascists; because that is what the police allowed. The anti-trans politics of Gender Critical feminists and TERFS is bad enough; but their alliance with open fascists is appalling. Can they not recognise that fascists would discriminate against them as well? It is not as if the fascists pretended to be anything but fascists and this was an accident, for that matter do they not think that right-wing Christian fundies are allies and support women’s rights? No, for some reason they believe that drag queens are more of a threat than fascists and Christian fundies and that should tell you more about their politics than they probably want revealed. We must stand together with the Trans community; we must fight against all oppression of marginalised people. We do not make alliances with fascists and Christian fundies whose purpose is to increase the oppression of marginalised people.
Also on the 11th of February, Brianna Ghey, a 16 year old trans youth was murdered in a park in Warrington. She was well-known in social media, especially TikTok where she had many followers. Initially, the police stated that her murder was not a hate crime against trans people despite saying that had no motive for why two 15 year olds stabbed her repeatedly in a park in broad daylight. The viciousness of the attack is incredible; it took police until Tuesday to say that they are now investigating whether this may be an anti-trans hate crime as they continued to question the perpetrators of the murder. One wonders what the police were thinking about the violent murder of a young trans girl by two other children and how they could make that initial statement that it was not a hate crime without supposedly “having a motive for the crime.” What is clear is that not only are the British police as an institution racist and misogynist, they are also transphobes; any idea that justice can be won at the hands of these people is absurd. Denying Brianna Ghey her chosen gender (see Gender Recognition Act above) and then denying her being trans irrelevant to her death is shocking. Whether or not her being trans is proved to have played a role in her death, assume the obvious and then search for other motives.
To add to anger, Brianna was deadnamed in the right-wing media and her gender was changed from her. Her murder has led to anger about not only how this murder could happen, but the denial of who she was even in death.
As Robin Moira White has said:
“Trans people experience this, too. We face journalists and politicians playing the game of getting the word “trans” and “paedophile” or “child-molester” in the same sentence to create an impression. WE see people suggesting that conclusions about all trans people can be drawn from exceptional (always exceptionally awful) trans people. The parallels with the treatment of gay people during the time of section 28 are stark – and hard to bear.
Be in no doubt: if you indulge in these activities you are putting real people at risk. Trans people are not going away – and increasingly expect to take their rightful place in society.”
Needless to say, it has rightfully increased fear among trans people. Vigils have been held around the whole of the UK in solidarity with her and with trans people demanding that trans youth be protected. These protests not only consist of trans people and LGBT+ people, but also allies horrified at what had happened. Having attended both vigils in London; the first at the Department of Education on the 15th of February and the second yesterday in Soho Square on the 18th, I was struck by the solidarity in which we gathered. People were predominately young and female; they were angry, saddened, and scared, but also full of solidarity with each other. Expressions of solidarity with migrants following a fascist attack on an hotel in Knowsley (on February 11th) which housed asylum seekers were raised by speaker after speaker; linking movements of the oppressed and their unwillingness to allow the oppression, violent attacks and the murders of marginalised people whether trans, migrants, black, or disabled that we must support.
It is only through unity and solidarity against oppressors, fascists and the far-right that we can fight effectively to build a socialism. To be honest, many groups of the left and individuals that consider themselves left, unfortunately have a lot to learn about how to stop and fight attacks against rising hate in Britain.