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LGBTQ Rights: What Are the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems Promising?

I'm pretty sure that Boris Johnson thinks the last letter in LGBT stands for "tank-topped bum-boys".
Drag Theresa May and Boris Johnson at pride parada
Photo by Tommy London / Alamy Stock Photo

I’m often asked what LGBTQ rights are left to fight for in 2019. We have so many: we can marry, adopt children, watch the Pussycat Dolls reunite live on stage, and in most cases, live openly as our true selves. But we also live in fear of discrimination, violence and even death. There were almost 14,500 homophobic and 2,300 transphobic hate crimes recorded last year – a three- and four-fold rise on where we were five years ago. Christ, we can’t even get our current prime minister to say sorry for using homophobic slurs.

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Whoever walks into Number 10 on Friday will be charged not only with repairing our fractured nation – they’ll also be handed responsibility for LGBTQ lives, deciding things like whether or not we should be given life-saving HIV prevention drugs or allowed self-determination. Which of the parties would do the right thing?

CONSERVATIVES

I'm pretty sure that Boris Johnson thinks the last letter in LGBT stands for “tank-topped bum-boys”, because there's not a single mention of trans people in his manifesto. There's nothing in here about Gender Recognition Act (GRA) reform, self-identification or the introduction of a third gender marker on passports and other official documents. If only the government had conducted a massive public consultation on such matters that it could have translated into actual policy!

There's no pledge to fund the roll-out of PrEP or any suggestions on improving LGBTQ healthcare. Much more pressing is the issue of a pension tax affecting doctors on six-figure salaries, which would be the subject of an "urgent review" within the first 30 days of a Conservative government. Go figure.

Honestly, there’s very little in the 59-page document about improving the lives of queer people other than a commitment to host “the UK government’s first ever international LGBT conference” and a pledge to "continue to help teachers tackle bullying, including homophobic bullying.” Rather vaguely, the Tories say they’ll also "vigorously combat harassment and violence" against LGBTQ people, but give nothing by way of specifics. And that’s pretty much your lot.

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LABOUR

Jeremy Corbyn is the only party leader I’ve ever seen shout “gay rights”. Naturally, his manifesto delivers on some of the biggest issues facing our community. Under a Labour government, the GRA would be reformed to introduce self-identification for trans people, PrEP would be freely available throughout the country, and sexual health services fully funded. In schools, “sufficient funding” would be provided to deliver the mandatory LGBT-inclusive relationships and sex education curriculum due to be rolled out in September 2020.

Almost a quarter of homeless people identify as LGBTQ – Labour says it will ensure that homelessness services and strategies meet the needs of queer people as part of a larger assault on tackling the rough sleeping crisis.

There are also sweeping statements about putting equality at the heart of government, ensuring that public services are inclusive and eliminating areas of legal discrimination, and vows to retain and promote the Human Rights Act to safeguard LGBTQ rights regardless of Brexit. The role of women and equalities minister would also be made a full-time job at the head of an independent department – it’s currently a secondary post, with the Government Equalities Office having been housed in six different departments in the past decade. Elsewhere in government, there would be a dedicated global LGBT+ ambassador to the Foreign Office to help it respond quickly to international injustices.

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While this is all great, it isn’t all roses for Labour. As with the Conservatives, there’s nothing about gender-neutral passports, and no specific promise to tackle homophobic and transphobic hate crimes. There’s also a worrying line in the Women section about ensuring “that the single-sex-based exemptions contained in the Equality Act 2010 are understood and fully enforced in service provision”. Many have labelled this a TERF dogwhistle, but the party has since confirmed that single-sex exemptions would not be used to illegally exclude trans people, and that its commitment to the trans community remains undimmed.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Jo Swinson seems exactly the type of straight cis woman who’d crash a gay bar with a hen party, but her manifesto is pretty spot-on in terms of LGBT+ rights. Under the Lib Dems, we’d get reforms to the GRA with self-ID and legal recognition of non-binary identities, a full PrEP roll-out and gender-neutral passports. Hate crimes would become aggravated offences, with public funding provided to protect places of worship and community centres. Homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools would be tackled, in part by mandating gender-neutral uniforms and ensuring that teachers challenge gender stereotyping.

On mental health, LGBT-inclusive services would receive guaranteed funding and support. The provision of talking therapies would be increased with equal access for LGBTQ people, while a "fair proportion" of public funding for health research would be focused on the mental health needs for different communities including queer ones. Swinson is also promising a review of the discrminatory blood ban which prevents sexually-active queer men from donating.

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Equal marriage would be completed with the removal of the spousal veto, which would allow married trans people to acquire a gender recognition certificate without having to seek the permission of their partner. The Churches of England and Wales would also begin conducting same-sex marriages, while there would be a legal recognition for humanist ceremonies.

A Lib Dem government would offer asylum to LGBTQ people persecuted for their identity, ending the current hostility the Home Office has shown towards queer people. The party would also work to promote the decriminalisation of homosexuality around the world and the advancing of LGBTQ rights.

In terms of representation, Swinson would legislate to allow all-LGBTQ shortlists. We'd also learn exactly how many queer people there are in the UK, as the 2021 census would include a question on LGBTQ identity. Equality laws would be amended to cover gender identity and expression, while companies with more than 250 employees would be required to monitor and publish LGBTQ employment levels and pay gaps.

Overall, the Lib Dems are far and away the strongest in terms of LGBTQ rights. But realistically, they’ve got no chance of winning this thing, meaning that the smart queer vote is a tactical anti-Tory one.

Confused about which party to vote for in the upcoming general election? Check out VICE's handy primer to all the manifesto policies here.

@reisss