LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Greens are to launch the party's LGBT policies this Friday (26) at the Brighton Tavern.
Phelim MacCafferty, National Chair of LGBT Greens, said:
“Fresh from our Spring conference where the Green Party became the first and
only political party to officially support gay marriage and an end to the ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places
of worship, we are announcing our key campaigning policies for the General Election.
“
There are 6 core areas which we view as key cornerstones of our LGBT General Election manifesto:
(1) Open up civil marriages and civil partnerships, without
discrimination, to both same-sex and opposite sex couples.
(2) Require all police forces to have LGBT Liaison Officers with paid time allocated within their
work schedules to tackle homophobic and transphobic hate crime.
(3) End the blanket, lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donors.
(4) Amend the Equality Bill/Act to provide explicit protection
against harassment to LGBT people.
(5) Refuse visas and work permits to "murder music" singers and others who incite homophobic and
transphobic violence.
(6) Ensure safe haven and refugee status for LGBT people fleeing persecution in violently
homophobic and transphobic counties.
“Leading human rights activist, Peter Tatchell and
Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas MEP, along with local and national LGBT activists and supporters will address some of these
key areas of the manifesto.
“Our launch will coincide with the Conservatives’
Spring conference which is also in Brighton- we will highlight the Tories’ continuous failure to commit to LGBT equality,
whether that’s over the Shadow Cabinet’s votes against access to fertility treatment for lesbian and bi women or David
Cameron’s own vote against gay adoption. 85 per cent of those eligible in the Conservative Shadow Cabinet voted for the hated
homophobic Section 28 while 90% voted against an equal age of consent and today Tories continue to oppose the Equalities Bill in
the House of Lords.
“While the Conservatives voted against Clause 61 of the Coroners & Justice Bill,
(outlawing homophobic hate speech), Greens are using the general election period and our specific LGBT manifesto to send out a
clear call that homophobic and transphobic crimes need, urgently, to be dealt with on a par with racist crimes.
“On education policy, a core part of Conservative
policy is to allow any group of parents who wish to set up a school to receive state funding. This despite figures from the
National Secular Society who warn that there is a large rise in religious fundamentalist schools when this happens which in
turn means a large increase in homophobic bullying- 10 per cent worse in faith schools. This stands in sharp contrast to the
Green Party’s position in our manifesto to remove special treatment allowing faith schools to promote homophobia on the
grounds of religion.
“The Conservative Party are distinctly quiet on what
happens to the subject of law and order and LGBT people- despite a large increase of attacks on LGBTs in the last year.
Greens are using the general election period to call for all police forces to have equality and diversity liaison officers
whose remit is to tackle, and take preventive action on crimes against LGBT people."
Peter Tatchell said:
“The Green Party will go into the General Election as the only party campaigning for
marriage and partnership equality. We are calling for civil marriages and civil partnerships to be open to both same-sex and
opposite sex couples, without discrimination. We reaffirm our opposition to the blanket, lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men
donating blood. Our manifesto commitments show up the shortcomings of the other parties.”
Caroline Lucas, Leader of the Green Party, stated:
“We are delighted to be
proudly launching a specific manifesto which will put on centre stage the Green Party’s firm commitment to LGBT equality.
We will use the period up to the manifesto to promote re-writing of the Mental Health Act to remove trans people from the
Psychiatric Disorder Register and lobby for training for head teachers to create safe environments for LGBT
staff and students.”
The launch takes place Friday February, 26 at 6.30pm at The Brighton Tavern,
100 Gloucester Road, Brighton.
Courtesy of the Green Party