Lesbian Visibility Week
Ashley Dalton Excerpts(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Ashley Dalton (West Lancashire) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Kate Osborne) on securing this debate, the first on Lesbian Visibility Week in parliamentary time. I congratulate her on her inclusion in the DIVA 2024 power list. Her sharing of her coming out story today was generous and powerful. She also reminded us of all the trailblazers and giants upon whose shoulders we stand. She also talked about the homophobic abuse she faces on a daily basis, and I applaud her for her courage and insistence that she will not be silenced.
My hon. Friend the Member for Brent Central (Dawn Butler) talked about the importance of everyone being able to be their authentic selves. I was also struck by what my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) said about how, as lesbians, we have often been more hidden than she thought, because for so long lesbians were not noticed, not considered and marginalised; we were not seen even when we were not hiding.
As has been said, Lesbian Visibility Week was founded in 2020 by Linda Riley, the publisher of DIVA magazine. It is a global event that aims to celebrate LGBT+ women and non-binary people everywhere, and to increase lesbian visibility. Today is an opportunity for us to reflect upon the history of lesbian Members of this place, to celebrate the progress that has been made to make Britain a better place in which to live as a lesbian, and to recognise the issues that our community still faces and the progress that is still to be made.
When I was young, lesbian role models were few and far between; being openly gay was just not something that was present in the public psyche, and I could not then imagine a lesbian being able to exist, never mind be happy. Lesbian Visibility Week is an opportunity for us to celebrate not only that we exist, but that we are a diverse community. We do not all look like each other, behave like each other and agree with each other, but more often than not we can be united, although we are not uniform; fundamentally, you cannot tell by looking.
Today’s debate is a chance to usualise us, and to show that lesbians are everywhere and not in niche, discrete communities. We are in workplaces, communities, schools, churches, temples, synagogues, mosques and families, and, yes, we are in Parliament too. How many times are lesbians expected to ‘”blend in”, keep our heads down and not make a point of our sexuality and whom we love? Without being visible, our identity is hidden, and when we are so hidden, it confirms assumptions that we are somehow shameful. That is why Lesbian Visibility Week is so important. We must be included for who we are, not for fitting in. Once no one looks twice at two women holding hands in public, once no one raises an eyebrow when your wife picks you up from work, when a child’s teachers are not surprised when two mothers arrive for parents’ evening and when people are not looking at the clothes we wear or the length of our hair to decide whether or not we are lesbians, that is when lesbians are becoming equitable. It is not so much about being accepted as being expected. I want my being a lesbian to be un-noteworthy, not because no one has noticed, but because it is usual.
Since today’s debate is the first in this place to celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week, it seems only right to recognise the first out lesbian Member of this place; Maureen Colquhoun, who died in 2021, was one of merely 23 women elected in the February 1974 election. Not only was she the first woman to come out as a lesbian while an MP, but she was the first MP to come out at all. I never met Maureen, but she was a trailblazer and she never hid who she was, even in the face of some of the worst discrimination, including from within my party. A feminist and a fierce campaigner for women’s rights, Maureen openly stated that her sexuality ruined her political career. Deselected by her local Labour Party in Northampton North, Maureen was reinstated by the national executive of the Labour party just before the 1979 election, but ultimately she lost her seat as the country went to the polls. Maureen rightly takes her place in Labour party history and parliamentary history, and I am proud that we are able to celebrate her as part of this debate today.
However, after Maureen’s election in 1974, Parliament would have to wait a staggering 23 years until my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), whom I am delighted to see has just entered the Chamber, became the second out lesbian on the green Benches, coming out in 1997. Thanks to those women trailblazers and those who have come since, it has been possible for me to believe I could be here too.
Living as a lesbian in 2024 is vastly different from living as a lesbian in 1974, and I am pleased to say that since then my party and this place have made significant progress on lesbian and LGBT+ rights. I am glad that progress has been made in recent years. I welcome the Government’s expansion of the scope of the Turing law to include lesbians who were wrongly convicted of homosexuality while serving in the military. As a Christian, I am delighted that same-sex couples are finally able to receive blessings from the Church of England.
Looking around the world, we see progress in other countries too. 2024 is the year that Greece, Estonia and Latvia are legalising same-sex marriage, and in Dominica homosexual activity has been decriminalised and the age of consent equalised. But there are challenges too. In Russia, displaying the Pride flag has become a criminal offence, and in Uganda, simply identifying as LGBT+ is illegal, showing just how far there is still to go for LGBT+ people, including lesbians, to feel safe to be who they are.
There are still many disparities and discriminations here at home. The Government cannot seem to decide whether or not to bring forward a Bill to ban conversion therapy. Two weeks ago, it was reported that the Prime Minister was killing it off, but a week later it was said that the Minister for Women and Equalities was still working on it. The position changes depending on whoever was last asked. The fact remains that the Government are still kicking a Bill on conversion therapy into the long grass, with no expectation that it will make it on to the statute book during this Parliament, despite its being promised six years and four Tory Prime Ministers ago.
Inequality has soared under the Conservatives. Fourteen years of low growth and their reckless gamble, which cost households thousands, has affected everyone, but women, including lesbians, have been brutally exposed to the cost of living crisis, thanks to a complete failure to close the gender pay gap and a failure to create a working environment that works for women with caring responsibilities. Lesbians and GBT+ people have been let down by a Conservative Government that killed off their own LGBT action plan, disbanded their LGBT advisory panel, cancelled their international LGBT conference and have still not honoured their promise to ban the insidious practice of conversion therapy. Instead of standing up for LGBT+ rights and bringing people together, the Conservatives have stoked a culture war and pitted different groups against each other.
When Labour left office in 2010, life in Britain for LGBT+ people, including lesbians, had been completely transformed. The last Labour Government repealed the appalling section 28, introduced civil partnerships, paving the way for equal marriage, and ended the ban on LGBT+ people serving in our armed forces. Labour equalised the age of consent, gave LGBT+ couples the right to adopt, introduced the Equality Act 2010 and made homophobia a hate crime. I am proud to take my place here today as a Labour Member and a lesbian, with the record of the last Labour Government behind me and standing on the shoulders of the brave women and men who made this country a safer and more hospitable place for lesbians and all LGBT+ people to grow up, work, love and thrive in. The next Labour Government will continue to build on that work.
LGBT History Month
Ashley Dalton Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Ashley Dalton (West Lancashire) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle) on securing this important debate, and thank them both for their efforts in doing so. [Interruption.] Have I done something wrong?
Ashley Dalton
Oh, I assumed you were! Apologies.
LGBT History Month is an opportunity for us to look back and remember what we have achieved. My hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey highlighted the fact that it is an opportunity to know our history so that we might be less likely to repeat its mistakes, and pointed out that the Government’s LGBT action plan and advisory panel are now things of LGBT history—perhaps not the kind of history we would want. As the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington pointed out, LGBT people have been around since time immemorial. We are not new. But we are still debating LGBT rights on at least an annual basis, and we must be ever vigilant about how fragile the rights we do have can be.
LGBT History Month is also an opportunity to reflect on the current state of LGBT+ rights both at home and overseas, and there is much to celebrate. I am delighted that same-sex couples can finally receive at least a blessing from the Church of England. Religion and religious expression is as intrinsic to the identity of some people as sexuality. The fact that same-sex relationships can now be recognised by the Church of England is a long-awaited milestone for the LGBT+ community, and one we all hope will be followed by more progress in this area in the years to come.
I was also pleased that the Government decided last summer to expand the scheme to pardon people who served in the military and were convicted of homosexual activity, including allowing female veterans to wipe their offences from the record. Sexuality is not a crime, as the last Labour Government recognised when they first lifted the ban on LGBT+ people serving in the armed forces in 2000. I am glad that the Government issued an apology to all LGBT+ personnel impacted by the ban. It is a step in the right direction, but we are still waiting for news on the progress of financial reparations and other recommendations in the independent review. Will the Minister provide an update on that today?
In Europe there have been several advancements in LGBT+ rights that are worth highlighting. Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage in February, and Latvia will join its neighbour Estonia in legalising same-sex marriage this year. Several European states, including Norway, Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland and Belgium, have achieved what this country has so far failed to do by passing bans on so-called conversion therapy across their nations. It is with much disappointment that I mark LGBT History Month in this House today with no ban on conversion practices on our statute book.
However, the international picture on LGBT+ rights is far more mixed. Across the globe, LGBT+ individuals remain criminalised, persecuted and at risk of death. Last month, Russia began enforcing new legislation criminalising the display of “extremist symbols” such as the pride flag. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines last month, courts upheld laws criminalising gay sex, while in Uganda, as has been noted, merely identifying as LGBT was criminalised in 2023.
In some nations where the legal system may not directly persecute or diminish the rights of LGBT+ people, societal attitudes may do so. In South Africa, which remains the only nation in Africa where same-sex marriage is legal, 59% of South Africans still oppose same-sex marriage. Similarly, a minority of the Greek public supported gay marriage when polled late last year. Those figures are a stark reminder that although legal progress may have been made, the LGBT+ community continues to face the same or similar attitudes to the ones that once legally prohibited the free expression of our sexuality.
My hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova), who is no longer in her place, raised the recent recognition of Mildmay Mission Hospital in the renaming of London underground lines, and its deep connection with the LGBT community through its provision of services to those affected by HIV and AIDS, particularly at a time when prejudice was rife, even in our NHS.
Last summer marked a decade since same-sex marriage was introduced in this country—a significant moment for the LGBT+ community—but many LGBT+ people will not feel able to celebrate that anniversary, because although it is welcome that anti-LGBT+ hate crimes have fallen 5% over the past year, hate crimes motivated by transphobia have increased by 11% over the same time, and the rate of violent hate crimes targeting all groups has not fallen.
My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) mentioned the importance of venues in providing safe places for LGBT people to meet, congregate, socialise, network and build a community. The hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald) highlighted the importance of role models, particularly in sport and popular culture, for young people who are LGBT—and, I would argue, also for those who are not. Too many members of the LGBT+ community still do not feel able to be who they are in public, and hide their identity or sexuality. The statistics on anti-LGBT hate crime do not tell even half the story, because the Government’s own figures acknowledge that 90% of anti-LGBT hate crime goes unreported.
It is the responsibility of us all in this place to make our country a safer place for LGBT+ people. Last week, we had an opportunity in Parliament to start the ball rolling on an inclusive ban on conversion practices. I am glad to see the Minister here for this debate. I know that he has personally been very supportive of a ban, so it was a shame that he could not be in the Chamber last Friday.
My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth also told us about the large and rapid decrease in people saying they are not prejudiced against trans people. We have to consider how the language and leadership, or lack of it, shown on the Government Benches might contribute to that. My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Olivia Blake) reminded us that the shift in public opinion in the late 1980s away from general support to more negative views of LGBT people and same-sex relationships came in the context of the section 28 debate. That is a reminder that progress is not inevitable and that we can go backwards as well as forwards.
It appears that the Government have no immediate plans to bring a ban on conversion practices to the House. Will the Minister tell us whether he supported the Bill last Friday? The Government may choose to sit on their draft conversion therapy Bill for fear of unleashing a Back-Bench rebellion that could bring down the Prime Minister, but Labour has a proud record of leading the way on LGBT+ rights. It was Labour that repealed the appalling section 28; introduced civil partnerships, which paved the way to equal marriage; ended the ban on LGBT+ people serving in our armed forces; equalised the age of consent; gave LGBT+ couples the right to adopt; introduced the Equality Act; made homophobia a hate crime; and brought forward the Gender Recognition Act. That record made our country a safer and more hospitable place for LGBT+ people to grow up, work, love and thrive. The next Labour Government will continue that work.
It is Labour that will legislate to give longer sentences to criminals found guilty of LGBT+-motivated hate crimes, deliver a new deal for workers that tackles the workplace harassment of LGBT+ people, and put a full loophole-free trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices on the statute books. It is Labour that will always treat LGBT+ people fairly and with dignity, respect and, crucially, equality.
Oral Answers to Questions
Ashley Dalton Excerpts(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Kevin Hollinrake
My right hon. Friend raises an important point that this Department has looked at carefully. We are concerned about the impact of the withdrawal of that tax concession on businesses, not just for these businesses themselves, but for the other businesses that rely on foreign visitors—I am talking about hoteliers, restauranteurs and so on. We are keen to look at this matter. The Chancellor committed in his autumn statement to review the evidence to see what impact this was having. We will look at that with great interest and make our views known strongly to the Exchequer.
Ashley Dalton (West Lancashire) (Lab)
Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)
The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Greg Hands)
The Government’s export support for SMEs includes the export support service; the export academy; more than 400 export champions; our network of nearly 200 trade advisers; and support provided around the world through the international market service. Just last week, my noble Friend the Minister with responsibility for exports announced that UK Export Finance is introducing more flexible fast-track financing for SMEs, making it easier than ever for UK firms to sell into international markets.
Ashley Dalton
Last week, I welcomed the Duke of Gloucester to my constituency to award local SME GaraDry the King’s award for enterprise for its innovation in international trade. How can such businesses have confidence in the Government’s support for SMEs when Britain’s export growth is among the worst of the G7 economies and is forecast to be falling?
Greg Hands
I certainly welcome the royal visit that the hon. Lady had in her constituency; it is always fantastic to see that support, particularly for exporters. However, I think she is a bit off on the data. When we look at export data, we see that we had £877 billion-worth of exports in the 12 months to the end of September 2023. We are heading towards the £1 trillion export target, and that figure is up by almost £200 billion—or 29%—on the figure from five years ago, which was before Brexit.
Section 28 Repeal: 20th Anniversary
Ashley Dalton Excerpts(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Stuart Andrew
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am just scribbling out the word “soon” and putting—
Stuart Andrew
In due course, indeed. I remain deeply committed to tackling these issues. I hope that that is known. I promise that work is still going on in this really complex area. We will be setting out further details in due course. I know that that is frustrating— I get it—and I am aware that the uncertainty around next steps in this space and how this has been reported in the media and on social media will have been really difficult for some. These sensitive issues must be discussed in a respectful and tolerant way, in line with our shared values. But I do absolutely accept the point that colleagues are making.