The UK’s LGBT Business Champion Iain Anderson handed in his resignation to the Prime Minister yesterday with a “heavy heart”, in response to the government’s decision to exclude trans people from the ban on conversion therapy.
Last week, the government announced plans to scrap the ban on conversion therapy, which sparked a furious backlash, so the government did a complete U-turn, saying it would go ahead, but excluded the trans community.
In a letter to Boris Johnson posted on Twitter yesterday, Anderson wrote: “It has been the honour of my life to serve as the UK’s first-ever LGBT+ business champion.” But he said he felt “no choice” but to tender his resignation from the role. He accused the government of “trying to drive a wedge” between the trans and the rest of the LGBTQ+ community; highlighting that his role was supposed to be LGBT champion not “the LGB champion.”
“Now – more than ever – we need tolerance and respect in our national conversations,” he added. His resignation comes as many leading organisations dropped out of the government’s Safe To Be Me conference, which was due to take place this summer to coincide with the 50th anniversary of London’s first Pride marches.
Anderson resigns just six months after he was recruited for the government role, to support LGBTQ+ people at work, whilst developing and sharing solutions to workplace discrimination, as reported.
UK NOT SAFE TO BE ME
The huge disappointment in the government’s stance on the issue is shared by over 100 LGBTQ+ charities and organisations across the UK; including Stonewall, LGBT Foundation, Terrence Higgins Trust, Mermaids, Scottish Trans Alliance, Trans in the City, and Kaleidoscope Trust.
Earlier this week, Stonewall said it was withdrawing its support for the Safe To Be Me conference due to “the Prime Minister’s broken promise on protecting trans people from the harms of conversion therapy.”
“If the UK government cannot stand behind and respect all LGBTQ+ people’s fundamental human rights, it should not be convening an LGBTQ+ rights conference on the global stage,” added Stonewall.
Trans in the City, founded by BP’s Bobbi Pickard, also withdrew its support for the government’s Safe To Be Me conference; and publicly advised its member organisations to “consider the negative portrayal of LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and the effect on their trans and nonbinary employees, that being associated with such an event will bring”. It highlighted that, “it is in no way ‘safe to be me’ if you are trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming in this country and the UK government is actively worsening this situation.”
IN SOLIDARITY WITH TRANS COMMUNITY
The Terrence Higgins Trust described the government’s decision to exclude trans people from the ban on conversion therapy as “completely unacceptable,” adding that, “Trans rights are human rights – progress without or at the expense of trans people is not progress. We stand together and will not be divided.”
The Rainbow Project also confirmed that it was withdrawing all support for the Safe To Be Me conference and any proposed events for Northern Ireland. It cited the UK government’s “procrastination, mixed messaging, and failure to commit to protecting some of the most vulnerable members of our community”, leaving it with no option but to boycott the event.
Kaleidoscope Trust, headed by LGBTQ+ activist Lady Phyll, which works closely with governments across the commonwealth, confirmed its withdrawal from the conference too: “We stand in solidarity with our trans siblings in the UK and around the world. As such, we are withdrawing our support of Safe To Be Me 2022.”
As a result of over 100 organisations announcing a boycott of the event over the last few days, the UK’s first-ever international LGBTQ+ conference has been cancelled by the Government, as reported.
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