When far-right politics became more and more influential across Europe, fueled by American attempts to spread anti-LGBTQ bigotry in the Western world, LGBTQ people in the UK have begun to furiously fight back.

Let me be clear: when I first came to the UK as a queer asylum seeker in 2018, it was one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries I had ever seen. But recently, things have changed. The politics toward refugees and trans people have become much harsher.

On Sept. 13, nearly 150,000 people joined a rally led by far-right influencer Tommy Robinson, which left dozens of police officers injured. American billionaire Elon Musk addressed protesters on Whitehall via video link, urging British people to start a revolution against being “too woke.” This protest and this speech are still widely discussed on British TV and social media, or, more precisely, not the news itself but the fear of a far-right turn and the bigoted influence from another side of the ocean it created.

Many local LGBTQ groups, like Worcester LGBT, one of the biggest LGBTQ groups in Worcester, made a statement against these events to a local newspaper:

“These movements often promote anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, and anti-LGBTQ+ views that threaten the safety, dignity, and human rights of many of the people we support. As a network that supports LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees, WLGBT stands firmly against all forms of hate, racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia. We know from experience that far-right rhetoric can directly fuel harassment, discrimination, and violence — especially for people at the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities.”

And then, there were more reasons to be concerned. 

On Sept. 17, when President Donald Trump and his wife Melania visited the UK, many queer people in the UK decided they had had enough. Queer groups circulated information about anti-Trump protests and issued statements.

Trans Kids Deserve Better, a British group for transgender rights led by trans youth, told the Washington Blade:

“Donald Trump is a fascist. He rolled back laws protecting trans rights for both children and adults in America, causing irreversible damage to the trans community. These protections were flawed, but they still mattered. The rollback and rhetoric from Trump are especially harmful for trans youth.

Trump being given a state visit to the UK by Keir Starmer really shows his morally reprehensible stance on trans rights and human rights. While we at Trans Kids Deserve Better have not directly organized anti-Trump protests, we have reposted callouts to walk out of school (organized by Socialist Students) as well as a march organized by UK Stop Trump.

Some people like to pretend that the far right and their anti-immigrant rhetoric have no impact on trans people. Some of these people are actually trans themselves, going along with hate to seem more ‘presentable,’ such as Blaire White and Caitlyn Jenner. At Tommy Robinson’s most recent Unite The Kingdom rally, Elon Musk came on to speak. Musk has made it his mission to destroy the so-called ‘woke mind virus’ and has platformed transphobic organisations such as Gays Against Groomers, who claim all trans people are just confused gay people. By allowing these transphobes to spread their hate, Tommy Robinson is complicit in the hatred against us all.”

Hundreds counterprotested Robinson’s latest rally and thousands protested Trump’s visit, including many LGBTQ people, as the protests were widely promoted by local LGBTQ groups. Stand Up To Racism, which organizing counter-protesters against Robinson and also called the anti-Trump demonstration, has always supported LGBTQ rights and counts many LGBTQ people among its supporters, wich I could say for sure by my own experience with the group.

LGBTQ organizations supporting LGBTQ refugees are especially worried about the rising far-right influence.

Leila Zadeh, executive director of Rainbow Migration, which supports LGBTQ people navigating the UK’s asylum and immigration system, told the Blade:

“The far-right protest left us, and the LGBTQI+ people we support to settle safely in the UK, heartbroken. Hate on this scale drives discrimination and abuse toward people of color, Muslims, immigrants, refugees, and trans individuals across the country. It has been fuelled for years by successive governments and sections of the media to distract from the real problems people face: struggling to buy food, heat their homes, or get a dentist appointment. Instead of scapegoating marginalised groups, we need to come together and demand an end to the divisive rhetoric and cruel policies that dehumanise people and put lives at risk. Most people in the UK welcome refugees, and 80 percent of the British public want an asylum system that is fair and compassionate.”

This rhetoric is not just talked about among LGBTQ pro-immigrants groups.

British screenwriter Russell T Davies, writer of “Queer as Folk” and some of the episodes of legendary sci-fi show “Doctor Who,” has blamed Trump and the British far-right Reform Party, which is also radically anti-refugee, for spreading anti-LGBTQ propaganda, echoing the sentiments of grassroots LGBTQ initiatives. 

And maybe this is the one positive outcome of the far-right’s rise; as controversial as it sounds. They reminded the LGBTQ community that the fight for equality is about more than just Prides and drag queen shows. They pushed much of the British LGBTQ community to unite against bigotry in order to prevent a repeat of what happened in the U.S.

It also encouraged mainstream LGBTQ groups, made up mostly of people born in the UK, to stand more mindfully with their LGBTQ refugee siblings, and with refugees, asylum seekers, Muslims, and ethnic minorities in general. At the same time, it made some refugee groups more mindful of LGBTQ rights.

By attacking different minorities, the far right is unintentionally creating unlikely alliances that can deepen people’s understanding of justice and solidarity. It also made British LGBTQ people closer to the American LGBTQ community in their common fight and support toward each other. In the end, this could help make the world a better place. Because everything is connected.