Latest news with #PrideOrganisers
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Glasgow Pride bans political parties over gender ruling inaction
Glasgow Pride has banned political parties from this year's festival over a perceived lack of action in response to the recent Supreme Court gender ruling. Organisers said politicians had failed to speak out or provide clarity after the UK's highest court said a woman was defined by biological sex under equality law. Parties will not be allowed to register for a space or host a stall at the annual LGBT+ march on 19 July, with politicians banned from making follows announcements earlier this week by Pride groups in Birmingham, Brighton, London and Manchester in a gesture of solidarity with the transgender community. The Glasgow parade has attracted as many as 50,000 people in recent can still attend the event, but will be expected to do so as individuals or as elected representatives of their local community rather than their organising committee acknowledged that many politicians had been very supportive of the event in the past. But it said it had been forced to act in response to a "lack of action and delay of comment from parties" in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. In a statement posted on social media it said resulting uncertainty had created "mass confusion" over use of essential services, affecting the privacy, dignity and safety of a vulnerable section of its community. "This has even resulted in cis women being challenged for going into a female toilet because they have a short haircut," the statement added. The Supreme Court ruling marked the culmination of a long legal battle, after the Scottish government argued that transgender people with a gender recognition certificate are entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women. The judges unanimously agreed with the campaign group For Women Scotland which argued that sex was defined by biology under the 2010 Equality Act. While the ruling was welcomed by some campaigners representing lesbian, gay and bisexual people who say it protects single-sex groups, others shared concerns about the impact on the trans community. Politicians including Nicola Sturgeon, Sir Keir Starmer, Boris Johnson and Sir Ed Davey have previously attended Pride marches throughout the Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, a prominent advocate of transgender rights, said he understood the decision by Glasgow Pride. "As both a politician and someone who has been out since before my first election and has never shied away from standing up to prejudice, I feel ashamed of how politics in this country is letting down my own community," he said. "I am of course disappointed at this decision, but the betrayal of our human rights by most political parties is the cause of this horrendous situation, and I fully respect the right of Pride organisers to make this decision."Some UK organisations - including in sport and politics - have changed or updated their policies around single-sex teams and spaces such as toilets and changing rooms in response to the Supreme Court ruling. An interim update from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which enforces equalities law and provides guidance to policymakers, has said access to such spaces must be based on biological sex.
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Political parties banned from Pride events after UK gender ruling
The UK's largest Pride organisers have suspended political party participation in their events in 'unequivocal solidarity' with the transgender community. In a joint statement, the organisers of Pride events in Birmingham, Brighton, London and Manchester said the move was a 'direct call for accountability and a refusal to platform those who have not protected our rights' after the UK supreme court ruling last month. The highest court in the UK ruled that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer only to a biological woman and to biological sex. Five judges ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the act did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates. The UK government said the ruling brought 'clarity and confidence' for women and those who run hospitals, sports clubs and women's refuges. The Pride organisers said: 'As the organisers of the UK's largest Pride events in Birmingham, Brighton, London and Manchester, we come together today in unequivocal solidarity with our trans community. 'We are united not only in message, but in purpose. At a time when trans rights in the UK are under growing attack, our resolve has never been stronger: we will not allow progress to be undone. 'We will not stand by as the dignity, safety and humanity of our trans siblings are debated, delayed or denied.' The organisers called on the UK to be a 'global leader in human rights and equality', adding: 'We need every political party to stand unequivocally with every member of the LGBTQ+ community, and to centre the voices of trans people in policy, practice and public life.' The organisers want protections for trans people under the Equality Act, access to NHS gender-affirming healthcare, a reformed gender recognition certificate process and funding for trans-led services and support organisations across the UK. Fourteen national LGBTQ+ charities wrote to Keir Starmer seeking an urgent meeting to discuss what they describe as 'a genuine crisis for the rights, dignity and inclusion of trans people in the UK' after the supreme court's ruling. Gender-critical campaigners said the ruling was as a 'huge reset' that left them feeling 'vindicated and relieved'. Susan Smith, a co-director of the campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought the case to the supreme court, said: 'Gender reassignment is a protected characteristic, and it is still protected. But saying that women were just some amorphous collection of people and it was an identity anyone could have, it was really downplaying the very real and different issues that affect men and women.' Maya Forstater, who founded the campaign group Sex Matters after she won an employment tribunal that found she had been unfairly discriminated against because of her gender-critical beliefs, said the ruling brought 'relief, vindication, happiness and pride'. She said the court judgment was about 'recognising rules and reality'. 'If you're a man, you can call yourself what you like, you can dress how you like, but you cannot work in a rape crisis centre, you cannot go into a woman's changing room,' she said.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
UK Pride groups suspend involvement of political parties
Four of the UK's largest Pride organisations have suspended political parties' involvement in their events in "unequivocal solidarity" with the transgender Brighton, London and Manchester Prides announced that political parties would not be welcome at their events in an official capacity until they demonstrated a "tangible commitment to trans rights".The announcement comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the term "woman" in the Equality Act was defined by biological ruling was welcomed by some campaigners representing lesbian, gay and bisexual people who say it protects single-sex groups, while others shared concerns about the impact on the trans community. A statement from the group of Pride organisers said there was a "disturbing global trend... where LGBTQ+ rights are being systematically rolled back".It said: "The UK must not follow this path of regression. Instead, it must rise as a global leader in human rights and equality."It said the Supreme Court ruling "underscores the urgent need for immediate action". "In this moment, we choose to stand firmer, louder, and prouder in demanding change that protects and uplifts trans lives," it said the move to suspend political party participation was a "refusal to platform those who have not protected our rights".The recent Supreme Court ruling clarified existing equality laws, and means that the term "woman" in the Equality Act refers solely to biological legal dispute began in 2018, when the Scottish Parliament passed a bill designed to ensure gender balance on public sector Women Scotland complained that ministers had included transgender people as part of the quotas in that the ruling they said women could "now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women".The ruling was also welcomed by some other gender critical groups including Scottish Lesbians, which describes itself as a grassroots campaigning organisation with around 70 members, made up of "lesbians of all ages across Scotland."Directors of the group, which made submissions to the Supreme Court in the case, told the BBC: "The Supreme Court decision, which was a clarification of existing law, protects the rights of lesbians as same-sex attracted women."As lesbians we're very relieved that our rights have been protected, and disappointed that Pride has once again abandoned lesbians."Some UK organisations - including in sport and politics - have changed or updated their policies around single-sex teams and spaces such as toilets and changing rooms in response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which enforces equalities law and provides guidance to policymakers, issued interim guidance for service providers which said access to such spaces must be based on biological EHRC said the impact of the ruling was that "if somebody identifies as trans, they do not change sex for the purposes of the [Equality] Act, even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC)".In this respect, the EHRC says, "a trans woman is a biological man" and "a trans man is a biological woman".As part of the judgement, Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge stressed that the law still gave protection against discrimination to transgender four Pride groups which took the decision to exclude political parties represent some of the most popular Pride groups in the UK, with a combined average attendance of over one million groups have called for "full and enforceable protections under the Equality Act", "timely and dignified access to NHS gender-affirming healthcare", a reform of the gender recognition certificate process and "sustainable funding for trans-led services and support organisations across the UK".Birmingham Pride had already announced its own ban on some political parties, as had Belfast and Southampton Pride parties are often involved in marches and demonstrations at Pride, often with notable politicians using the opportunity to share their parties' beliefs around LGBT+ Keir Starmer, Sir Ed Davey, Carla Denyer and Boris Johnson have all previously publicly attended Pride marches in a political capacity.A spokesperson for LGBT+ Lib Dems said the group was "sickened to our core" at the ban, and accused Pride organisers of creating a "blanket suspension" which was "lumping them in" with other political told the BBC: "We look forward to a constructive dialogue with Pride organisers so we can come back bigger and better."
