Free To Be Who You Are
The Lib Dems are proud to be the party that fought for equal marriage, led the campaign against Conservatives' damaging 'Section 28', and spearheaded the campaign to pardon Alan Turing and thousands of gay men who had been criminalised for loving who they loved. Standing up for the LGBTQ+ community is a key part of being a Liberal Democrat and speaking up for others will always be at the heart of everything we do. The freedom to live your life as the person that you are, secure in the knowledge that their fundamental rights will be protected, is not a lot to ask.
But in our country there are still too many people for whom that is an aspiration.
Our LGBTQ+ community faces prejudice, discrimination and hostility simply because of who they are. Their health care, their housing, even their education can all be affected. But this weekend Portsmouth Lib Dems, and Lib Dems from around the country, recommitted to the ongoing fight for equality in all areas of life as we passed our 'Free To Be Who You Are' policy paper, setting out an ambitious vision for how our government should deliver a positive future for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. With Lib Dems in your council and in parliament, we can promise there will always be a strong voice working towards our goal of a society where nobody's life chances are limited or constrained because of who they are.
We're proud of our record on standing standing for the LGBTQ+ community in Portsmouth and around the country. As Portsmouth's former Young Person's Champion - speaking up for LGBTQ+ young people in our city - I've seen the impact our support has, including the council's work with young people and our support of Portsmouth Pride's bid to bring UK Pride to our city.
Claire Udy, Equality and Diversity Officer
Our party had been pushing to lift the ban on men who have sex with men's ability to donate blood for over 15 years by the time it finally happened in 2021. That is the proud tradition of which we are the keepers. We know there is still a lot to do but each step is important to progress in achieving that free and fair society.
The measures we voted through today will mean:
- Ensuring LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic abuse and hate crime get the support they deserve, including by delivering training for police and support services
- Ending anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in social care, by commissioning an urgent investigation into anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in social care with recommendations on how to prevent it.
- Banning medically unnecessary, non-consensual treatments or surgeries for intersex infants and children.
- Pushing for all integrated care boards in England to immediately remove the requirement for lesbian couples to pay for artificial insemination before accessing NHS-funded IVF services.
- Banning all forms of conversion “therapies” and practices.
- Implementing a new LGBTQ+ Action Plan to coordinate cross-government work on delivering LGBTQ+ equality.
As Lib Dems we believe that true equality is achieved when individuals are not only free from prejudice and discrimination, but also free to fulfil their potential. So fighting for LGBTQ+ rights is not a choice we make. It is who we are.