Ealing Lib Dems believe there is still lots to do to protect LGBT+ rights
Following the recent London Pride Parade (on Saturday, 4 July 2026), many are no doubt thinking that the celebration of many hard-won rights for LGBT+ people is at the forefront of many people's minds.
We have come a long way from the days when homosexuality was a criminal offence, where Section 28 limited how teachers could discuss gay and lesbian relationships in the classroom, and where marriage was not accessible to every couple.
Many of these achievements were attained through the action of many Liberal Democrats, with Sir Ed Davey, National Lib Dem Leader, having introduced the amendment that repealed Section 28 and Baroness Featherstone (previously an MP and a minister) having introduced the Bill for gay marriage.
However, there is still much work to do and backsliding to rectify. Dispiritingly, Britain's rank on the Rainbow Map index for LGBT+ rights fell from top of the list to 22nd in the last decade (2015 to 2026). Much of this was due to worsening conditions for transgender people.
Between 2016 and 2025, the average wait time for a first appointment at an adult gender clinic increased from nine months to a quarter century, a huge shift, and the media have been producing increasingly hostile content villanise transpeople. All the while, powerful men like Elon Musk and Donald Trump have scapegoated trans people to avoid accountability.
One of the most pressing issues facing LGBT+ people is the harmful guidance published by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the Equality Act, something in which the Liberal Democrats are at the forefront of opposing.
Recently our Party's leader Sir Ed Davey, alongside Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman, wrote to the Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson, that the current guidance issued by the EHRC on the Equality Act offers neither protection from discrimination nor legal clarity. Indeed, according to the EHRC guidance, a transgender man (a person assigned female at birth, but who identifies as a man) may not be able to use the gents or the ladies' toilets, with their access dependent on how masculine or feminine they appear to be to businesses, local councils, and charities. The publishing of the guidance has already led to a surge in intimidation towards women deemed to look “insufficiently feminine”.
We would expect this sort of arbitrary state-led social exclusion from leaderships such as Orban-era Hungary or contemporary Russia, but not Great Britain. This is the birthplace of the rule of law and due process!
Over two-thirds of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party has already signed an Early Day Motion supporting this position, as the guidance is fundamentally unworkable and harmful. Like many Liberals, I do not want to live in “papers please” society whereby access to everyday facilities requires a government-issued identity card. Nor do I want to live in a society where anyone can be forced to prove they are the “correct” gender by vigilantes just to use the toilet.
Whilst some have argued this guidance is necessary to protect women and girls, the idea that we should scapegoat trans people for crimes overwhelmingly committed by cisgender men seems to be the wrong solution. Rebuilding trust in the police by tackling misogynistic attitudes, embedding domestic abuse support specialists in every police unit, as well as hiring more community police officers (as outlined in the Federal and Ealing Liberal Democrat manifestos), would achieve this far more effectively.
The Government could resolve many of the issues facing transgender people if it wanted to. Parliamentary sovereignty means the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, can pass new legislation to amend the Equality Act so that its definition of gender includes trans people, thereby nullifying the EHRC's guidance, and restoring Britain's previously strong reputation for LGBT+ rights.
The Walpole Councillor team, which includes Councillors Matt Mellor, Ksenia Maximova and myself, are dedicated to helping all our constituents with any issues they face. Indeed, I recently attended a “Cuppa with a Copper” session to ask how the police are tackling LGBT+ hate crimes, and how best to report them.
We would like to invite any transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or gender non-conforming people living in Walpole to write to us (or attend our upcoming councillor surgeries) if you have any issues you want help with or have any suggestions about how we can make Ealing a more LGBT+ friendly place.