Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.28.1
Object Name
poster
Title
'As a humanist I believe in freedom and equality for everyone, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity'
Place
UK
People
Stonewall, Andrew Capson, British Humanist Association
Description
A poster with a red speech bubble saying 'As a humanist I believe in freedom and equality for everyone, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. - Andrew Copson'. Beside the speech bubble is a photograph of Andrew Copson- a white man dark hair and a beard and moustache wearing a grey tweed suit and a red shirt. Beneath it is an explanation of LGBT History month, and the following information about Mr Copsone: 'Andrew Copson is the Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association and President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Humanist organisations campaign for a world without prejudice and discrimination. That means recognising the dignity of all individuals and ensuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans people enjoy the same equal rights as everyone else.'
This was part of a series of posters created for LGBT History Month about LGBTQIA+ people of faith. These posters - showing Humanist, Methodist, Anglican, Sikh, Hindu, Catholic and Jewish LGBTQIA+ people - were created to mythbust the idea that a person needs to choose between their faith and their sexuality or gender identity. The campaign to support LGBTQIA+ people of faith was needed as there is sometimes a perception that being LGBTQIA+ is incompatible with having religious beliefs or participating in faith communities. Some people within faith communities don't realise there are LGBTQIA+ people within that faith, but also some LGBTQIA+ people reject the idea that you can have a faith belief while being LGBTQIA+, because some faith communities express homophobic and/or transphobic views.The homophobic and transphobic faith groups can lead some LGBTQIA+ people (particularly those who have been harmed by and left such spaces) to reject LGBTQIA+ people of faith, making LGBTQIA+ spaces
less welcoming for people of faith.
Andrew Copson is the head of the Britsh Humanist Association. Humanism is a belief system which espouses the equal and inherent dignity of all human beings. The British Humanist Association advocates for a separation of religion and state, and secularism in British society. Stonewall is an LGBTQIA+ campaigning group, originally founded in 1989. They campaign on freedom and equity for LGBTQIA+ people. LGBT History Month is an organisation which coordinates an annual program of events each February focused on histories of people and events relating to LGBT history.
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