Regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, the Conservative Party’s long commitment to equality of opportunity is absolute. The Conservative Party has put LGBT people at the heart of our manifesto; there is no separate LGBT manifesto, just a plan that works for everyone.
Education
“We will continue to tackle all forms of bullying in our schools”.[1]
The Conservative Party has already committed £2m to find innovative ways of tackling homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic bullying in schools.[2]
We are committed to LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education. In a recent speech Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Rt Hon Nicky Morgan said:
"A good PSHE education should cover all of the skills and knowledge young people need to manage their lives, stay safe, make the right decisions, and thrive as individuals and members of modern society”[3]
Society
We will “Promote equal treatment and equal opportunity for all in a society proud of its tolerance and diversity”[4]
“Our historic introduction of gay marriage has helped drive forward equality and strengthened the institution of marriage. but there is still more to do, and we will continue to champion equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people. We will build on the posthumous pardon of Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide following his conviction for gross indecency, with a broader measure to lift the plight of outdated convictions of this nature. Thousands of British men still suffer from similar historical charges, even though they would be completely innocent of any crime today. Many others are dead and cannot correct this injustice themselves through the legal process we have introduced while in government. So we will introduce a new law that will pardon those people, and right these wrongs.”[5]
Foreign Aid and influence
David Cameron is our international ambassador for LGBT people. He has already raised difficult issues with President Putin and continues to advocate for LGBT rights wherever he goes.
The Conservative-led government has introduced a FCO programme for promoting the human rights of LGBT people[6] and continues to exert influence internationally.
We also Included a formal objective on progressing LGB&T equality in the UK chairmanship of the Council of Europe and ensured real progress was delivered on this agenda, as well as playing a leading part in the adoption of a UN Council resolution to ensure contrastive dialogue on the issue of discriminatory laws and particles of sexual violence against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Fighting crime and standing up for victims
We will “toughen sentencing and use new technology to protect the public”.[7]
“We will review the legislation governing hate crimes, including the case for extending the scope of the law to cover crimes committed against people on the basis of disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity.”[8]
Trans people
The Conservative-led government set out its commitment to trans people in the Transgender Action Plan[9]. In the plan we commit to a raft of measures, including:
- Ensuring schools and the NCS are an inclusive and safe environment for everyone including trans people
- Tackling transphobic bullying
- Support all transgender job seekers and provide additional pre-employment support
- Provide better guidance on pension entitlements and the implications of gender assessment for tax purposes
- Ensure all NHS commissioners and delivers comply with the Equality Duty and take active measures to create a care market more responsive to diverse needs and patient choice
- Develop a new national suicide prevention strategy and consider specific transgender interventions
The Passport Office was also recently directed to review whether gender neutral passports can be implemented. Baroness Stowell has committed a Conservative government to look further into this and follow the example of Australia:
“Clearly this is a very important topic. It’s certainly something I personally would want to explore and find out a bit more as to what the issues are that may be preventing us from making a decision.”[10]
[1] Conservative Party Manifesto - https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
[2] Department for Education and Skills - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-million-fund-to-tackle-homophobic-bullying-in-schools
[3] Bright Blue - http://brightblue.org.uk/index.php/medias/speeches
[4] Conservative Party Manifesto - https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
[5] Conservative Party Manifesto - https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
[6] Foreign and Commonwealth Office - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-fco-programme-for-promoting-the-human-rights-of-lgbt-people
[7] Conservative Party Manifesto - https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
[8] Conservative Party Manifesto - https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
[9] Transgender Action Plan - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85498/transgender-action-plan.pdf
[10] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gender-neutral-passports-move-a-step-closer-to-reality-after-labour-backing-10123734.html