Equality Network

After years of committing to introducing legislation to end conversion practices, today the UK Government has published a draft Bill.

A draft bill is published so that people can comment and feed back on it, usually over several months. The UK Government may then make changes, before introducing an actual bill for the Westminster Parliament to consider.

The Bill proposed only covers England and Wales. Extensive work has been done in Scotland to prepare for a Scottish Bill, which we have been calling for for years. Any legislation that is brought forward, either in the Scottish Parliament or the Westminster Parliament, must end these abhorrent practices in Scotland for good.

We will take some time to analyse the UK Government’s draft Bill to determine whether it covers all types of conversion practices and sufficiently protects all LGBTQIA+ people from harm, and we will publish more detailed thoughts in due course.

If you have been affected by conversion practices in Scotland and need support, you can contact Scotland’s LGBTQIA+ Helpline at https://lgbthealth.org.uk/service/helpline/ or call 0800 464 7000

Equality Network and Scottish Trans strongly condemn the racist protests that took place in Scotland this week, and others that took place across the UK.

We strongly support this statement made by BEMIS, and agree that this violent, threatening behaviour should have no place in Scotland: https://bemis.org.uk/statement-on-the-violent-protests-in-glasgow-and-across-scotland/

We stand in solidarity with all migrants, people of colour, Black, minority ethnic and faith communities across the UK. We stand against fascism, racism, xenophobia and anti-migrant violence and rhetoric. We also note that many who encouraged these actions, including some people in other countries, are the same people who are trying to encourage the rollback of human rights and acceptance for a variety of different marginalised groups.

These protests and attacks have made many people in Scotland, including LGBTQIA+ people of colour, feel unsafe to go out in public. They add to the rising tide of anti-migrant and racist sentiment that has been building across Scotland and rest of the UK. This is completely unacceptable, and we all must act to ensure that everyone feels valued and welcome in our communities, and that this hateful rhetoric is not able to take further root in our society.

We recognise that the work being done by local community organisations and grassroots groups who are supporting those impacted by these events, providing reassurance, practical assistance and safe spaces for people who may be feeling frightened or isolated. Their efforts demonstrate the strength of Scotland’s communities in the face of hatred and division.

We call on UK Governments to deal with this threat immediately, and to stand up to those who wish to further divide us for their own ends.

We are deeply concerned with the recent UK Supreme Court decision that changes the way Deprivation of Liberty is assessed.

This decision means there will be fewer safeguards to ensure the rights and dignity of people who lack capacity to consent to their care and living arrangements. We are disappointed to see another court ruling that further rolls back rights for those among the most marginalised in our society.

Human rights are universal, inalienable, interdependent and indivisible - which means no group's rights can be separated out from others and that everyone's rights must be upheld, or all of ours are at risk.

Please read the statement below from Mind, Mencap and the National Autistic Society about the implications of this decision and join their call for the UK Government to act.

‘The biggest rollback of disability rights in a generation’ – Charities respond to Supreme Court ruling Our charity has joined Mencap and Mind to respond to today’s Supreme Court ruling that removes the framework known as Cheshire West, warning that it strips fundamental human rights protections from potentially hundreds of thousands of disabled people.