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LGBTI choir performs opposite UK parliament ahead of Brexit vote

Written by gaytourism

An LGBTI choir performed opposite the UK Parliament ahead on the vote on EU Withdrawal Bill, expected on 12 June.

The event, organized by Amnesty, Liberty and Stonewall, urged MPs to keep Lords amendments to Brexit Bill and protect the rights of the LGBTI community after leaving the EU.

The idea of joining two LGBTI choirs comes from the very concept of joining communities together, explains Amnesty’s Law & Human Rights Programme Director Rachel Logan.

The singers performed powerful, political hymns, such as Bread and Roses, and the latest LGBTI anthem, This Is Me. In the soundtrack of the movie The Greatest Showman, the song won the Golden Globe and was nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards earlier this year.

‘Music is able to bring home the reality and the emotion of what will be at stake with the withdrawal bill’, she says.

‘The LGBTI community can’t afford to lose the EU Charter’

Amendment 5, proposed by barrister and crossbench peer David Pannick, would transfer the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights into domestic law. If the Commons will not vote in favor of the amendment, LGBTI rights might be at risk.

“The charter is the only concrete international instrument which expressly prohibits discrimination against sexual orientation,” adds Logan.

Chief executive of the Human Dignity Trust Jonathan Cooper warned on the possible threat that Brexit represents for the LGBTI community.

‘We can’t afford to lose the only international treaty protecting the LGBTI community,’ he says.

Should the Commons decide not to vote for the amendments, “we’d be losing our dignity and a plethora of other rights. We simply wouldn’t be part of UK law”.

Watch the video of the performance below.

‘The LGBTI community can’t afford to lose the EU charter’: watch this LGBTI choir perform The Greatest Showman’s ‘This is me’ outside UK parliament ahead of tomorrow’s vote on EU Withdrawal Bill

Posted by Gay Star News on Monday, June 11, 2018

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