Suarakita.org – Sadiq Khan, Walikota London yang baru-baru ini terpilih, mengibarkan bendera pelangi di depan City Hall dalam rangka memperingati IDAHOT 2016 tanggal 17 lalu.
Sadiq Khan mengatakan dalam wawancaranya dengan PinkNews, “I could not be more proud to help celebrate IDAHOT 2016 by flying the Pride flag here at City Hall.
“I was elected on a pledge to be Mayor for all Londoners and I will work with the LGBT+ community – as I will with all communities – to do everything I can to make London a more tolerant, fairer place to live.
“This is personal to me because I have been on the receiving end of hate crime, which has no place in our city, and I know how devastating it can be.”
Lewat akun twitter-nya, Sadiq Khan mengatakan: “Proud to be flying the Pride flag here at City Hall. #IDAHOBiT #IDAHOT2016 #LoveLondon”
Pengalamannya sebagai seorang Muslim yang juga pernah didiskriminasi membuat Sadiq Khan belajar akan bahaya dari diskriminasi. Dia mengatakan: “I’ve been the victim of hate crime – anybody who is a minority is potentially the victim of hate crime.
“Whether you’re an ethnic minority, you’re lesbian gay, trans, religious minority, a woman, disabled, to me it’s personal because I have been on the receiving end.”
“It’s a badge of shame – that in spite of the progress that we have made over the last 20, 30 years if you’re a Londoner who happens to be LGBT, you make yourself vulnerable to hate crime. It’s heartbreaking that as the father of two children, that almost half of LGBT young people have self harmed or tried to kill themselves, just think about that for a second.” Lanjutnya. (Esa)
