Celebrated gay rights activist chosen as Holocaust Memorial Day speaker

Sunday 02 January 2022

A former actor, gay rights activist and politician will deliver the island’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day address for 2022.

The ceremony will take place on Thursday 27 January, commemorating the date when camps at Auschwitz in Poland were liberated in 1945.

Lord Michael Cashman enjoyed a successful career as an actor, singer, writer and director before entering politics.

A long-standing gay rights activist, he was also co-founder and first chairman of the LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall.

Paula Thelwell, a founding member and secretary of the Holocaust Committee Jersey, said: “The purpose of Holocaust Memorial Day is not to solely remember the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. While the main focus of the Jersey ceremony is islanders who died and suffered during the German Occupation, we also remember the many other victims of Nazi persecution including an estimated 55,000 gay men who were killed because of their sexuality.

“Michael has dedicated his life to fighting homophobia and securing the equality of basic human rights that members of the LGBTQ+ community enjoy today in Jersey. We are honoured that such a brave and prominent campaigner will be joining us for the 2022 commemoration.”

Michael served as a member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands constituency from 1999 to 2014. In the 2013 Queen's New Year honours list Michael was awarded CBE for political services and equalities.

Pictured: Lord Cashman was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for public and political service.

In 2014, he was elevated to the House of Lords (Labour) and took the title of Baron Cashman of Limehouse.

Michael resigned his membership of the Labour Party in 2019 and now sits as an independent member of the House of Lords.

“I am honoured to be invited to Jersey for Holocaust Memorial Day because it is vital that we remember those who gave their lives in order that we may enjoy the freedoms we have today,” he said.

“We must also gather in remembrance and each stand in the shoes of the other and commit never to look away as the overture of horror descends on people's lives.

“Let us celebrate diversity and difference and in remembrance recall that we are stronger together. Only together.”

Pictured: Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, as well as the many other victims of Nazi persecution.

The ceremony will take place in the Occupation Tapestry Gallery in the Maritime Museum at 13:00 on Thursday 27 January 2022. It will be followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lighthouse Memorial on the New North Quay, which commemorates the 21 islanders who died in German camps and prisons. 

Michael will also appear at the Jersey Arts Centre on 26 January in an ‘audience with’ performance to speak about his life and his recent autobiography, 'One of Them: From Albert Square to Parliament Square'.

Pictured top: Lord Cashman, who will this month give the island's Holocaust Memorial address, and appear at the Arts Centre to speak about his life. (Nikki Powell)