When we talk about LGBT History Month, we might often think it’s about looking back, about remembering injustices that happened in the distant past, about celebrating progress made, and about telling ourselves that society has moved on to a much more tolerant place.
Unfortunately, the truth is much more difficult than that. The injustices we’re supposed to be remembering and commemorating are still happening right now.
Across the world, the LGBT community is facing increasing hostility, criminalisation, persecution, and violence. In far too many countries, being gay is still a crime, and in some, it carries lengthy prison sentences or even the death penalty. Trans and gender-diverse people are being singled out in particular, with laws being crafted and designed to segregate them from public life altogether.
Whilst it would be couthie and comforting to think that this is all happening somewhere else, we cannot kid ourselves. The very same exclusionary narratives are turning up closer to home, and bad faith actors are rearing their heads across these isles.
Indeed, here in the UK, trans people are being pushed out of spaces they’ve been part of for years. Organisations that want to stay inclusive are being dragged through the courts for it. Groups like Girlguiding and the Women’s Institute have ended the long-standing inclusion of trans members. Having spoken with them directly, I know that it is not because they wanted to but because they felt forced into it by legal uncertainty.
It is a sad indictment of things here in the UK when public money and charity budgets are being burnt on defending basic inclusion. Unless the UK government steps in with urgent clarity, it will keep happening, whatever the courts decide in individual cases.
The Equality Act was never meant to work like this – inclusion was always the norm, and exclusion and discrimination were meant to be stamped out. Turning that on its head risks forcing businesses and services to police everybody’s gender – with suggestions that this should be done based on looks alone. This is dangerous, this is unworkable, and it puts women at risk of further misogynistic abuse, all whilst doing absolutely nothing to make anyone safer.
Unfortunately, we are already seeing where this road will take us. In parts of the United States, these new so-called “bathroom bans” have caused immense harm to trans people and anyone who doesn’t fit into traditional gender stereotypes – all this without improving safety for women at all – and in Hungary, there have been recent bans on Pride events and LGBT+ organisations. We cannot allow the very same bad faith actors to import this to our shores. That would be a colossal mistake.
LGBT History Month matters because it reminds us that progress is fragile. And yes, of course we should celebrate what has been won over the years – the repeal of Section 28, equalising the age of consent, lifting the ban on LGBT people serving in the military, and marriage equality. These were all hard-fought victories, and we truly are standing on the shoulders of giants, but we also need to be honest about where we are now. The UK has slipped down international rankings on LGBT rights, and fewer than half of LGBT people feel safe holding their partner’s hand in public. This is not okay. Far too many still feel they must hide who they are at work, and, following the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland vs the Scottish Ministers, many trans and non-binary people are feeling anxious about whether they’ll be welcome anywhere at all.
As I have already said, this isn’t auld history; this is the unfortunate reality folk are experiencing right now.
And whilst it is absolutely vital that we listen to LGBT people – especially those who face multiple layers of discrimination – it is not right to expect marginalised communities to carry the full weight of pushing back on this all on their own – allies have a responsibility too, and that means amplifying voices, asking what support is needed, and using our platforms to build bridges.
During LGBT+ History Month, the UK Government can reaffirm its commitment to human rights, democracy strengthening, security and international leadership on LGBT+ inclusion. This continues to matter because equality doesn’t just happen overnight. It must be defended, renewed, and fought for – by every generation.
If we treat these issues as something that only happened in the past, we risk repeating the same patterns and causing untold harm again.
