Author Archives: Sean Bennett

Of all the topics that my first Lib Dem voice article might have been about, I never dreamed it would have to be this one. 

The recent change, during an election, of our party’s diversity quotas is nothing short of shameful. The decision itself is abominable, the manner in which it was taken was disingenuous, the announcement was cowardly, and the justifications have been fundamentally flawed.

There are many authors on this site and members in our party who are trans or non-binary, and their opinions and thoughts on this situation should carry far more weight than mine. However, in the light of this newest betrayal when it comes to the rights of our trans and non-binary siblings, there sprung up a fundamental contradiction in our party that I felt required sharing.

Many of our sister parties around the world look to the Liberal Democrats as torchbearers on matters of LGBTQ+ rights. On the world stage, we are seen as being among the most progressive, the most committed, and the most forward looking on these issues. Indeed, colleagues from around the world have, and continue to, actively look to us for advice and guidance on these matters, believing our positions to be the standard to which many wish their own parties would hold themselves.

Yet, lately, the gulf between the way we are seen by our international friends and the reality of our party here at home seems to be widening.

One of my first experiences representing the Liberal Democrats was on bilateral trip to Finland. The youth wing of one of our sister parties there had invited the Young Liberals to come and advise them on how to improve their policy on trans rights in the face of the prevailing laws at the time, which were draconian.