Author Archives: Onyx Rist

I know it’s hard but… please stay

By Onyx Rist | Tue 4th November 2025 - 2:14 pm

It’s been a difficult time in this party recently. I’ll admit that. Those of us who are trans and non-binary have been vilified not just in the media, but within our own party too. I understand why some people want to leave or resign. It’s not easy to stay.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from being on the exec for Plus, it’s that the majority of our members, MPs, and activists support our rights. Most of this party fundamentally disagrees with the Supreme Court ruling.

And let’s be honest, if you do agree with it, you’re in the wrong party. The ruling is dangerous for both cis and trans women, and we must work to overturn it. There are already cases of cis women being kicked out of toilets because they don’t fit patriarchal stereotypes of what a woman should look like. Trans people are being left with nowhere safe to go in public.

Real Liberals are angry about this and want the Equality Act updated so it can no longer be used to strip away equality. But I digress.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged lgbt+ lib dems and Trans Rights | 13 Comments

How Conference made me feel so proud of our party

By Onyx Rist | Sun 1st October 2023 - 4:32 pm

I am a first time writer for Lib Dem Voice. I attended the Autumn Conference in Bournemouth, also for the first time. If you are struggling financially (and I know many people are) please apply to the Conference Access Fund. I did, and it’s been a fantastic process.

The vibe and the atmosphere at Conference is one of the most enjoyable experiences in my life. From the security guards, to other party members to those exhibiting and especially the awesome stewards and the conference team.

Having said that (before we get onto other parts of the conference such as the Lib Dem Disco, Fringe Events or Glee Club), the policies that we passed make me so proud of who we are as a party.

Ending period poverty, tackling the Housing Crisis (as amended by Young Liberals), stopping sewage being dumped into our rivers, protecting the ECHR, our health policy, Proportional Representation and so many more policies that were passed at conference show who we are.

Amendment one on housing, proposed by Young Liberals to keep our ambitious 380,000 new homes target was a fantastic amendment and shows how democratic we are and how we genuinely listen to voices and allow members to disagree with leadership and challenge leadership. This is fantastic and is unique, only to us as a party.