'We support the trans community, in light of recent attacks - say Medway Liberal Democrats

This week's Transgender Awareness Week – an annual week held between 13 and 19 November, highlighted the need to increase understanding of transgender people and the issues their community faces. This year, Medway held its third ‘Pride in Medway’ event to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. At this event, the leader of the Council and leader of the opposition came together to commit to making Medway a safer, more equal place for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.

Medway is the proud of home of a large, diverse and thriving LGBTQ+ community. Medway Liberal Democrats notes with concern that nationally hate crimes against trans people have increased by 186% in the past five years. The Home Office has stated that increased discussion of “transgender issues” could be behind the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes.

The consistent attacks on the trans community by prominent members of the Conservative Government, Labour and Conservative MPs and the media have created a regressive culture of fear for the trans community. The Labour Party’s decision to U-turn on their 2019 manifesto commitment to introduce self-ID is deeply distressing and worrying for people in the LGTBQ+ community and disappointing from a party that claims to stand for equality.

We are urging Medway Council therefore to:

• Call on national government to consider the de-medicalisation of the self-identification process for trans people.

• Produce and implement an LGBTQ+ Strategy in Medway to address inequalities experienced by LGBTQ+ residents in the area.
• Ensure all staff and individuals dealing with the Council are offered the opportunity to be addressed using pronouns with which they are comfortable.
• Ensure comprehensive provision of publicly accessible gender neutral toilets throughout Medway.

• Commit to continuing to give access to facilities such as changing rooms, homeless and domestic violence shelters to trans people based on their identified gender, subject to the same rules that govern any other service user.

• Assert, unequivocally, that trans men are men, trans women are women and non-binary genders are valid.

ENDS