If you’ve been following the debates in the run up to the UK’s general election in May, then you’ll know that the top three deciding ‘issues’ that will determine which party gets into power are: immigration, the NHS and the economy. British people want to know how the government is going to cut the deficit, they want to know how the government is going to curb the rise in immigration (or at least build better infrastructure to cope with it) and how the government is going to stop the NHS from going under or going private.
Most notably not a talking point this time around is equality.
England, Scotland and Wales all have marriage equality and all three countries also have laws that permit adoption of children by same-sex couples or allow same-sex partners to be listed on a child’s birth certificate. Northern Ireland is a little bit behind when it comes to LGBT equality but it’s slowly but surely getting there.
The problem Stonewall has is that although the laws that have been passed already are important and are vital on the road to full equality, they are nowhere near comprehensive. There are still great changes that need to be done but “people assume that legal equality is enough by itself” and “there is still a lot to do to change social attitudes towards LGBT people”.
In a Huffington Post article, the LGBTQ organisation explains that the following need to be addressed by the main political parties of the coming election:
- “Statutory Sex and Relationship Education for primary and secondary school children in England. This includes talking about different types of families to make people aware of the diversity of family life. It also means ensuring that the issues facing LGBT young people are included across the board, including in discussions around consent, abuse and online safety. Finally, Stonewall is calling on the next government to show its commitment to tackling homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying by ensuring all teachers are trained effectively.
- Combatting homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime. This must be high priority and should be added to the list of ‘aggravated’ offences alongside hate crime based on race or religion. The next government should spearhead a campaign that encourages LGBT people to report all incidences of hate crime; we must abolish the notion that some incidents are not serious enough to report.
- International aid. The next government must develop initiatives to ensure aid reaches LGBT people across the world. It should encourage its partners to embed LGBT equality into the way they plan and deliver aid, with the support of LGBT people in their countries, and it should make specific funding available for LGBT groups to achieve social change.
- Reviewing the laws affecting trans people. We also know that across the UK trans people have to fight for the right to be themselves, often struggling with a legal system that doesn’t make that easy. That’s why we’re asking all candidates to commit to reviewing laws affecting trans people, including the Gender Recognition Act, to ensure that all trans people are treated as equal citizens with equal rights.”
Unfortunately, none of these things have been mentioned in a positive light or at all during this election season. For example, the UK Independence Party (commonly known known as UKIP) has come under fire for its views on LGBT equality, having opposed several rulings that would help tackle homophobia against same-sex couples moving from the UK to other parts of the EU and in 2014 they didn’t support the calls to work on a strategy that tackle homophobia across Europe. Whilst UKIP certainly isn’t alone in its poor LGBT track record, the fact that LGBT rights have only really come up when a member of UKIP has said something against them is rather telling.
There’s just one month to go until the UK general election (May 7) so it seems unlikely that any of the leading political parties will change their tune between now and then, but we should still push for them to take action no matter what.