To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Stereotypes of the LGBT+ community as soft and fragile couldn’t be more wrong, an MP has said – before illustrating her point with an epic story about a clash outside a kebab shop.
Sarah Owen, the chair of the women and equalities committee, spoke up in the House of Commons chamber during a debate for LGBT History Month.
She described a night out to a gay club with pals when she was 20 years old.
Owen said: ‘Unsurprisingly – and for whatever reason, I can’t possibly put my finger on it – I felt safer and able to have more fun in gay nightclubs than I did in straight clubs.’
After heading out, she said the group had a craving for late-night kebab and chips.
But soon after they got in the queue, the night took a turn with the appearance of a group of young men.
The Labour MP for Luton North said: ‘They start giving abuse to me, sexual connotations and me being myself, I didn’t shut up.
‘I didn’t take that lying down. I gave as good as I was getting.’
However, she told the chamber the trouble continued when her group left the kebab shop and she felt something hitting her head.
Join Metro’s LGBTQ+ community on WhatsApp
With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.
Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in! Don’t forget to turn on notifications!
Owen said: ‘They were throwing chips at us.
‘Those chips suddenly became punches to my face, and they pushed me to the ground and who stood up and fought for me?
‘My gay best friends and my non-binary friend took on five blokes for me. I didn’t stop fighting either, but they were there when I needed them.’
She went on to describe the support her ‘dearest friend’ Helgi provided when she had multiple miscarriages, holding her hand as she went through surgery.
Owen added: ‘That’s the strength of the community. That’s the strength of allyship. And right now, they’re the ones being attacked, they’re the ones feeling isolated, they’re the ones feeling without hope.
‘So I want to plea to every ally, to everybody to use your voice to stand up for so many who have used their voices to stand up for our rights, our dignity and our future as well.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
