All the latest breaking news on the General Election in 2017. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features and commentary on the General Election in 2017.
Welsh political party, Plaid Cymru have pledged to end the discriminatory blood ban placed on gay and bisexual men who have had sex in the previous 12 months.
Plaid Cymru has said they will end the discriminatory blood ban that forbids gay and bisexual men from donating blood if they have had sex with someone of the same sex in the previous 12 months.
The party who had three MPs in the last government have unveiled a raft of LGBT+ pledges including a policy to prioritise the development of a gender identity clinic, working with schools to end homophobic bullying and promote LGBT participation in sport.
Plaid Cymru Assembly candidate for Cardiff Central Glyn Wise said,
“Plaid Cymru is committed to creating a Wales which secures equality and acceptance without question for all Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people.
“To achieve this, we would introduce a range of measures to tackle discrimination and end stigma currently facing so many members of the LGBT community.”
Mr Wise added,
“A Plaid Cymru government would end the discriminatory twelve month donation ban for gay men, using risk to determine suitability for donation.
“We will also work towards the implementation of a framework for Primary Care Services for trans people, with the development of a Gender Identity Clinic as a high priority.
“Plaid Cymru wants to take action to help young people facing homophobic bullying by requiring school in Wales to keep a register of bullying incidents related to sexuality.
“As part of broader efforts towards healthier lifestyles, a Party of Wales government will promote LGBT participation in sport and work with clubs and organisations to reduce homophobic and sexist behaviour.
“Our vision is of a more open, tolerant and accepting society. A Plaid Cymru government would work closely and constructively with organisations and individuals alike to deliver this.”
If you’re struggling to work out who to vote for in the forthcoming General Election we’ve created this outcome quiz to try and match up your ideals to the party which have promised to represent you through their manifestos.
We have chosen the five UK wide (except Northern Ireland) Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens and UKIP. Please keep in mind that each of the questions has an equal weighting and so therefore if some issues are more important to you than others it may give you an unexpected result. Of course, in the end, it’s your decision.
If you’d like to see what the parties’ manifestos have pledged to the LGBT+ community in the UK click here.
After a few sombre days of mourning the victims of the Manchester attack, the Conservative and Labour are back on the campaign trail
With less than two weeks until the country votes on the 8th of June, you can bet they’re ready to make up for lost time and make their final pitches to the public.
The biggest political story of the past two weeks is undoubtedly the release of the party manifestos. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives all released their manifestos last week. I blogged about what they pledged to the LGBT community for HuffPost UK, while THEGAYUK’s editor-in-chief, Jake Hook, put together a quick guide for your easy reference.
Labour and the Lib Dems specifically made pledges to the LGBT community, but the Tories didn’t mention us once. This is, to put it bluntly, unacceptable. Regardless of political position, that one of the major parties—never mind the Prime Minister’s party—would neglect to mention the LGBT community or make any specific pledges to us seems almost unfathomable. It is yet another gaffe in an already controversial Tory manifesto, which has seen the Prime Minister U-turn on her plans for a so-called “dementia tax” (which would use the homes of deceased dementia sufferers to subsidise the care they received whilst alive).
Why the Conservatives didn’t think to include us in their vision for the country is beyond me, but it’s nothing short of an astonishing. This is all the more galling when you consider that UKIP, of all parties, managed to remember us when they controversially released their manifesto yesterday, ahead of the resumption of campaigning by the other parties. Granted, they only mentioned the LGBT+ community in a pledge to “test the social attitudes of migration applicants” towards women and gay people.
Whilst this sounds nice on the surface – nobody wants a bunch of raging homophobes coming into the country – many on social media have pointed out that a lot of UKIP’s own members wouldn’t pass this test. In the last week alone it was revealed that Iain Kealey, the UKIP candidate for Bristol South, once compared gay people marching against Islamophobia as “Jews for Hitler,” whilst their candidate in Witney has a penchant for referring to our community as the “gaystapo” and allegedly has ties to those who practice gay conversion therapy. Oh, and he’d like to repeal gay marriage.
UKIP wasn’t the only party with a gay cure controversy though. The conservative candidate in Brighton and Hove, Kirsty Adams, is reported to have links to a church that believes LGBT people are possessed by demons, which they then try to cast out. Ms Adams, who is standing against openly gay incumbent Labour candidate Peter Kyle, refused to say she doesn’t believe in the practice of casting out demons, but did say she has “never been homophobic” and supported equal marriage. “I am committed to all forms of equality,” she said in a statement.
Never mind casting out demons, though. Some trans people won’t even be able to cast a vote. The deadline to register to vote was Monday night, but as Pink News reported, several trans people were having issues registering after they legally changed their names or had protected National Insurance numbers (which some trans people opt for so their gender identity is less likely to be revealed).
If they do manage to vote and live north of the border, Kezia Dugdale – the out leader of Scottish Labour – has a novel suggestion for how they should vote, and it isn’t for her party. Ms Dugdale came under fire from many on the left when she seemingly encouraged some constituencies to vote Conservative in an effort to defeat the Scottish National Party. “The reality is the vast majority of seats across Scotland, it’s only the Labour party that can beat the SNP,” she told Sky News, before adding “there are a few differences in the Borders and the Highlands where the Tories might be better placed…” Suggesting people vote for your opponents is a novel way to win seats, but takes all sorts, I suppose.
Meanwhile, another out lesbian north of the border – the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson – has made the exact same pitch. That is, she’s asking Labour voters to support the Tories to oust the SNP. Of course, the SNP holds all but one of the constituencies in Scotland, so they’re unlikely to be completely wiped out. But Davidson’s Scottish Tories are doing remarkably well, currently polling in second place – their best showing in decades. They look poised to pick up at least one or two Scottish constituencies.
Meanwhile, back in England, the Liberal Democrats faced a backlash from their own members for an allegedly transphobic poster. “Vote her, get him,” says an image depicting Nigel Farage’s face imposed upon Theresa May’s body. According to the Telegraph, the chair of LGBT Lib Dems, Jennie Rigg, tweeted that the sign is “bordering on transphobia” and that the press team was “making her life difficult.” This is on top of the brouhaha that erupted earlier in the campaign when Lib Dem leader Tim Farron took weeks to publicly say that no, gay sex is not a sin. Judge for yourselves whether the image is transphobic:
You don't have to accept May and Farage's extreme version of Brexit that will wreck the future for you and your family. pic.twitter.com/wBoNgCrx4F
In yet another bit of bad news for the Lib Dems, former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes – who is openly bisexual – was reported to the police by his Labour opponent, the incumbent MP Neil Coyle who defeated Mr Hughes in their Bermondsey constituency in 2015. In leaflets which allegedly looked like newspapers, Mr Hughes claimed Mr Coyle was being investigated for abusing members of his party’s staff, which Mr Coyle categorically denies.
Despite his sexual orientation, Mr Hughes has a spotty history when it comes to LGBT+ rights. He led a notoriously homophobic campaign against gay rights activist Peter Tatchell to win his constituency in 1983. More recently, he refused to vote for same-sex marriage, instead abstaining from the vote whilst outlining his opposition to same-sex marriage in a 2013 blog for the Liberal Democrat Voice. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
On that note, I’m off to make some enemies of my own by knocking back a few pints and challenging my local bartender to an ABBA sing-off. Blame the demon homosexuals in me, I guess. Until then, stay strong and stay fabulous.
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UKIP has just released its GE2017 manifesto, so we’re delved into the paperwork to find out what UKIP have promised and pledged to the LGBT+ community of the United Kingdom.
In the manifesto, the term LGBT was mentioned once, in which Flo Lewis, the party’s LGBT chair, said,
“Those of us who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender may have first hand experience of how misogynistic and homophobic attitudes are tolerated in the name of ‘respecting cultural differences.’ It is important to stand up for true equality in the face of those who would dismiss it.”
So down to specifics:
On education: UKIP will end sex education in primary schools. Will look into whether further legislation is required to tackle cyber bullying.
On health: Nothing specific to LGBT+ community, but promised to increase funding for mental health. Will also hold a review into editorial codes of the media, to promote “healthy body images”.
On politics: UKIP pledge to test the social attitudes of those who are seeking to immigrate to the UK. They wrote,
“…we do not believe in treating women or gay people as second-class citizens, and we hold to a fundamental belief in democracy and free speech. UKIP’s points-based immigration system will therefore include one further major principle: we will test the social attitudes of migration applicants to foster community cohesion and protect core British values”.
UKIP also will repeal Labour’s Human Rights legislation and remove the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights”. They will replace with a new UK Bill of rights.
On crime: Nothing specific to LGBT+ community.
On the world stage: Nothing specific to the LGBT+ community
At 20 years old, Nate Higgins is one of the youngest parliamentary candidates in the country. Standing for the Greens in West Lancashire, he may be a first-time candidate, but he is well known as a leading Green Party voice on gay Twitter. Originally from Suffolk, Mr Higgins left home at an early age following the death of his mother and is now a student at Edge Hill University, where he’s studying musical theatre. He spoke last week with THEGAYUK about his life, his candidacy, and why the Green Party is the best party for young voters.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
THEGAYUK: If I’m not mistaken you’re a university studentand at least one of the youngest PPCs in the country. Why are you standing?
Nathaniel Higgins: The Green Party candidate for one of the London constituencies… is younger than me. So I don’t want to steal his thunder. But I’m standing for a number of reasons. I originally wasn’t going to. In my mind, I didn’t think it would be fair on constituents to have an MP who spends a lot of his time out of the constituency because of the nature of being a student. But after the local party and regional coordinator and a couple of other people spoke to me and thought I would be the best person to represent West Lancashire, and as I worked out my MP, Rosie Cooper’s voting record, I found a lot to disagree with. And I thought I could make a strong case that I would do the job better than her
I also think it’s really important for young people and LGBT people to have someone in this constituency that they can vote for. I don’t know if you know much about West Lancashire, but aside from the student population, there’s this image that it’s quite conservative, socially at least. Because of that, there isn’t a lot of people around here standing up for LGBT people or the European Union or students’ rights, for examples. As a student, as a gay person, and as a pro-EU person I’m the best person to stand up for those rights. I’m not willing to compromise on my principle positions to be elected, whereas I think the other candidates are.
TGUK: So many young gay men, in particular,seem apathetic about politics, especially as equality is achieved and mainstream acceptance is accomplished. Why should LGBT people of your generation care about this election and care about politics?
NH: A lot of LGB people thinks it stops at the B, and I don’t think it does. Also what I think needs to be remembered is that we don’t necessarily have equality. Although it’s quite a popular opinion to say that we do, there are a lot of issues where if you’re gay, if you’re lesbian, if you’re bisexual, you’re on the backburner. For example, if you want to adopt you’re probably going to be looked at with a little bit more suspicion if you’re a gay couple. If you want to give blood, until recently you were assumed to be dirty and taking part in dangerous sexual activity. Rather than simply asking if they do, they’ll assume that you do if you’re gay. And there’s a whole other host of issues that we haven’t necessarily achieved equality yet.
It’s not just gay people but young people across the board aren’t apathetic towards politics at all. If you ask them about individual issues on a nonpartisan basis, you’ll find quite a lot of enthusiasm for these issues among people my age. But they are apathetic about party politics, and that’s for a whole number of reasons. Primarily it’s because parties don’t feel the need to speak out to them. It’s sort of a catch-22 situation. Young people don’t vote because parties don’t speak out to them, and parties don’t speak out to them because young people don’t vote.
TGUK: That leads perfectly into my next question. Your party, the Green Party, has pledged to equalise job seekers’ allowance, universal credit, housing benefit between those over 25 and those between 16 and 25. Many would argue this is unnecessary because so many young people have help from their parents. Why are they wrong?
NH: If you indulge me and allow me to go into a little of my personal history, I was kicked out of my home when I was 18. I was going to college, and I had to pick up a second job in order to afford my rent, and even then I would not have been able to afford my rent without housing benefit. If that had happened now, now that housing benefit is not available for 18-21-year-olds, I would have had to leave college and move to another town where my dad lived and hope that he would be willing to let me live with him. I would not be where I am now if that had happened…
In a lot of cases just because someone has access to parental support, it doesn’t mean it’s fair to expect them to use it. For example, say that you have a family who is not accepting of LGBT people but is willing to, when asked by the government, is willing to house you if you deny that part of who you are. I don’t think that’s something someone should have to do, and I don’t think they should have to make that case to the government in order to receive the support that they need.
TGUK: Was that your situation? Were you kicked out for being gay?
NH: No, not quite. My mum passed away. My mum was married to an Iranian man, and in the Iranian culture, it’s desirable to remarry as soon as possible. My stepdad’s new wife didn’t like me very much.
TGUK: I’m sorry to hear that. But moving on to the next question, maybe a little less heavy. The Green Party is known to be on the left of British politics. Jeremy Corbyn is also extremely leftwing. Why should our readers vote for the Greens and not just vote for Labour?
NH: As much as politicos like to simplify it this way, politics is not a simple left/right scale. It’s far more complicated than that. What I think you need to see about Jeremy Corbyn is that there’s Jeremy Corbyn the personal politician and there’s Jeremy Corbyn the leader of the Labour Party, and the latter is far more disappointing than the former. Though there’s a lot to disagree with Jeremy Corbyn’s voting record over thirty or so years he’d been a Member of Parliament, he is one of the more progressive Members of Parliament. But as Labour leader, he has left a lot to be desired. For example, he claims to want to break open the establishment but then doesn’t support things like electoral reform that will bring that. And the reason why is there’s a lot of disagreement on the backbenches of the Labour Party on electoral reform. Jeremy Corbyn’s position is nearly untenable as it is, so he doesn’t want to implement something like that. But then you see John McDonell who does support electoral reform.
…the Labour Party just isn’t standing up for you at the moment. You saw it on their capitulation to the Tories on Article 50, and how they gave the Conservatives a blank cheque on the Article 50 vote. And they do that because the Labour Party is terrified, absolutely terrified, of losing a certain number of its voters. It’s because the Labour Party is, at the end of the day, a coalition of very different people and its voter base is a lot of very different people. So a lot of times if you’re supporting the Labour Party you’re supporting a party that is acting in the interests of other people, whereas I think the voter base of the Green Party is much more unified. By nature of being a smaller party that’s much easier. But the Green Party is almost always going to be voting in your interest
TGUK: Almost always?
NH: Well I mean, no politician is perfect. There will be some Greens who disagree with the way that Caroline acts in Parliament sometimes. I don’t personally have any issues that I can think of myself, but it’s just no politician is perfect, and I think we should acknowledge that. What I think needs to be understood is in this electoral system it’s not possible for smaller parties to win a position in government as a smaller party. So a lot of the time they let go of their principles for electoral success, and the Green Party is never going to do that.
What you also need to remember is if you’re voting for the Labour Party in hopes that Jeremy Corby becomes Prime Minister, what happens if he doesn’t? Does he then resign and you get another Blairite? The Labour Party isn’t Jeremy Corbyn. What I think you need to remember is you’re voting for a representative of your constituency, not the Prime Minister. And Party leaders change often and they change unpredictably. So I don’t think you should vote Labour just because you like Jeremy Corbyn. And depending on where you are, a Green MP might be more supportive of Jeremy Corbyn than the Labour representative is.
TGUK: Can strategic voting and a progressive alliance actually work?
NH: I just want to stop you right there. There is no such thing as a singular “progressive alliance.” A “progressive alliance” is a principle that has taken many different forms in many different constituencies. No party wants to implement a national alliance with any party. It wouldn’t work, it would be wrong to the activists on the ground, and it would be wrong to the candidates if they’re already selected. Instead what we’re saying is in constituencies where there is a sitting conservative MP or a progressive Labour MP is at risk of losing their seats, let’s have a conversation about what we can do to best make sure that our principles continued to be implemented by this MP. Because there’s no point in putting in all the effort of standing if you’re shooting yourself in the foot by doing so.
TGUK: Speaking of democracy, the Green Party is against Brexit and has promised a second referendum. But haven’t the British people already decided that?
NH: The Green Party has not promised a second referendum. No party is promising a second referendum. What we have promised is, if we were in the ability to implement this, we would bring the final deal that is implemented back to the people in a ratification referendum. And that is not a second referendum. I think that’s really important, because when people hear a second referendum, what they hear is a party trying to subvert the will of the people. But this would be a different referendum with a different question, and it would be something along the lines of “is this deal acceptable for this country?” What I think you need to remember is that though a majority of people voted for Brexit, it was such a small majority – around four per cent. …
Once we actually know what Brexit looks like, once we know what is achievable and what is possible, we should bring that to the people just to make sure before we embark on the biggest change to our constitution since we joined the European Union.
TGUK: So much of LGBT equality is underpinned by rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (which Brexit doesn’t take us out of) and the European Court of Justice (which it does). How can we enshrine LGBT equality achieved through European mechanisms into British law post-Brexit?
NH: Okay, so one interesting thing is – so Theresa May, and I think people forget this, and I think Theresa May wants people to forget this, but she backed Remain. But what she said was “let’s stay in the European Union but let’s leave the European Court of Human Rights.” So her being Prime Minister now gives me absolutely no faith that we will remain in the ECHR in the long-term. What we need to make sure is that during the transition period of leaving the EU is that all of these ECHR rulings are transcribed into British law wholesale. I think that’s what should be done. There should be a bill in parliament that says all current EU law will be put on the British statute book, and we can then, later on, decide which policies are desirable to remove.
But I don’t think that’s a negotiation that should happen during the transition process. What you’ll get is all these different – it will clog up Parliament’s time, and it will be impossible for MPs to properly hold the government to account on the thousands of different laws that they would have to decide on. Like, you can’t do this one by one. Every EU law has to become British law, and those rights for LGBT people need to come with them. Then later on if the government wants to repeal certain rights, they can make that case to Parliament. In the meantime, we need to elect progressive MPs who we know stand by LGBT rights when it comes to voting on them. We cannot allow this battle that we’ve won to be undone.
TGUK: So that’s the opposite of the Great Repeal Bill?
NH: I’ve not actually read up on the specifics of the Great Repeal Bill, but in my view, we need to make sure that all EU law becomes British law at the time of leaving so that when it comes to repealing specific laws it can be held to account by MPs.
TGUK: The Green Party is also, obviously, concerned with the environment and climate change. What environmental concerns does Brexit raise?
NH: Well, by nature the environment is… a cross-border problem. The EU is one of the best ways to coordinate on that on a European level. The United Kingdom could become a carbon neutral perfect country and the planet would still be in crisis. We cannot solve this problem on our own; that’s what the Paris climate talks were about. Removing that level of cooperation between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, which is required in order to have a measurable impact on the environment, was a mistake in my view.
For example, our fish don’t stop at country borders. They will swim between country borders. So we need to make sure our seas across the whole of Europe are not polluted in order to stop the negative impact that has on sea life, for example.
TGUK: What’s the most important issue facing the LGBT community in this election?
NH: I won’t speak for all LGBT people, but for me, my worry is that when we have a Conservative government, that LGBT rights are going to stand still whilst the rest of the world moves forward. There are things like adoption rights – the majority of Conservative MPs voted against that for LGBT people. Same-sex marriage, the majority of Conservative MPs voted against that. And something that was pointed out to me today is that the Conservative government actually banned the Church of England from carrying out same-sex marriages. If that had been any other government, that never would’ve happened. Even if the Church of England decided that it wanted to take out or provide same-sex marriages, they wouldn’t be allowed to because the Conservative Government actually banned it in the process of legalising same-sex marriage. And I think that identifies the Conservative approach to equality altogether…
We have divided the main issues into six sections:
Education: specific classes and lessons in sex and relationship education and a commitment to tackle bullying.
Crime: a specific look into tackling hate crime on the basis of sexual/gender orientation. Better support for domestic violence victims and survivors.
Workplace: a specific look into tackling inequality in the workplace.
Healthcare: a specific look into policies affecting mental, sexual health, PrEP and transgender/intersex issues.
In politics: What laws will be amended and changed to fully equalise the LGBT community.
On the world stage: What will the next government do to show that the UK is a beacon of LGBT rights?
We have also only taken parties that have a national footprint.
CONSERVATIVES
Number of mentions of LGBT: 0
Education: No specific mentions of LGBT+ sex or relationship education
Crime: No specific mention of LGBT+ but pledged: “push forward with our plan for tackling hate crime committed on the basis of religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity”
Workplace: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Healthcare: No specific mention of healthcare reforms for LGBT people – including PrEP.
In politics: Nothing specific to LGBT+
On the world stage: “We will expand our global efforts to combat extremism, terror, and the perpetration of violence against people because of their faith, gender or sexuality”.
LABOUR
Number of mentions of LGBT: 11
Education: Teachers will be given training on how to deal with bullying.
They’ll also ensure that new guidance is issued on relationships and LGBT-inclusive sex education.
Crime: Labour pledges to bring the law on LGBT hate crimes into line with hate crimes based on race and faith, by making them aggravated offences.
Workplace: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Healthcare: Labour has pledged that it will work to “reverse the damage done to mental health services under this Tory government, which is particularly hitting services for LGBT and BAME communities”.
Labour also pledges that frontline healthcare professionals receive ongoing training to understand and meet the needs of LGBT patients and service users.
And PrEP? Well, they pledge that “NHS England completes the trial programme to provide PrEP as quickly as possible, and fully roll out the treatment to high-risk groups to help reduce HIV infection”.
In politics: They pledge to reform the Gender Recognition Act, which will protect trans people by changing the protected characteristic of ‘gender assignment’ to ‘gender identity’. They also pledge to remove outdated language such as “transexual”.
On the world stage: Labour have announced that they will “appoint dedicated global ambassadors for women’s rights, LGBT rights and religious freedom to fight discrimination and promote equality globally”
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Number of mentions of LGBT: 5
Education: The Lib Dems have promised to review sex education in schools saying that they will include lessons on sexual consent, LGBT+ relationships and issues surrounding explicit images and content.
Crime: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Workplace: The Lib Dems want companies with more than 250 employees to publish data on their employment of BAMEs LGBTs and pay gaps.
Healthcare: The Liberal Democrats have promised to ensure that “LGBT+ inclusive mental health services receive funding and support”. They also want to make PrEP available on the NHS.
In politics: The Lib Dems pledge to introduce legislation that will allow for all-BAME and all LGBT+ parliamentary shortlists.
On the world stage: The Liberal Democrats pledge a commitment to promoting the “decriminalisation of homosexuality around the world and advancing the cause of LGBT+ rights”.
UKIP
Number of mentions of LGBT: 1
n education: UKIP will end sex education in primary schools. Will look into whether further legislation is required to tackle cyberbullying.
On health: Nothing specific to the LGBT+ community, but promised to increase funding for mental health. Will also hold a review into editorial codes of the media, to promote “healthy body images”.
On politics: UKIP pledge to test the social attitudes of those who are seeking to immigrate to the UK. They wrote,
“…we do not believe in treating women or gay people as second-class citizens, and we hold to a fundamental belief in democracy and free speech. UKIP’s points-based immigration system will, therefore, include one further major principle: we will test the social attitudes of migration applicants to foster community cohesion and protect core British values”.
UKIP also will repeal Labour’s Human Rights legislation and remove the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights”. They will replace with a new UK Bill of rights.
On crime: Nothing specific to the LGBT+ community.
On the world stage: Nothing specific to the LGBT+ community
THE GREEN PARTY
Number of mentions of LGBT: Have released an entirely separate LGBT+ Manifesto.
They have released an entire LGBT+ manifesto. Which includes the following pledges:
Education: Sexual and relationship education for all students. Require every school to have an anti-bullying programme. Provide teachers with training to provide LGBT+ inclusive education.
Crime: Greens pledge to “Combat all forms of antiLGBTIQA+ prejudice and violence through improved hate crime protections”.
Workplace: Noting specific to LGBT+
Healthcare: Wide-ranging policies affecting the Trans and Intersex community. Including, giving people “personal autonomy in all medical decisions” and “Improve access to medical services and gender identity clinics, particularly for trans and non-binary young people.” They have said they would also, “Protect the welfare state in the face of Government cuts and preserve the vital security net many LGBTIQA+ people rely upon”.
In politics: Has pledged to make same-sex marriage “truly equal” to include pension rights. They will also open civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples. Will “Apologise to and pardon all 50,000–100,000 people convicted of consenting adult same-gender sexual relations under antisodomy laws that have now been repealed.”
On the world stage: The Greens have said, “The Green Party would speak out against those countries that discriminate against, marginalise and kill LGBTIQA+ citizens, and work with countries leading the way in recognising and protecting” the LGBT+ community.
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY
Number of mentions of LGBT: 5
Education: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Crime: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Workplace: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Healthcare: The SNP will support efforts to ensure PrEP becomes available on NHS to any who needs it in the UK.
In politics: The SNP pledge to push the UK Government to extend the Turing Bill pardon to gay men convicted of same-sex activity who are still alive today.
They also pledge to ensure that same-sex couple have equal pension rights and “protected characteristics are expanded to ensure all LGBTI people are fully protected from discrimination and harassment”.
On the world stage: The SNP pledge to reform the detention and asylum system for LGBT+ people escaping countries where homosexuality is still illegal. They also pledge to remove “unfair and invasive demands for ‘proof’ of sexuality or gender identity”.
They also say,
“SNP MPs will support the establishment of a special envoy to promote the rights of LGBTI people throughout the world, as an integral part of UK foreign policy – helping to alleviate the discrimination and persecution faced by LGBTI people in Chechnya and across the world”.
Plaid Cymru
Number of mentions of LGBT: 0
Education: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Crime: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Workplace: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Healthcare: No specific mention of healthcare reforms for LGBT people – including PrEP.
In politics: Has pledged to publish a “human rights charter” to provide human rights regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation.
On the world stage: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Democratic Unionist Party
Number of mentions of LGBT: 0
Education: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Crime: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Workplace: Nothing specific to LGBT+
Healthcare: No specific mention of healthcare reforms for LGBT people – including PrEP.
The Conservatives are the latest party to reveal their manifesto, so we’re delved into the paperwork to find out what the Conservatives have promised and pledged to the LGBT+ community of the United Kingdom.
However not specifically the Conservatives have pledged:
On education
The Conservatives pledge to introduce “comprehensive” sex and relationship education but fails to mention any specifics to LGBT sex or relationships. “We will educate today’s young people in the harms of the internet and how best to combat them, introducing comprehensive Relationships and Sex Education in all primary and secondary schools to ensure that children learn about the risks of the internet, including cyberbullying and online grooming”.
On Crime
On hate crime the Conservatives promise to be tougher on hate crime, they say, “…we will push forward with our plan for tackling hate crime committed on the basis of religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity”.
On the world stage
The Conservatives have pledged, “We will be the world’s foremost champion of free trade. We will expand our global efforts to combat extremism, terror, and the perpetration of violence against people because of their faith, gender or sexuality”.
Stephen Doughty has served as the MP for Cardiff South and Penarth since winning a by-election in 2012. He has since distinguished himself amongst his colleagues, serving first as Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry. Following a reshuffle, he took up a brief as a Shadow Foreign Minister – which he famously resigned from live on the BBC following a disagreement with Jeremy Corbyn over the sacking of Shadow Minister Pat McFadden in January 2016.
THEGAYUK Magazine was fortunate enough to talk to Mr Doughty last week. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
THEGAYUK: First things first – Labour’s draft manifesto leaked last night, and it proves to be the most leftwing in a generation, promising to nationalise the railways and eliminate tuition fees, for example. Are you excited or apprehensive about selling this on the doorstep?
Stephen Doughty: Well we have a slightly different situation where I’m standing, in Wales, because Welsh labour already launched our manifesto pledges earlier in the week with Carwyn Jones, the Welsh Labour leader. So we’ve already set out our stall here very clearly. We’ve got five pledges: one on the NHS, one on schools, one on housing, one on the economy, and one on police. Those are very much messages I’ve been going on the doorstep with already, as well as my own local record. So in terms of wider manifestos and leaks, obviously until the actual manifesto is published I prefer not to comment.
TGUK: Last year you had a constituent tell you that gay people should be killed and sent to hell. As one of the higher-profile openly gay MPs, do you experience a lot of homophobia (whether online or on the doorstep)?
SD: I’ve had some pretty unpleasant comments from a local blogger, as well as people who support the far-right BNP to post homophobic material. I’ve had comments on the doorstep, and I had a UKIP candidate that sent veiled homophobic letters to constituents in the last election, saying things like that I didn’t stand up for family values and the like, which we know are dog whistles for homophobic views. Unfortunately, all MPs over the last few years have suffered significant amounts of personal abuse, no matter what party they’re from. If you’re a woman, if you’re gay, if you’re black, if your Jewish, you’re likely to have received some additional abuse and so it gets very unpleasant.
TGUK: You’ve been famously critical of Jeremy Corbyn. How are you addressing this as you campaign? How is this going for you?
SD: I’ve got no personal disputes with Jeremy. We’ve always got on very well on the personal level and have a number of issues where we have a lot of common ground. But I have been willing to speak my own mind when it comes to a number of issues, particularly where we’ve differed on issues to do with foreign policy and defence.
You know, it won’t come as any surprise but there have been a wide range of views across the Labour Party on these issues. I also think we’re in a quite different situation, as I said earlier, for those of us standing in places like Wales where, since devolution, we have quite a different set up now.
We have a Welsh Labour leader in Carwyn Jones who is popular on the doorstep, and we have very distinct policies in Wales. So I make it clear to people that there are many policy areas where I agree with Jeremy, and I think his work where he’s set out on NHS, on housing, on mental health, on a fairer economy, and indeed actually on the railways – I think what he’s setting out is exactly the right policy. But I’ve also made it my clear that I will speak my mind and stand up for the interests of my constituents, and not put my party first but put them first.
TGUK: Last month, you raised an urgent question on the way gay men in Chechnya are persecuted. The Prime Minister has finally spoken on it. What should the government be doing to promote and protect LGBT rights not just in Russia but around the world, including in Syria?
SD: I think the government in the last few years has actually downgraded human rights concerns, disappointingly. Over the issues of Chechnya, I was particularly concerned that we haven’t seen a very clear statement from the Prime Minister. We haven’t seen a clear statement from the Foreign Secretary. I think all he’s done is put out a tweet. The reality is that even when we have difficult relationships with countries like Russia, and undoubtedly with Chechnya, we need to be seen to be on the very front foot when it comes to exposing human rights abuses and urging for action to be taken. Britain’s got a proud history of standing up against abuses, and making a difference in the world, but unfortunately, we have a slightly checkered record in recent years when it comes to certain issues. We have to be consistent in standing up for all, for the rights of civilians, the rights of women, and the rights of LGBT people around the world, whether that’s in Syria, whether that’s in Chechnya, whether that’s in Yemen, whether that’s in parts of Africa, and have a consistent approach.
TGUK: You voted against triggering Article 50, despite the referendum results. Why?
SD: My constituents voted 60/40 to remain. It was a very clear majority for a remain vote, and indeed in the months afterwards I had a clear majority of constituents with great concerns about the way Theresa May was taking the Brexit negotiations. I’m very clear that I respect the overall result… but we need to ensure we get a fair deal for people in my constituency and people across Wales. There are still far too many unanswered questions about things like funding. You know, we rely a lot on funding for local universities, for infrastructure. Still no word on that from the government on access to the single market for businesses in my local area. The rights of EU citizens who have been here for often decades and on a whole series of other issues.
At the time, I wasn’t satisfied that the Prime Minister had set out a clear plan or answered those questions. I have pointed out to people that of course if every MP voted the same way as their constituents then you’d still get the same overall result. But we can’t be simply giving a blank cheque to the Prime Minister to go down a very hard Brexit route. We must find the best deal for people. It’s important that there are a number of MPs who stand up and hold her feet to the fire.
TGUK: You talk about getting the best deal, and so many of the victories in LGBT equality we’ve accomplished have been through European mechanisms. How do we ensure those European laws and rulings protecting LGBT rights are enshrined in UK law post-Brexit?
I made very clear that we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to whether that’s the rights of minority groups, whether that’s workers rights, whether that’s environmental protections. I am concerned that we are headed down a route of quite an ideological, hard, I call reckless Brexit, rather one that retains the very best of some of the protections that we’ve worked on a Pan-European level to achieve. And that’s why it’s important that there are members of parliament that are willing to speak up and ensure that those rights and freedoms are protected.
TGUK: You filed an early day motion to ban Donald Trump from speaking to the House of Commons. As you may be able to tell from my accent, I’m American. Whether we like it or not, Trump is the democratically elected president of the United States. How should the government handle relations with him?
SD: I was very clear that I wasn’t in favour of banning the President from coming to the UK or having relationships with the UK government. Clearly, as one of our longest and oldest allies, we need to have a constructive and positive relationship with the United States. Recognising that it’s not just the president but a whole series of individual state governments and other parts of the administration. However, I was very clear that we choose who we honour, and offering a full state visit with all the pomp and circumstance and carriages down the mall and an address to the joint houses of parliament is something that is earned, and it’s something that’s given by choice.
…I don’t think we should be offering up that honour to somebody who has a very checkered record on fundamental freedoms, on sexism, on racism, on the treatment of minority groups. And I think it was a mistake for that to be suggested, to be offered, and Parliament spoke very, very clearly, as did the Speaker of the House of Commons
TGUK: I want to shift focus a little and ask about sex and relationship education. Her Majesty gave royal assent to a bill making it mandatory, but it doesn’t mandate LGBT issues be taught. Will we ever get LGBT-inclusive PSHE?
SD: Well I hope so. And certainly, I was part of a group of MPs working particularly with my colleague Stella Creasy arguing for the most inclusive and positive sex and relationships education and a number of others
TGUK: That was a cross-party group, right?
SD: Yeah that was a cross-party group. A number of sponsored amendments and pushed forward an inclusive agenda. Again, it’s slightly complex. As a Welsh MP, education is devolved. The decisions about our curriculum are made in Wales. But I’ve always been of the belief that you need age appropriate but inclusive sex and relationships education that reflects the realities of life and the realities of the modern world. When you have a situation where there are still far too many young LGBT people who are bullied, excluded, or in worse cases physically or psychologically harassed or harmed, we need to be setting the very best standards.
TGUK: Wales does have an LGBT curriculum, correct?
SD: Yes. Again, it’s age appropriate. But we have a pretty inclusive curriculum here. But again the curriculum is constantly under review. And we have a different system here because we don’t have the same diversity of schools. We haven’t gone down the route of grammars and free schools and new religious schools and things like that.
TGUK: I guess, I’m going to segue off that question. What can England learn from Wales?
SD: One of the reasons we have our own distinctive pledges and manifesto in Wales is because we have taken a very different approach when it comes to things like healthcare and education and other issues. We haven’t had a doctor’s strike in Wales. We haven’t had a costly reorganisation of the NHS. We spend 6% higher on health and social care per head of population in Wales than in England. We haven’t gone down the route of having grammar schools. We’ve actually been building new schools and new hospitals.
The Prime Minister is quite keen to come down and rubbish Wales on a regular basis, but the actual difference is now being felt and recognised by the people of Wales. People do now recognise that distinction and what a difference having a Welsh Labour government makes.
TGUK: You mention the Prime Minister rubbishing Wales, but the Conservative vote is growing. Does that concern you at all?
SD: Yeah. One of the difficulties you do have in Wales is that we don’t have a strong and distinct national media, as say in example in Scotland. So a lot of people do engage with a lot of English focused newspapers and broadcasts. Obviously, that reads across into what people are raising on the doorstep and talking about. It is concerning to see the Conservatives doing so well in the polls. However last year the pundits had us losing significant numbers of seats in the National Assembly elections. This year they had us losing significant numbers of seats in the local council elections. And we defied the pundits both times.
TGUK: What’s the most pressing issue facing the LGBT community in this election?
SD: To pick one issue I think is very difficult because whilst there are distinct issues facing the LGBT community, members of the LGBT community are human beings and voters just like anybody else. They’re going to have the same concerns about healthcare, education, housing, benefits policy, state of the economy. There’s always a bit of a danger in separating us out too distinctly.
However, I think certainly one of the issues I’ve come across has been that we have legal equality now in the country. I was very proud to vote on the bill that introduced equal marriage, and sort of fought for many of those last blocks in the inequality picture over the last few years, building on the amazing work others have done over the decades. The real challenge now is to make sure those laws are implemented, that attitudes are changed and that we deal with the stigma that a lot of young people face still in many parts of the country. And in relation to places like Chechnya that we stand as a beacon for LGBT rights and equality in the world. We’ve had the largest number of LGBT parliamentarians in the last Parliament. We’ve taken the most decisive steps on legal equality. We need to now be using our good offices and intent to sell that example to the rest of the world.
The Liberal Democrats are the latest political party to unveil their manifesto ahead of June’s snap General Election. We find out what pledges have been made to the UK’s LGBT community.
The Liberal Democrats manifesto mentions “LGBT” just five times unlike Labour’s which mentioned it 11 times. So what are the promises and pledges should the Lib Dems become our next Government.
Healthcare
The Liberal Democrats have promised to ensure that “LGBT+ inclusive mental health services receive funding and support”. They also want to make PrEP available on the NHS.
Education
The Lib Dems have promised to review sex education in schools saying that they will include lessons on sexual consent, LGBT+ relationships and issues surrounding explicit images and content.
Workplace
The Lib Dems want companies with more than 250 employees to publish data on their employment of BAMEs LGBTs and pay gaps.
Politics
The Lib Dems pledge to introduce legislation that will allow for all-BAME and all LGBT+ parliamentary shortlists.
On the world stage
The Liberal Democrats pledge a commitment to promoting the “decriminalisation of homosexuality around the world and advancing the cause of LGBT+ rights”.
With the release of Labour’s Manifesto for the upcoming General Election, we look to see what Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour government has in store for LGBT people, should they come to power.
In their new manifesto, the Labour Party has mentioned LGBT 11 times. We see what they have in store for our community, should Labour be elected into Government in June.
Healthcare
Labour has pledged that it will work to “reverse the damage done to mental health services under this Tory government, which is particularly hitting services for LGBT and BAME communities”.
Labour also pledges that frontline healthcare professionals receive ongoing training to understand and meet the needs of LGBT patients and service users.
And PrEP? Well, they pledge that “NHS England completes the trial programme to provide PrEP as quickly as possible, and fully roll out the treatment to high-risk groups to help reduce HIV infection”.
Equality
Labour has promised to build a society and a world free from”all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”. They, however, did not specifically mention homophobic, biphobic or transphobic issues within this pledge.
However, the did have a page to specifically outline how, in the past, the Labour party had been at the forefront of LGBT equality. They abolished Section 28, equalised the age of consent and were key to ensure that the gay marriage law was successful.
Trans issues
They pledge to reform the Gender Recognition Act, which will protect trans people by changing the protected characteristic of ‘gender assignment’ to ‘gender identity’. They also pledge to remove outdated language such as “transexual”.
Crime
Labour pledges to bring the law on LGBT hate crimes into line with hate crimes based on race and faith, by making them aggravated offences.
Bullying
Teachers will be given training on how to deal with bullying. They’ll also ensure that new guidance is issued on relationships and LGBT-inclusive sex education.
On the world stage
Labour have announced that they will “appoint dedicated global ambassadors for women’s rights, LGBT rights and religious freedom to fight discrimination and promote equality globally”
You’ll have noticed that this week’s column is coming a little later than usual. There’s a reason for that. Whilst those ensconced in the Westminster bubble are feverishly obsessed with Brexit and winning the election, those of us who prefer Soho were busy celebrating “gay Christmas.” Yes, it was Eurovision weekend, and like any good gay, I was busy rooting for my favourite camp act (the poor sods from Spain, whom apparently I alone liked) and cheering on the fabulous Lucie Jones.
I took my union flag to a skyscraper overlooking Lake Michigan here in Chicago, joining a British ex-pat and Polish immigrant – meaning thankfully, politics was not a topic of conversation. Judging from Twitter, though, I imagine your Eurovision party might not have been so relaxing. It seems everyone was interested to see how Brexit would affect the Eurovision voting. The Prime Minister warned ahead of Saturday’s final that we shouldn’t get our hopes up. In an interview with the BBC’s The One Show, she promised we wouldn’t Brexit from Eurovision (thank God!), but that “…in the current circumstances, I’m not sure how many votes we’ll get.” Whilst we didn’t do well among EU heavyweights France and Germany, Lucie was able to garner 111 votes, finishing better than any British entrant in several years.
Lucie herself was a bit more confused about the role Brexit played in her showing. She told ITV’s Lorraineearlier today that “Nobody actually talked about Brexit [in Kiev]. It wasn’t a thing. I wasn’t ‘Brexit Girl,’ which was really nice.” This contradicts what she told the Sun following Saturday night’s show. “I did notice lots of Brexit comments,” she said, noting that she voted Remain, which surely made this even more annoying. “I did vote to remain in the EU,” she said, “but hey, not much we can do about it now. Lots of people voted to leave and we’re a democracy and that’s the way of the world. Sh*t happens.”
It most certainly does, Lucie, and loads of it happened this week other than Eurovision. So let’s put on our Wellies and wade into some of it.
The biggest news of the week was undoubtedly the leak of Labour’s draft manifesto – the most radical in a generation, since Michael Foot’s famed “longest suicide note in history” way back in 1983 – before I, and I reckon many of you, were even born. The Daily Mail and the Tories jumped on this, accusing Labour of trying to take the country back to the 1970s (whilst at the same time lauding Theresa May’s admission she and husband Philip have “boy jobs and girl jobs” at home – because that’s not antiquated).
But should we all be busting out bellbottoms and disco balls just yet? Labour contends we shouldn’t, labelling it a “forward thinking” manifesto that will be deeply popular with voters. The polling backs them up on this. As the Independentreported, around half of people support Labour’s proposals to renationalise the railways, Royal Mail, and the energy market. Meanwhile, policies such as higher taxes on higher earners and building more houses have also gone down extremely well with voters.
People want to know where the money is coming from. Labour promises that its official manifesto will be fully costed. Until then, we can but speculate on how Corbyn plans to find the funds to pay for his proposals. It should also be noted that the leaked draft manifesto contains other policies sure to be popular with the electorate, including raising the minimum wage and keeping Trident – despite Jeremy Corbyn’s own distaste for the country’s nuclear deterrent.
Labour can take some solace in the fact that these proposals poll so well, but they certainly can’t rest on their laurels. A recent Survation poll shows the Tories hold an 18 point lead over Labour. It seems that much of this is down to how the leaders are perceived. In another piece, the Independent reports that more people disapprove of the Tories than support them, but that voters still seem to approve of Theresa May’s performance as Prime Minister than disapprove.
This may be why Ms May’s name is splashed on the side of the Tory battlebus, and why the Conservatives are so keen to make this election a choice between her and Mr Corbyn. The Conservatives more than any party are making this an election about personalities, which makes it strange that she is so reticent to show one. She is refusing to take impromptu questions from reporters (something I criticised her for last week in a HuffPost blog last week) and is still refusing to take part in televised debates. Mrs May is playing her cards close to her chest, running one of the most stage-managed campaigns in living memory. It’s understandable why, but there may come a point where voters demand greater access to the woman who wants to lead the UK out of the EU.
Some other things that have piqued my interest this week and you lot should be watching out for:
The Tories have expressed a desire to repeal the ban on fox hunting; considering how unpopular this is with the electorate, it demonstrates Theresa May’s confidence in winning a majority on 8th June
Still, Jeremy Corbyn is climbing in the polls – but can he catch up to Ms May in a short time?
Corbyn told Buzzfeed he wouldn’t step down as Labour leader should he lose the election, so if that comes to pass, be ready for yet another bloody battle for the soul of the Labour Party
The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition – a Labour splinter group who challenged Labour from the left in the past two elections – has decided not to stand this go-round, citing Labour’s left wing manifesto.
And because I know you’re all keen to know, former One Directioner Harry Styles has said he’ll vote for whoever is against Brexit – an endorsement the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has surely welcomed. If only sixteen-year-olds (or, you know, I) could vote.
Keep watching this space as we continue to bring you the biggest and gayest election coverage anywhere on the internet. In the meantime, whilst you’re out on the doorsteps, keep your eyes peeled for someone who can win us Eurovision next year. After this election and the coming Brexit negotiations, we deserve a win.
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