LGBT History Month

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2024 Westminster Hall

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mr Stringer, and to follow two excellent speeches by the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) and my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle). They have said many things that I agree with. I will touch on a few of those things but will also cover some other areas.

I join everybody else in belatedly wishing everyone a happy LGBT+ History Month. It is important, and I want particularly to thank the individuals who set this up many years ago. It allows us to reflect on where we were, where we are, and where we have to go. It also enables us to look at aspects of the LGBT+ history of this country and the globe. I declare my interest as a member of the all-party parliamentary group on global LGBT+ rights and as co-chair of the LGBT+ parliamentary Labour party group with my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey, who is sitting next to me.

It is worth reflecting on the hard evidence of how far we have come in a positive direction. The latest British Social Attitudes Survey report came out in September last year, and it details many of the positive changes in attitudes of the last 40 years. In 1983, only 17% of people believed that same-sex relations were “not wrong at all”; that is 67% today. The proportion of those who said that same-sex relations were “always wrong” has fallen from 50%—half of the population—to just 9% today. That is still far too high and amounts to nearly one in 10 people, but it shows the progress we have made as a result of campaigners, activism, Governments taking leadership and decisions on these issues, and change within organisations that have previously been extraordinarily conservative themselves, including in parts of many faith communities. I say that as a Christian. There has been huge changes within the Church—again, it still does not go far enough for my liking, but there has certainly been a lot of progress. We have many more inclusive places of worship and places of faith across this country than we did in the 1980s, for example.

However, it is also important to reflect on the negatives and where we are actually going backwards. That same survey showed that, since 2019, the proportion of people who described themselves as

“not at all prejudiced against transgender people”

has fallen from 82% to 64%. That is just since 2019—in the last five years. That is quite a rapid decline in support for, and awareness and acceptance of, those with transgender and non-binary identities. It should be a wake-up call and a worrying call to us all to see such positive changes in some aspects of rights but such backsliding on others in just a few years. The reasons why that has happened in this country, but not in all countries across Europe or the globe, have already been accurately reflected on. These changes are happening for a reason. Many of us have touched on it in debates in this place before. It is deeply concerning and worrying, not least when it is combined with hate crime statistics and the very sharp, violent and in some cases tragically life-ending circumstances that we have heard debated in this place in recent weeks.

I do not say this as any reflection on the two Conservative Members present, the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington and the right hon. Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew), because I know that they are very strong advocates and have spoken out bravely against challenges in their own party over recent years, but I will always look back. I have a poster on my phone that somebody once sent to me. It was issued by Conservative central office in Smith Square in the 1980s. At the top, it says, “Labour Camp”, and it depicts people holding up banners in the street, reading “Gay Sports Day” and “Gay Lib”, followed by:

“Do you want to live in it? Think about it. Conservative.”

It was published privately by central office—the headquarters of the party, not by some activist or individual—in the 1980s. I know that is not the party as it is today, and I sincerely hope that it would never publish that sort of material in the future. It certainly would not be approved by the Members in this room from the party, but I worry about the language and divisive rhetoric of those who are perhaps auditioning to be a future Conservative leader or seeking to take their party in a very different direction.

One of the hallmarks of the work of the APPG on global LGBT+ rights and of many of the forums in this place and in our parties is our unity on basic principles of human rights, equality, and inclusion, regardless of huge divisions on other matters relating to the running of the country. There is unity on the fact that we should not have that kind of division, language and problematisation of minority populations in this country. I know that the two Conservatives here do not take that approach. They believe in an inclusive and open party, but it is a big problem to hear senior figures saying some of the things they have done in recent weeks. In our party, we know all too well that when things are being done and said that are completely unacceptable, it takes bravery and courage to speak up and stand up and be counted when it matters—even when that is on somebody’s own side. I certainly hope we will see a pushback against that kind of language. We do not want to go back to those days when Conservative party headquarters was putting out material like that.

I would like to reflect a little on my own constituency and some of the fantastic organisations and groups, not only in Cardiff South and Penarth, but across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. They are testament to our current vibrant LGBT+-inclusive communities and have been key to shifts and changes in social attitudes and behaviours in recent years. I think particularly of Pride Cymru, which organises our annual Pride parade in Cardiff, and our local Prides. Over the last few years, I have been able to attend a number of local Prides in Wales. They simply would not have happened when I was a young person growing up, completely repressed and closeted in south Wales. Llantwit Major, where I went to school—a town in the neighbouring constituency of Vale of Glamorgan—held its own Pride a little while ago. There was even an LGBT flag flying from the church. I literally could not have believed that as a child growing up in that town.

I was also proud to march alongside many others at Barry Pride. I went along to Newport Pride; again, that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago. And we all come together for the national celebration in Cardiff. I really pay tribute to all the volunteers and organisers who do such incredible work with Pride Cymru. It draws on the history from the early days of the Mardi Gras in Cardiff, right through to what we see today, which is vibrant, inclusive to all people, all ethnicities, all races, all religions, all ages—it is a festival of inclusivity. It is a lot of fun, with great music—a great day out for all. Those festivals and coming togethers have been key and are indicative of the progress that has been made.

I also want to pay tribute to the key figures of the LGBT+ community, some of whom have great historical knowledge and perspective. There are two I want to mention today. The first is my very good friend and neighbour— I declare an interest, because she sometimes feeds my cat—the wonderful Lisa Power, who was one of the original founders of Stonewall, an original operator on the LGBT+ Switchboard and a former director of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust. She is also a historian of the LGBT rights movement in the UK and has written some fantastic books and articles. She has been part of a team researching LGBT+ history and lost venues and locations in Cardiff and Wales. It is fantastic to be able to see how that heritage has developed over time.

Russell T. Davies is also a key figure on the scene, not only for his work on “Doctor Who” and other leading series, but, critically, his work on the series “It’s a Sin”, which showed very powerfully a few years ago the remarkable struggles of those who were involved in HIV campaigning and wider LGBT+ campaigning, which was so critical in the 1980s, and the tragic circumstances that many went through. It is by getting those stories to the screen and reminding people what happened that we can achieve progress going forward. Those are just two key people I wanted to mention from our local community.

Today, we see Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan as a hub of excellent TV and film production, including queer and LGBT-inclusive TV and film production. I think particularly of “Doctor Who”—filmed in my own constituency, with BBC Studios, Bad Wolf and now Disney+ —which has always had an inclusive approach to LGBT+ characters. In recent times, it was a real pleasure to join Ncuti Gatwa at the premiere with the BBC just before Christmas—many MPs went along to that fantastic event. There is also the famous series “Sex Education” on Netflix, which is filmed largely in my constituency. It is a hugely popular worldwide hit and is rooted in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan; some of it is also filmed in Newport.

I want to pay tribute to some of our incredible local venues. I mentioned the lost venues, but we are very lucky to have so many vibrant venues in Cardiff, with new ones opening up. Recently, we had a new venue open, the Dock Feeder, just down from the new canal in Cardiff, which is an uncovering of the old Dock Feeder canal. We are trying to do something similar to Manchester, although not quite on that scale. It is really positive to see. There are venues like the Golden Cross—I declare an interest as a regular visitor; there is Mary’s, Pulse and so many others. These venues are the lifeblood of our LGBT+ communities. It is important that we recognise the role that venues have played in providing safe spaces and places not only for expression but for bringing together LGBT+ communities, particularly in the past when being a member of those communities could have landed someone in a lot of trouble, or worse. Those venues still play a crucial role and it is important that we protect and recognise them as safe and welcoming spaces for the LGBT+ community.

I think of places such as the Queer Emporium in the centre of Cardiff, which provides an awful lot of material and clothing and which is, again, a safe place for people to meet. Also, we have the wonderful LGBT+ societies at our universities in Cardiff, organisations such as Glitter Cymru, those that work with black and minority ethnic communities in particular and the work done by specific organisations on issues not only affecting the LGBT+ community but more broadly, such as Fast Track Cymru, which is doing work to end HIV transmissions and wider work around sexual health in south Wales. I wanted to touch on some of those because it is important we recognise and celebrate not only what all those organisations have done in the past but what they are doing today.

I will now come to some of the issues already covered by my hon. Friends. On conversion therapy, I share the sadness, concern and disappointment at the failure of the very reasonable Bill put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) to progress through the House and some of the quite divisive and unhelpful speeches heard during the debate. Conversion therapy is abuse, and it is a vile and abhorrent practice. I have met survivors of conversion therapy and know what damage it has done to them. I do not want to name individuals, but there have been really harmful mental health impacts, such as self-harm and suicidal thoughts, and the lifelong impact of forcing someone to try and deny who they are.

The practice needs to be stamped out. It is hugely disappointing that the Government have not moved on the matter and I hope the Minister can say a little bit on that when he gets up. It was deeply disappointing that the House did not allow that reasonable Bill to make progress. However, I am pleased that if a Labour Government were elected, we have made clear that we would implement a fully inclusive ban on conversion therapy in all its forms. It is crucial we do that sooner rather than later and I am astonished that the practice still goes on in this country in 2024. It needs to be ended.

We have already talked a little about hate crime. I led a debate in this place just a few months ago on the subject and we have heard some of the statistics. It was deeply disappointing that the Minister at the time used the word “hysterical” in referring to some of the comments made in the debate. Hon. Members from all parties had spoken up against hate crime in a non-partisan way, telling real stories that had affected their constituents and other people up and down the country, and the statistics bear that out. To then have that slightly dismissive response from a Minister was deeply disappointing—it was not the Minister who is here today. I hope he can reassure us that that is not the position of the Government and that they take hate crime seriously.

As has been reported, we have seen a 11% increase in hate crimes against trans people in just a year, a 186% increase in the last five years and although there was a slight fall in crimes against people on the basis of their sexuality last year, that is masked by a 112% increase in hate crimes in the last five years. Again, I am sorry to have to declare an interest, but I too have been victim of an aspect of homophobic assault in my constituency. I have also experienced online and other abuse, as I am sure many other hon. Members have. It is a sad fact that these days, particularly for those of us in public life or in the public eye more generally—I think of people in all lines of work, such as journalists, public officials and others—if someone is a woman, if they are black, if they are brown, if they are Jewish, if they are Muslim, if they are gay, if they are trans, if they are lesbian, the reality is that they will face a substantially higher level of abuse and, I am afraid to say, risk as a result of their work. That has to end; it has to stop. Frankly, social media companies and others need to do a lot more to crack down on the matter, but unfortunately, it is being fuelled by the divisive rhetoric and language being used by some in senior public positions. That has a real-world effect on the ground.

We also know from the Government’s own reporting that they believe there is significant under-reporting and fewer than one in 10 people who are victims of hate crime in that way are actually reporting it. I know that my own police force in south Wales takes these matters very seriously, and I commend it on its work in this area. It does not get everything right, but it has certainly been active and proactive on the issues. However, that is not the case in all parts of the UK. Trust levels in the police in some parts of the country are not what they should be, not least in the Metropolitan police. After some of the incidents in the past, we all know why that might be.

I do not want to go into this too much, because of my shadow Front-Bench role, but the global statistics on LGBT+ issues are of grave concern, not only in relation to the UK, which, as has been said, has fallen from first to 17th in the Rainbow ranking since 2015, but because of what we see in a number of countries across Europe, Africa and globally. That is before we mention places such as Russia, China and so on.

I share the great alarm at some of the recent developments that we have seen, particularly in countries in Africa. There are real questions to be asked, if those worst fears are realised in due course, about the terrifying impact that that will have on citizens in those countries. People will also ask serious questions about trade and investment. Businesses will be asking questions about where they choose to trade with, the sorts of relationships that they choose to have and the safety and security of staff, tourists, others and even Members of this House; I have travelled to one of those countries as part of a delegation. I would certainly think carefully about my involvement in such a visit in the future if I thought that I would be penalised for being who I am, at risk of jail or worse.

There are serious questions that need to be considered. I certainly hope that those things do not come to pass in the way that they have been travelling at the moment and that those countries will think again. However, our primary concern must be for those who, just like in this country, exist and have always existed; they should not be criminalised or subject to the types of abuse and punishment that they face. We need to ensure that we always listen to those activists about the best ways in which we can work with, assist and empower them to go forward and have their circumstances heard.

As I said, there are deep concerns in a number of countries across Europe as well. I engage regularly in these matters. Indeed, we have seen many of our UK overseas territories move forward in areas of inclusion and equality over the years. However, there are some discrepancies, particularly with regard to equal marriage, civil partnerships and other rights for LGBT+ individuals. I believe firmly in the autonomy of, and devolution of responsibility to, our overseas territories, but being part of the British family comes with responsibilities, which include the upholding of basic human rights and equalities.

I will end by saying, as others have, that we see worrying backsliding. Progress clearly cannot be taken for granted. We have only to look at the powerful book written by my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Sir Chris Bryant) about the experiences of secretly gay Members of this House in the relatively—for the time—permissive environment of Berlin in the 1930s, which changed subsequently and dramatically. That ended with LGBT people alongside 6 million Jews, Roma, Gypsies and others being taken to concentration camps. I am not suggesting that we are suddenly on the brink of that in this country, but we must all learn from those terrible examples in history where progress, open-mindedness and inclusivity seemed to be on the way, but were closed down suddenly and rapidly. We have seen that happen in a number of other countries.

We still have far too much to do in this country and, indeed, even in this place. I am pretty sure that if I asked to be married in a same-sex wedding in the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, I would not be permitted to do so, because it is an Anglican church. I might be lucky and be able to get a blessing now, but that is direct discrimination in this building against Members of this House. I took the young son of a friend on a tour recently. I took them into the beautiful Chapel of St Mary Undercroft and explained that, and the child said, “The Church is mean”. I said, “I am afraid it is on this”—I say that as a member of the Church. The reality is that unless we see progress in all our institutions and all parts of society to fully respect and include every member of society, regardless of their sexuality, gender identity or other protected characteristics, then we still have a very long way to go.

I am very proud that our party has set out a number of key commitments were we to form the next Government. We saw a radical reforming Labour Government in 1997 in this area that made huge changes, whether that was on section 28, civil partnerships or the GRA. I am pleased by what my colleagues have set out regarding GRA modernisation, a ban on conversion therapy, and aggravated offences on hate crime. I am pleased by what my Labour colleagues in Wales have done on an inclusive curriculum, an LGBT+ action plan, and clear commitments to all of the community. That is the sort of society that we need to build—a society where everybody can be who they want, and one where we can all be who we want to be in this House too. That is why moments like LGBT History Month are so important.

Horizon: Compensation and Convictions

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Hollinrake]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his work. He raises a very important point. The motivation behind the actions of the Post Office and executives and managers in the Post Office is something that Sir Wyn Williams is looking at as part of his inquiry, and I am very interested to see the results of that. There is no sense that I am aware of that this was just another method of trying to contribute towards the closure of a post office. Despite the closures that my right hon. Friend has experienced, that is principally about the general nature of the impact on high streets of changing shopping habits, which is causing difficulties for some of the network. We are determined to try to ensure that the post office network is more viable and more sustainable, including for individual businesses. A more generous deal on the banking framework between banks and post offices, in terms of the remuneration that they get to manage access to cash, for example, is one of the ways that we can make post offices more sustainable. We are fully committed to maintaining a significant network across the country, and it is currently set at 11,500 branches.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

It was referenced earlier that many people involved in this terrible scandal are coming forward—more since the drama—but of course a small proportion have not. The Minister and his Department have been trying to track down those who are eligible for compensation, including by writing to Members of this House. What support will the Department provide in forensic person and company searches to try to track down all those who are eligible but may simply have become so exasperated or exhausted that they walked away and wanted nothing further to do with it?

[Kevin Hollinrake]

The hon. Member raises an important point. We have written to all the people with convictions, for example, to say, “Please come forward.” It is not about a lack of ability to identify individuals; a lot of it is about the confidence of those people to come forward after what they have been through. We hope that making it easier to overturn a conviction and easier to access compensation will encourage more people to come forward. As he said, people have been coming forward—people have come directly to me since the ITV programme was aired—so we think that what we are doing and have done is helping with that, but we certainly need to do more to convince people that coming forward is the right thing to do and that they can be confident of good treatment.

Gender Recognition

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I am very happy to confirm that, and I thank my right hon. Friend for the measured tone in which he asked his question—it is a model for Opposition Members. We have done so much work under this specific Government and even under my watch, including on our HIV action plan and on trans healthcare. We have established five new community-based clinics for adults in this country. There is a lot that we are doing, so it is wrong to characterise us as not caring about LGBT people, and it also sends the wrong signal to our international partners. If they feel that we are not doing well, it is not because of what we are doing, but because of what Members are saying.

On conversion practices, let me give a little more clarity about what we are doing with a longer answer than normal. This is a matter of deep interest across this House, so I would like to set out my thinking fully. A commitment was given to publish a draft conversion practices Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. I am determined to meet that promise, as is the Minister for Equalities. Attempts at so-called conversion therapy are abhorrent and are largely already illegal, so a Bill would identify those practices as a particular threat to gay people and confirm the illegality of harmful processes intended to change someone’s sexuality.

In the time since that Bill was first promised, the issue has developed. Now, the threat to many young gay people is not conversion relating to their sexuality, but conversion relating to gender identity. Girls such Keira Bell, who was rushed on to puberty blockers by the NHS and had a double mastectomy, now regret the irreversible damage done to them. I believe that this is a new form of conversion therapy. Respected clinicians, such as those who left Tavistock, have made clear that they are fearful of giving honest clinical advice to a child because if they do not automatically affirm and medicalise a child’s new gender, they will be labelled transphobic. Any Bill needs to address many of those issues, and that is why we are going to publish a draft Bill.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a shame that the Secretary of State is not making a full statement on the issue of conversion therapy, because it is a concern for many Opposition Members, and we would like some actual facts, which she has not provided until now. She also has not provided the statutory instrument referred to in the statement; I do not see it lying on the Table, it is not in the Vote Office and it is not online, so we cannot scrutinise the names of the countries that are to be added to or removed from the list. From the Dispatch Box, could the Secretary of State could list those countries and clarify whether they include the United States? Has she received any diplomatic representations from the United States, or any other country whose status is due to be changed, opposing the decision she has announced?

[Kemi Badenoch]

I apologise to the hon. Gentleman about the statutory instrument. As far as I was aware, it had been laid. That is what I was told, so it is news to me. That should have been the case.

All the details that the hon. Gentleman has asked for will be provided in the SI. I am not going to read out a long list of countries from the Dispatch Box, but I have not received any message from the United States, so I do not think that that is an issue.

Points of Order

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Wednesday 6th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call Stephen Doughty to make his point of order first, because it relates to the statement and I believe the Secretary of State may be able to provide clarification.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Further to the point I raised in my question to the Minister for Women and Equalities about the information that had not been provided to the House, I have a list here that appears to be a list of countries and territories that are changing status as a result of the statement and the order that is being laid, but it does not appear to have been published or to be available in the Vote Office. It includes a large number of Australian states, Canadian provinces and states of the United States, including Colorado and New Mexico, as well as New York city and New York state, and other places. It actually includes some European countries—Malta, Luxembourg—as well as Mexico in Latin America and many other locations. Could the Minister confirm for the House’s interest whether this list is correct?

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

First, I believe the Minister did confirm that the order has been laid, and it should therefore be available in the Vote Office. However, the Secretary of State may like to confirm that, or if she does not have the information immediately available, to say that she will report back about it.

Section 28 Repeal: 20th Anniversary

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Wednesday 29th November 2023 Westminster Hall

[Mr Bradshaw]

I completely agree, and I will come on to talk a bit more about that in a second. Our first attempt to repeal section 28 in 2000 was thwarted in the House of Lords, but we eventually got it scrapped in the autumn of 2003—happy anniversary, everyone!

Repealing section 28 was part of a bonfire of discrimination and out-of-date laws applying to LGBT people. In my view, that was among the proudest and historically significant achievements of the Blair-Brown Governments. It included an equal age of consent, civil partnerships, an end to the ban on gays in the military, gay adoption, the ban on discrimination in the provision of goods and services, the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010. What is more, those advances were not reversed by the Cameron, May or even Boris Johnson Governments, but in the past year or two there have been worrying signs of a renewed moral panic, fuelled, as in the 1980s, by powerful elements in the media and politicians who should know better, targeted particularly at transgender and non-binary people.

We are not alone. We only have to look at Republican states in America, Orbán’s Hungary or Meloni’s Italy to see LGBT people under sustained attack, but Britain’s fall from equalities leader to laggard has been dramatic. Until 2015, the UK was consistently ranked among the best countries in Europe to be LGBTQ+; this year, we have fallen to 17th.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for securing this critically important debate, not least because I, too, grew up under section 28 and was not able to be open about my sexuality. I was an incredibly repressed, closeted young gay man, and I was not fully able to express that. That did huge amounts of harm to me and my peer group. Does he agree that there has not been backsliding in all parts of the UK? In fact, in Wales, where I grew up and where I am proud to represent a diverse community, we have a fully inclusive relationship and sexuality education curriculum that represents the full breadth and diversity of our communities and society and encourages respect in an age-appropriate and culturally appropriate way.

[Mr Bradshaw]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. That is the difference a Labour Government make. I am sure some of our SNP colleagues will be making the same point about Scotland a little later.

The current Westminster Government have repeatedly broken their long-standing promise to ban the psychological abuse known as conversion therapy; they have abandoned the pledge made by the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) when she was Prime Minister to reform the gender recognition process; they have used spurious constitutional arguments to block Scotland’s democratically agreed gender recognition reforms; and they have threatened to repeal the Equality Act, in effect, to cancel trans people. Stonewall, our main LGBT charity, which was founded in response to section 28, faces a constant onslaught from the Government and their allies in the press. Unsurprisingly, in this atmosphere, hate crime against LGBT people has rocketed. Britain’s supposedly independent Equality and Human Rights Commission has been packed with political cronies and it is now being investigated by the United Nations. Ministers brief almost every week that they intend to reverse LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education in schools—their modern-day equivalent of section 28.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stuart Andrew]

Unfortunately, I am. I thank all hon. Members for their contributions. We are marking two decades since the repeal of section 28, and even though there have been differing views, the tone of the debate has been respectful. I wish there was more of that when we have debates about this area of policy.

I, too, speak from personal experience as a gay man. The Britain of the ’80s and ’90s is a world away from the Britain we call home today. There is no way I would have come out in school in Anglesey, but it is great when I go round the constituency today and see young people proud of their sexuality and their identity.

I stood for election in Wrexham in 1997. Unfortunately —I have spoken about this before—just before the election campaign I was beaten up, and the press got hold of the story. I remember being frightened to admit that it was a gay bashing, and I tried to hide it. It was only a year later that I had the courage to stand up and say that it was because of my sexuality.

In 1988, when section 28 was introduced, only 11% of the public approved of same-sex relationships. Anti-LGBT sentiment was rife across society, schools and the workplace. LGBT people were all but invisible in the media, and I am sad to say that our politics harboured a great deal of the same prejudices.

The Britain of today is a nation transformed. Our cities, towns and counties annually play host to the colour and sounds of a hundred Pride parades. We are a nation of all kinds of families, of out and proud LGBT pupils and teachers, and of inclusive businesses. Our media, from sport to family programming, not only includes LGBT people but celebrates them. I take pride in the fact that this Parliament is the most LGBT Parliament in the world.

And yet, despite those great strides, the harmful legacy of section 28 lingers on. Through a combination of silence and fear, young LGBT people were denied knowledge of what healthy same-sex relationships looked like. They were denied information about how to keep themselves safe when embarking on future sexual relationships. Perhaps most painfully of all, everyone who was part of the LGBT community was marked as “other”. Teachers prohibited from discussing LGBT issues were themselves stifled and negatively affected by the policy, as we so movingly heard from the hon. Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith). Some were forced to remain in the closet for fear of the impact on their careers and others felt they had no choice but to leave education behind altogether.

The bullying of LGBT people all too often went unchallenged because of the chilling effects of section 28. Compounding that problem further was the lack of positive role models for young people. All but a handful of celebrities were closeted, and LGBT people were confined to the fringes of our media. I am glad to say that that has changed for the better in recent years. LGBT characters and stories are prominent across TV, streaming and books, and the impact of such stories on young people can be profound. To see your own journey and hopes reflected back at you in shows such as “Heartstopper” is both comforting and empowering.

But television is no replacement for formal education about healthy, consenting relationships and sex education. As a society, we have long understood that education is empowering and equips our young people with the tools to succeed, but it is vital that we also instil in them our values of tolerance and acceptance. In 2020, the LGBT-inclusive relationships, sex and health education was introduced in England, and in the vote on that a significant majority was in favour: 538 for and only 21 against. Today, primary-age students are taught the reality of modern Britain: that families come in all shapes and sizes. Some children have two mothers, some children have two fathers. This is a reflection of our diverse society, and of the importance of tolerance and respect in binding our nation together.

[Stephen Doughty]

The Minister is helpfully describing the type of inclusive education that we all want, but does he agree that there is a significant problem with groups—often some religious fundamentalist groups and others—spreading misinformation about what is actually taught in schools? Teachers do an excellent job in ensuring, in an age-appropriate way, that young people understand the inclusive society that we all live in.

[Stuart Andrew]

The hon. Gentleman is right. We have to make sure that what we are talking about are facts, not descriptions of things that are not happening just to try to advance a fear.

Older students in their final years of secondary education are also taught the importance of healthy relationships and of consent and safe sex, ensuring that all our young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, are given the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe and healthy. As colleagues will be aware, a review of the statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education is under way. The review is looking at whether the coverage of the statutory guidance is right, in terms of ensuring that teaching is safe and age-appropriate, making sure it is based on the facts and seeing whether it can be strengthened on certain topics such as suicide prevention and the dangers of vaping.

We expect to release the draft statutory guidance as soon as possible. It will then be open to a public consultation. Following the consultation, a decision will be made about any new or revised contents to be included in the guidance, including the use of resources and whether any further action would be appropriate, with revised guidance to be published in 2024. It is important that all material is factual and age appropriate.

The UK is concerned by the introduction of any legislation that restricts the teaching of the aforementioned age-appropriate relationship and sexual education. The UK deeply regrets introducing similar discriminatory legislation in the form of section 28 in 1988. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now. It is clear that such legislation had a profoundly negative effect on the physical and mental wellbeing of LGBT people, and it was rightly repealed across the UK in 2003. We encourage other countries not to repeat the mistakes of history.

In addition to ensuring that future generations are well equipped with knowledge, we must ensure that they are also safe to be themselves. We believe that no one in this country should be harmed or harassed for who they are. Attempts at so-called conversion therapy or conversion practices to change someone else due to a wrongful belief that a certain identity is preferable are, frankly, abhorrent.

Legislative Definition of Sex

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Monday 12th June 2023 Westminster Hall

[Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate with you in the Chair, Sir George. I am grateful to everyone who signed both petitions and to my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) for the respectful way in which she began the debate.

The two petitions that form the subject of the debate and the large numbers of people who signed them make it clear that views on the issue are strongly held. It is vital that the Members of this House set an example on such matters, engaging in constructive, respectful and polite discussion of them. This discussion is important, because as well as the engagement on the petitions, many people relatedly seek clarity on the Conservative Government’s plans for the Equality Act. That includes my party, the Labour party, the party of the Equality Act. As many have remarked, it is now 13 years since my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) piloted that landmark legislation through this place, introducing a legal framework against discrimination by employers, businesses, schools, public bodies and many other institutions that many countries lack and still seek to learn from.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point about the Equality Act. I agree that it has been protecting people for 13 years in a whole range of areas, including in relation to not just gender identity, but race, age, breastfeeding and disability. Does she share my concern that the Conservative Government have a wider agenda here? The Prime Minister said that the Equality Act was

“a Trojan horse that has allowed every kind of woke nonsense to permeate public life.”

Does my hon. Friend agree that the wider agenda is to remove all the protections that we all enjoy?

[Anneliese Dodds]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out that there is huge confusion about the Government’s position. We heard those comments from the Prime Minister last summer. In 2020, we heard the then Minister for Women and Equalities, the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), criticising what she claimed to be a “focus on protected characteristics” and saying that that had led to

“a narrowing of the equality debate”.

A similar position has been maintained by her successor, the right hon. Member for Saffron Walden (Kemi Badenoch), and yet, confusingly, we have also had the Prime Minister claiming to back the protections that the Equality Act contains for women. To listen to him, one would not think that those protections had already been enshrined in law for 13 years—a law that, of course, his party opposed repeatedly as it was being passed.

That is important context, because we cannot understand the Government’s intentions when we have a Prime Minister who will attack the Equality Act one day, only to cast himself as its defender the next. Today, I can be very clear that Labour remains committed to protecting and upholding the Equality Act, including the public sector equality duty, its protected characteristics and its provision for single-sex exemptions.

I ask the Minister to be clear in her remarks. Does she support the Equality Act? Does she agree that statements attacking it from her colleagues risk eroding public confidence in its protections? And will she commit to explaining to her colleagues, including the Prime Minister, that the overwhelming consensus view of the British public is in favour of those protections and of greater equality and fairness?

On the specificities of future changes that many have talked about during the debate, as the party of equality Labour wants trans people to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect. Labour also supports the protection of certain spaces that are for biological women, such as refuges for vulnerable women, which are provided for by the single-sex exemptions contained in the Equality Act. Indeed, it is thanks to Labour’s Equality Act that it is possible today for service providers to create and maintain single-sex services where that is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. That system has been in place for well over a decade, and many of the service providers I speak to tell me that it provides an effective and robust framework for dealing with what are often difficult decisions around service operation. We can see that in codified form in, for example, the guidance of Women’s Aid Federation of England on these matters.

The Equality Act protects everyone, which is why any changes to it need to be carefully thought through and why clarity on these issues is important. Labour believes that we need to have a common-sense approach that provides clarity for service providers for different circumstances—both those in which trans people should be included and those in which excluding trans people is a proportionate means to a legitimate end. The problem is that the Government have provided no indication of how they would provide that clarity, aside from leaning into the idea of amending the Equality Act—something that contradicts their written response to today’s petitions. I hope that the Minister can set the record straight on that. It is especially important given that we have heard contradictory statements on the subject from different parts of her Government.

Some colleagues have already referred, I think helpfully, to the recent exchange of letters between the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The chair of the EHRC made it clear that any potential future changes to the Equality Act could bring clarity to some areas but potential ambiguity to others. That is why the Government need to urgently explain what future changes, if any, they are in the process of identifying and set out whether they agree with the EHRC that such changes could bring greater ambiguity to other areas, and if so what the impact of that would be on anyone with a protected characteristic.

Detailed policy and legal analysis is clearly required before the UK Government can effectively respond to the EHRC’s letter, so can the Minister confirm whether that detailed policy and legal analysis is being carried out? If so, will she commit to publishing it so that the House can scrutinise the Government’s position, and will she confirm whether the Government plan to reply to the EHRC? When the Government come forward with any proposals out of all the rumours that we have heard in the press, Labour will respond accordingly. The last Labour Government did more to advance the cause of equality than any other in history. The next will put equality at the heart of their policies, and break new ground for women and for LGBT+ people.

I associate myself with the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips) in relation to recent votes on legislation, and I have to broaden her point. We have seen extensive engagement from those on the Government Benches on the issues that we are discussing today. We need to discuss them—politely and in detail—but I wish that we had seen over the last 13 years the same level of engagement from those on the Government Benches while so many women got poorer and poorer, while so many women saw their health deteriorate, with maternal mortality now increasing, while so many women and girls have become increasingly unsafe, and while impunity for violent men has in many cases increased.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Doughty]

I wonder if the Minister has had a chance to consider the interim advice given by the United Nations independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, who has been very critical of suggestions of opening up the Equality Act and reviewing these positions, seeing them as taking rights away from people who should be protected and are protected at present.

[Maria Caulfield]

As we have heard, there are many views on this issue. That is why it is important that we take the time to properly consider the policy around it and take in the legal considerations, too. There are clearly cases where people are struggling to make practical decisions on a day-by-day basis with the Act as it stands. However, we do not want to create additional unforeseen problems by changing or clarifying the Equality Act.