Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to improve LGBT+ support in rural communities.

It is crucial that LGBT+ people in all areas of Britain are safe, included and protected from discrimination. To achieve this we must end the recent politics of division. Work is already underway to fulfil the commitments set out in the new Government’s manifesto, advancing the rights and protections afforded to LGBT+ people.

These include:

• delivering a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, offering protection from these abusive practices while preserving the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity, and also respecting the important roles of those supporting them.
• working with the Home Office to deliver our commitment to equalise all existing strands of hate crime to make them aggravated offences.
• working with the Department of Health and Social Care to improve services for LGBT+ people. This includes implementing the recommendations of the Cass Review and reviewing adult gender identity services to ensure that all trans people receive appropriate and high-quality care.
• modernising, simplifying and reforming the legal gender recognition process to remove indignities for trans people
• continuing our work with our international and European allies to advance LGBT+ rights and reinforce our position as a global leader on Human Rights once again.

In addition to this, Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary is now taking part in one of our biggest successes, the HIV opt out testing in emergency departments. During the last 27 months over 2 million HIV tests have been conducted through the programme, indicatively finding over 800 new HIV diagnoses and 540 people previously diagnosed with HIV but not in care.

We are also pleased that a number of primary care service providers in the North-East, particularly in South Shields and Jarrow, are part of the Pride in Practice scheme that is run by the LGBT Foundation. This scheme aims to improve the experiences of LGBT+ people when accessing primary care services. We would encourage primary care providers in the North-East to consider joining this scheme.

Finally, we recognise that LGBT+ people in rural communities have not always had access to the services they need. That is why we are working on ensuring that rural LGBT+ communities can access the support, healthcare and sense of community that larger cities enjoy. For example, our Conversion Practices Victim Support Service is a national service that anyone can access wherever they are in the country.