TUC calls for end to discrimination and hatred on Holocaust Memorial Day

The TUC is calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT) at the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) national commemoration event in Coventry today (Sunday).

HMD itself is on Tuesday (27 January), on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where 1.6 million men, women and children were killed in the Nazi holocaust.

HMD aims to prevent the holocaust being forgotten or repeated, and serves to remind people of the crimes and racism of both the holocaust and of more recent genocides across the world.

Alongside the six million Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, hundreds of thousands of others were targeted by Hitler’s regime – including union members and LGBT people.

The TUC LGBT committee is attending the event in Coventry, and is urging LGBT people to support HMD events taking place around the country on Tuesday.

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “Unions have always stood up to the kind of discrimination, prejudice and hatred that led to the Nazi holocaust.

“LGBT people were among the millions of victims of Hitler’s brutal regime, and today LGBT communities are a vital part of the resistance to modern versions of this hatred. I am proud that LGBT union members are taking part in the event.”

The event will see local people stand side by side with national leaders and survivors of genocide and conflict as well as international survivors of Nazi persecution, and will include survivor testimonies, poetry, drama and time for reflection.