Theres Nothing Liberal About Transphobia

Conference Notes 1. That LGBT+ Liberal Democrats has a strong history of representation of the transgender community, and that two current members of their executive are trans women. 2. That the Liberal Democrats are the first and so far only party to have elected transgender representatives. 3. That the fates of the LGB community and the transgender community are inexorably linked; for example, the bill that prohibited same-sex marriages in 1973 was designed to nullify the marriage of April Ashley, a transgender woman who married a man. 4. That the parliamentary party also have a history of supporting transgender rights, including the first attempt at a Gender Recognition Bill in 1996. 5. That during the Committee and Report Stages of the current Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill, that LGBT+ Liberal Democrats members helped author, and that members of the parliamentary party proposed and supported amendments to rectify concerns of the transgender community, including regarding marriage restoration, the spousal veto, and pensions. 6. That Sarah Brown, among other members of the transgender community, repeatedly met with members of the Civil Service and Government ministers, without success, to gain support for the above amendments. 7. That those amendments were withdrawn due to lack of support, but not without Julian Huppert securing approximately an hour to debate them. 8. That in 2006, Liberal Youth helped lead the way in anti-homophobia with the Homophobia is Gay campaign. 9. That the Government has launched the first Transgender Action Plan to seek to represent transgender people better in the law. 10. That the transgender community faces widespread daily prejudice, leading to large rates of mental health issues, discrimination, and hate crime. 11. That certain issues, including #TransDocFail, the Julie Burchill saga in The Observer, and the suicide of Lucy Meadows, have caused a wider exposure, appreciation, and understanding of transgender activism and transgender issues. Conference Believes 1. That there is nothing liberal about transphobia. 2. That the Government and Civil Service attitude to trans-friendly amendments to the Marriage Bill exposes a wider institutional transphobia. 3. That transgender people are part of our society and part of our party, and we should campaign for them simply because it is the right thing to do. 4. That it was wrong for the previous Government to refuse to allow transgender people to keep their marriages, that it was wrong for them to then dilute their own Gender Recognition Act to cater to bigots, and that it is wrong for the Government to refuse to rectify these previous mistakes. 5. That it is not enough for those in power to make statements on transgender issues, and that it is their responsibility to take action on those statements. 6. That there is nothing incompatible with the freedom of speech and steadfastly challenging transphobia.

Conference Resolves 1. To commend uncountable members of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats for their tireless campaigning on transgender issues and against transphobia. 2. To commend Julian Huppert, and several other MPs both in and out of the party, for their speeches on the floor of the House of Commons. 3. To campaign for this Government and future Governments, without delay, to rectify the issues raised by the transgender community regarding the Marriage Bill and other Acts of Parliament. 4. To campaign for a fairer deal for transgender people, for fairer gender recognition, for fairer healthcare provision, and for a fairer society. 5. To work within the party, especially with LGBT+ Liberal Democrats for a transgender inclusive parliamentary manifesto in 2015 and beyond. 6. To encourage more transgender people, in Liberal Youth and the party as a whole, to run for positions of power, and to run for elected office if they are able to do so. 7. To work with other organisations, including the National Union of Students, Trans Media Watch, Press for Change, Mermaids, et al., on the issue of transphobia within society.