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I want to share a wee story on the back of this excellent news on blood donations. Lots of people have worked hard for this over many years, and finally we’re getting to where we ought to have been years ago. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18942981.blood-donor-rule-change-allows-gay-bisexual-men-give-blood/?ref=twtrec
I mentioned earlier that this was the first ever issue I took to SNP conference, back in 2011, seconded by @LindaFabianiSNP. My first step was to take it to my local constituency party: @CathcartSNP. I knew that folks like @SusaninLangside, @glasgowcathcart & cllr Dave Ritchie...
backed me, but I wasn’t sure how the rest of the branch would be. Having been in the party five years, this was my first ever motion.
My biggest backer, outraged at the injustice of the ban, was someone I hadn’t expected: @Shabir_Beg_OBE.
My biggest backer, outraged at the injustice of the ban, was someone I hadn’t expected: @Shabir_Beg_OBE.
Shabir is a proud Shia Muslim. He told me that he was totally unaware that the ban existed and he was horrified to learn about it. He said he would raise awareness within the Muslim community, and he didn’t care if it caused him bother with more conservative Muslims.
And so he did. His view, same as mine, was that this was all about saving lives, and he wanted to help make sure @theSNP had a policy that was about just that. Too often LGBT people write off Muslims as allies against LGBT injustice. We’re always wrong to do so.
Shabir - a proudly religious man well into his sixties - was having none of it and I knew that I loved him from that moment. There’s far more that unites us than divides us, and there’s a Shabir in every street and community. All it takes is a conversation to make an ally.
And never underestimate the power of an ally. I could kiss Shabir every time I see him, and we’ve a friendship that’s underpinned by a love and respect for each other that, had I not raised that issue at that branch meeting, we might never have known. The lesson? Always speak up.
