green-party-lgbtiq-rights

Conference-goers pass 5 motions improving policy to support members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer, and Asexual community.

At their Spring Conference, this weekend just past, the Green Party of England and Wales overwhelmingly voted in favour of improving the Gender Recognition Act, the Equalities Act and Equal Marriage Act to better respect the rights of trans people.

The party also adopted a range of policy designed to improve LGBTIQ and wider sexual health including a policy on making Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which helps protect people vulnerable to HIV from developing the disease, available on the NHS, the extension of the HPV vaccines to boys and an increase of funding to HIV prevention. The calls come after sexual health charities slammed the government this week for the impact of cuts on HIV prevention. Huge local government cuts have starved many organisations of public health funding.

Following on from the Death of Leelah Alcorn in December 2014, who committed suicide following her family putting her through Conversion Therapy, the Green Party also passed policy to ban all LGBTIQA+ “cures” including Conversion Therapy. During Conference, Equalities (LGBTIQ) Spokesperson, Aimee Challenor, also signed an open letter to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), calling on them to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to prohibit Trans and Asexual Conversion Therapy, following BACP fellow revealing that the BACP were planning not to sign the new Memorandum of Understanding.

Green Party, Equalities (LGBTIQ) Spokesperson, Aimee Challenor, said;

It is wonderful to see Conference support the rights of LGBTIQA+ People through passing our new policy this weekend. We will be pushing for better Gender Recognition laws, so that we can tackle the barriers that prevent a lot of Trans people from gaining legal recognition. We will be pushing for PrEp to be available on the NHS, and for the HPV vaccine to be an option for boys, so that we can be keeping our entire community safe from HIV. We will be opposing the dangerous practices of LGBTIQA+ “cures” that put lives in danger. The Green Party has a history of pushing for LGBTIQA+ rights, and the passing of these motions helps further our support for the LGBTIQA+ community. By working together, we can improve our future.

The new policies, which were all written by LGBTIQA+ people keep the Green Party of England and Wales at the forefront of LGBTIQA+ rights.