Pride Month

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Thursday 1st July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate, in the excellent company of SNP colleagues and others across the House, particularly the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Dan Carden), who made a speech today that will change people’s lives. A lot of speakers in this debate have spoken from personal experience, and I cannot say that I do. I rise, however, because it matters that all of us speak up and speak out.

Like the hon. Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle) I am a feminist, and I see no contradiction between that and my support for LGBT rights and issues. In fact, I believe that all of our rights are imperilled by any attempts to erode the rights of any minority groups. Where things are now feels very much like a tale of two halves; yes, we have much to be positive about, but I have serious concerns, which have been expressed eloquently by others, about issues here and further afield.

I am concerned, for example, about the shameful situation in Hungary, which has been described many times today. While I am on that topic, let me tell UEFA that its decision not to permit the stadium in Munich to be lit up in Pride colours was shocking; its decision was a political one, regardless of how it chose to spin it, and that is not acceptable.

In America under Trump, we saw a deeply damaging rolling back of rights and protections for LGBT citizens. I am glad that a different approach is starting to become evident now, but although that change of tone is welcome, it also demonstrates clearly that we cannot take anything for granted on rights, particularly given the concerted efforts by people who are intent on distributing misinformation, which many Members have clearly described.

It is will be no surprise if I tell the House that I am firmly committed to Scottish independence. I would like us to be independent now—or preferably yesterday. I cannot wait for the referendum, which we will be having soon. I want Scottish independence because I believe we can have a more equal, open country. Crucial to that is being fair. My Scottish National party colleagues will know the following quote, which was popularised by Alasdair Gray and is inscribed on the wall outside the Scottish Parliament:

“Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation”.

That is what I want to see: a better, fairer, more equal, inclusive country, where diversity is celebrated. Scotland has been helping to lead the way on LGBT equality. The SNP Government have a strong record of advancing and championing LGBT rights. They have delivered the most progressive and extensive equal marriage legislation, and the reformed blood donation rules, which we have heard about. It was good to hear from my hon. Friend the Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (John Nicolson) about his work on the Turing Bill, which the Scottish Government enacted—and I could go on. The thing is that that all these great strides need to be our incentive to keep on and to do more.

What we have heard about the current climate is why education matters so much. I wish to mention the work of the TIE campaign; the more our young folk are helped and equipped to understand difference in a sensible, positive and inclusive way, the better. I have said to my teenagers before that there were no LGBT people in my school, which they found hard to believe; I went to quite a big school and if I think about that now, I know that that cannot possibly have been true. Yet that was the late 1980s and the days of section 28, and there were apparently no LGBT students. Of course I keep up with a number of school friends and it turns out that that patently was not the case; a number of them are actually gay but they were not able to say that as young people, because goodness knows what would have happened—whatever it was, it would not have been good.

We have come a long way in many respects, which is very welcome. Despite that, I am very aware that things are still not always easy, and education is crucial in making sure that young people know that they are grand, whoever they are, however they are. It is really important that others around them hear that too and that there are visible role models for them, such as the hon. Members here today, and champions such as Christina McKelvie, the Scottish Government Minister for Equalities and Older People, who is a tireless and inspiring advocate for equality, and Out for Independence, the SNP LBGT group. As we have heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith), our Out for Independence convenor Leeze Lawrence sadly died a couple of weeks ago, and I am sure that people in this Chamber would want to send their sympathies to her family and friends.

One thing I want to be very explicit about today, because it is, sadly, necessary—I am not the only one who has said that—is that I am very aware of the toxic environment in relation to trans people, particularly, but not only, online. It is something that I have had a number of discussions about lately, and I am grateful to people who have given me their time. I want to say very clearly that nobody’s identity should ever be up for debate. There should be no excuse for transphobia or for the othering or monstering of a group of people who are simply going about their lives—a group of people who may already be facing challenging situations and who are already marginalised.

Trans people should feel safe, secure and welcome; surely that is just the bare minimum that any of us should expect. In reality, I am heartsore at some of the utter bile that I have seen. It is disgraceful, and we need to call it out and step up and deal with it where possible. To be clear: the SNP welcomes trans people. We are glad to have you and we have committed and are committed to making sure that that is a reality. Although it is not always as straightforward as it should be, we will persist. I want to live, and I want my children to live, in a Scotland where everyone is safe and all our LGBT communities are safe, welcome and playing a full part in making our country the best it can be. For that to be possible, people have to be able to be themselves.

I have previously spoken at length about conversion therapy—as have others today—and how abhorrent it is. Nobody needs to be converted from being themselves. We should not accept that that is okay in any way. The harms that have been caused by so-called conversion therapy—because, of course, it is not a therapy—are terrible. We need to see the progress that the UK Government have promised, and we need to see it soon. To be clear: the SNP fully supports a ban. We know that making a ban fully comprehensive involves powers in reserved areas, so we would like the UK Government to get a move on and do what they said they were going to do. If they do not, the Scottish Government will look to move forward with their own legislation, within the powers that sit in the Scottish Parliament.

I conclude where I started: there are challenges, but when I look around the Chamber today I see that there is also much to be positive about, and we should celebrate that. We do, though, need to work on making sure that everyone has the ability to live freely, just as themselves. That really would be something we could all be proud of.