That’s the question asked by the Lesbian & Gay Foundation and answered by the party’s Equalities spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone:
How do you feel about Labour taking credit for a lot of Liberal Democrat Policy around LGB&T issues?
Imitation is the highest form of flattery! But Labour still hasn’t gone far enough. It is an absolute scandal that Labour chose not to explicitly outlaw gay bullying in schools. As a result thousands of younger gay people do not have full protection from bullying they need.
Labour enjoy a pretty good record on LGB&T rights. How would the Liberal Democrats go further to support LGB&T people and continue to make sure LGBT voices are heard?
Gay marriage, normalisation of gay relations in personal social development classes, end gay donation blood ban in favour a system based on personal risk, better sexual health education, and outlaw gay bullying, the list goes on. I really don’t think anyone can rest on their laurels when it comes to fighting for equal treatment for the LGBT community.
You can read the full interview here.
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17 Comments
Exactly. I really could not have said it better myself. As a member of the LGBT community, it is easy to see that a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for gay/straight/bi/trans/etc equality. Not just pseudo-equality.
Great article!
I’m not sure that “protection from bullying” is worth anything. It’s a policy that sounds good on paper, but how would it be implemented any better than existing measures against other kinds of bullying (which don’t seem to be doing anything)?
The rest makes sense.
Another article worth reading is Jane Fae’s Who’s courting the trans vote? which points out our good record of trans equality.
DELGA have produced postcards which local parties can distribute through local LGBT venues and resource centres, to promote the party’s record and future on LGBT equality. They’re national campaign materials so don’t count towards your PPC’s expenses limits.
Andrew, the point is that it’s important for schools to explicitly recognise homophobic bullying (which affects children percevied as gay because they are effeminate or not part of the social pack or whatever, regardless of the child’s sexuality) as a problem in whatever anti-bullying policies they have. There seem to be many schools who will not apply bullying procedures to children engaging in homophobic abuse.
Yes, I agree with Dave. I know that in my school, the teachers didn’t pay attention if someone was called a “fag” or something. aimilar Now it may not seem like a lot, but they would go apeshit if someone used the term “Nigger” towards another. It’s these kind of double standards that mean this country does not truly support equality. Yet.
And that’s where Nick comes in. ;D
Homophobic bullying is bullying like any other and needs to be combatted. Children should also be taught about LGBT issues. I’m in 6th form right now and we had sex ed last year as part of our general studies programme and not once did they mention any LGBT sexual health issues. It’s absolutely appalling imo. Education is an area where LGBT equality is severley lacking, and we need to improve this asap.
“Why should the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGB&T) community vote Liberal Democrat?”
Because the Conservatives think they are evil aberrations of nature who should should be burned as witches and the Labour party thinks they should be paraded as trophies while being persecuted by the state (for being evil aberrations of nature who should should be burned as witches)
It’s a complete and utter mystery to me why anyone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered would ever dream of voting anything but Liberal Democrat. I know voting out of self interest isn’t always the right thing to do, but in this case it’s a matter of survival. Why vote for people who hate you?
Well put, Chris!
Is Chris a spoof?
LGBTs should consider voting LibDem for the same reason they should considering voting Labour or Conservative or Monster Raving Loony… because they think these parties are the best stewards of the economy and civic society. This is a Party who has, as one grandparent at least, the Liberal Party so is it always perplexing to hear distinctly non-Lockean talk about “communities” defined by factors other than geographic location.
It’s positively potty to talk about one defined by different and often mutually exclusive sexual orientation – not least because of the observation we hear that LGBTness knows know creed nor national group. I am not a member of the “heterosexual community”, and no-one is a member of the “LGBT community”.
Whoops, fluffed the link for the postcards in my previous comment. They’re here.
@ Alec
‘no-one is a member of the “LGBT community”’
Until they get told by some Conservative voting bigot: “You can’t stay at my B&B cos you’re a couple of queers”.
Then suddenly they might rethink their situation a little.
This doesn’t follow. Red heads have been beaten up, but no-one here – at least, I hope not – is suggesting that there’s a red-headed community. I’ve been assaulted for wearing a fedora… but there’s not fedora-wearing community.
Did I mention this is a Party which supposedly promotes Lockean individual sovereignty?
Plus, you’re referring to something Grayling said. I assume you’re aware that he made a distinction with hoteliers (never mind if his proposal was acceptable or not) because your clear pathological loathing of the Conservatives is one of those tribal hatreds which doesn’t do proportion. You must be a very unhappy person.
Shall we ask Iain Dale if he’s right in the head?
While I agree that there isn’t really a homogenous LGBT “community”, I’d also say that there are times when it makes sense to refer to invididuals in terms of shared experiences and interests. I tend to use the term “LGBT communities” to draw the distinction, aware that some of those communities may only be one person 😉
I don’t think there’s any need to question whether Iain Dale is right in the head 😉
Red heads and fedora wearers, to my knowledge, have never faced state sanctioned discrimination and prosecution. Nor to my knowledge do they consistently have religious nutters trying to ban them from adopting, people denying them holiday accommodation, employers trying to dismiss them, officials refusing to marry them etc. etc.
” I assume you’re aware that he made a distinction with hoteliers”. Big deal. So if you’re a rich gay boy who can stay in a posh hotel then that’s OK, but if you are on a more modest income and happen to be gay, then tough luck?
I loathe the Conservatives first and foremost because they are a sham party, led by a stuck up snake oil salesman with a massive sense of entitlement to power, with no real policies of any worth and a doctrinal worship of the free market that puts current defenders of Pope Benedict to shame. Plus there is the little matter of Section 28, for which I will NEVER forgive them.
P.S. I am a very happy person, as long as everyone allows me and my boyfriend to live in peace and go on holidays where we want to without facing bigotry and discrimination.
But, yes, I do hate the Tories, joyfully not sadly.
That’s not what you said. You linked personal animosity to a named social practice to said practitioners being of a distinct cultural group. There is sufficient disdain of red-heads (I thought Amy Pond was sexy before I heard her Inverness accent and saw her skirts) to have resulted in rabble-rousing criminal assaults.
There is legislation and work-place rules which can enforce dress-codes, but no-one here is suggesting – again, at least I hope not – that there is a tie-wearing community being favoured. See how silly you’re sounding?
Why don’t you tell the kids who were beaten up for being ginger that it could be worse?
And, what does this have to do with a definition of “communities”? It’s relevant only if you insist on slotting everyone into neat little ethnic and social boxes, and assume anyone who doesn’t would denying you your right to be an *individual*. My thoughts of you have nothing to do with your preferring man-on-man action – it’s all down to your currently behaving like a prat.
There is, indeed, an ingrained animus towards gay adopters, but the other ‘trends’ you cite are based largely on individual cases. Legislation based on single cases is bad legislation.
Yet, acceptance of gays in social, professional and cultural life is immeasurably different from just two decades ago, but you’re hardly satisfied with today’s situation.
I’m picturing you as Rumpelstiltskin, jumping up and down in fury. I would love to know where you get your knowledge of the Conservative Party beyond a leaflet entitled ‘Ten Reason to Hate the Tories Because They Must Be Hated”. There was a time when supporters of the free market were called “Liberals”, but now you’re accusing them of supporting paedophilia! Comedy gold!
You loathe the Conservatives first and foremost because you are a political tribalist who requires conflict and division.
That was the responsibility of those who proposed it – a concept which I can appreciate political tribalists would have difficulty comprehending. Anti-gay sentiment exists across the political spectrum, as it does across society.
See, for instance, Miranda Grell in Labour.
The LibDems have been around for less than three decades (although, this is longer than Kayleigh has been alive, and – I wouldn’t be surprised – you), whereas the other parties have the baggage of generations of anti-gay sentiment. Yet, if you think the Party is untainted, you haven’t heard of Bermondsey.
@Alec
I’m getting a picture of you as a red headed, Fedora wearing, Tory-voting snob with submerged homosexual tendencies
A bit like a repressed, henna-ed Quentin Crisp.
Sorry darling, but it’s not a good look.
I’ve been accused of a lot of things, but a “Tory snob” is a new one.
Robert, d’you get your information on the Conservative Party from watching Citizen Smith and Fawlty Towers?
She also makes some of the best comments on LGBT asylum I have ever read:
“Persecution based solely on a person’s sexuality is clearly grounds for a person to seek asylum. Liberal Democrats have fought hard when the Government has failed to uphold this human right. But we need to go further, and use our significant influence abroad to end this persecution because for every person that manages to flee – there [are] undoubtedly many more living in fear unable to escape.”