Kira Herdman

Welcome to this months pride edition of State Of The World. Let’s get started.

Pride has a different meaning this year.

A lot of companies that usually ‘celebrate’ Pride are not doing that this year. For instance, in my local Primark outlet, there is no Pride merch on sale that I could see, and the window to the outlet has nothing to do with Pride on it, unlike in previous years. This is just one example where big businesses are abandoning Pride in fear of the backlash from the right wing.

Pride has always been, and always will be, a protest for the rights of all the LGBT community. This is especially potent this year thanks to the rise of the right wing not just here in the UK but over the world.

Ever since Donald Trump took the presidency in the US, and the recent Supreme Court ruling here in the UK, the right wing has been galvanised against the transgender community especially.

This is also now affecting cis women who don’t fit the definition of what the right wing considers ‘female’. For instance, there have been multiple reports of cis women being targeted for going into the women’s toilets as they don’t fit the mould of a ‘woman’ in the eyes of the right wing. There have also been reports of a transgender man using the women’s toilets, as they want us to do, and got arrested for it.

Pride has always been, and always will be a protest until every LGBT person has the same rights as anyone else

All political parties banned from this year’s biggest pride events

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 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.

Good to see the whole LGBT Community coming together for Transgender People

Labour continues to delay banning conversion therapy

The Labour government’s continued delay in delivering its promised UK-wide ban on conversion practices is disappointing, dangerous and sends the message that the safety of LGBTQ people is optional, according to campaigners.

In a strongly worded statement, Saba Ali of the Ban Conversion Therapy Coalition said its message to the government was clear: “Stop the delay and deliver the promise. It’s been seven years since a ban was first pledged, yet LGBT people are still being subjected to degrading, abusive practices while the government dithers.

“This failure to act is not just disappointing, it is dangerous. Every delay sends a message that our lives are negotiable, that our safety is optional.”

In a sign of its growing frustration, the coalition has spoken out after repeated assurances from Labour sources that a bill setting out the full trans-inclusive ban on practices aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity – which the party committed to in its manifesto – would have made progress by this spring.

Yet another lie from the Labour Party, one that was even in their manifesto

The UK plummets down the European LGBT Rights Ranking

The UK has fallen again in ILGA-Europe’s annual rankings of nations, having topped the list 10 years ago.

The Rainbow Map and Index has been published annually since 2009 and ranks all 49 European countries on legal and policy practices for LGBTQ people.

The latest rankings, published on Wednesday (14 May), show that the UK had dropped to 22nd, with an overall score of 46 per cent, making it now the second-worst country for LGBTQ laws in western Europe and Scandinavia – above only Italy.

The UK was named the best place in Europe for LGBTQ rights, with an 86 per cent rating, in 2015. But it has been falling ever since and dropped seven places from last year’s position, mainly because of the recent Supreme Court ruling which deemed that the protected characteristic of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act was based on “biology” and excluded trans people.

For laws that relate to the recognition of trans people’s gender identity, the UK is now ranked 45th. ILGA-Europe said that the Supreme Court’s verdict constituted a legal block on effective recognition of trans people’s identities. The only other European nations in a similar position are Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary and Russia.

While Scotland had had introduced the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came into effect last year, the legislation only applies to the devolved nation so had only a minimal effect on the UK’s overall score.

Malta tops the new list, with a score of 89 per cent, followed by Belgium (85 per cent), Iceland (84 per cent), Denmark (80 per cent) and Spain (78 per cent).

Other nations above the UK include Finland (70 per cent), Ireland (63 per cent), Austria (54 per cent), Croatia (49 per cent) and Estonia (46 per cent).

This is unacceptable, we was once the best county in Europe to be LGBT in, yet successive governments from both political parties have eroded our rights