Comments on the ILGA annual review 2023
The ILGA annual report was released today, and unsurprisingly, the UK is still failing the LGBTQIA+ community. I made a blog post about this last year, which you can see at this link - Comments on the ILGA Annual Review 2022. To see the summary of the UK, you can go to this page - United Kingdom.
Like last year, I thought I would post what I think are the most pertinent points.
The UK has dropped to 17th overall in Europe (out of 49 countries). In 2022, we were 14th. In 2021, we were 10th. In 2015, we were 1st.
One of the key takeaways is anti-trans rhetoric continued to cause serious damage ... again ... with continued hostile reporting in mainstream newspapers. However, the study 'Britons and Gender Identity: Navigating common ground and division' by More in Common, found that the hostile political discourse against trans people is not in sync with public attitudes in the country ... wanted schools to be safe and inclusive and talk about trans issues, and agreed that trans women were women and trans men were men.
Hate Crime
Hate crimes against LGBT people in the UK have reached dramatic numbers.
Here are just some of those numbers:
- homophobic hate crimes increased by 41% (England and Wales)
- transphobic hate crimes increased by 56% (England and Wales)
- transphobic hate crimes increased by 87% (Scotland)
- homophobic hate crimes increased by 15% (Northern Ireland)
- transphobic hate crimes increased by 24% (Northern Ireland)
Education
The guidance for schools on how to support trans students was withdrawn in 2021.
In Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland's report 'Life in Scotland' found that:
- 57% of trans students experienced bullying
- 58% of bisexual students experienced bullying
- 70% of lesbian and gay students experienced bullying
- 10% of LGBT Youth thought school was a 'good place' for LGBT students
The report also mentions the disgraceful EHRC, Kemi Badenoch, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and anti-trans groups.
The report clearly shows what the LGBTQIA+ community have known for years - the UK is failing our community. It's particularly failing and harming (nay, abusing, let's say it for what it is) the trans and non-binary community.
When will the government listen to the LGBTQIA+ community?
When will the government listen to the trans and non-binary community?
In my post last year, I committed myself to actions:
1: keep making materials that represent all people
2: start the LGBT Champions course from LGBT Foundation
3: become more active in physical activism
4: get involved in an LGBTQ+ charity
5: be unapologetically queer and an ally to all members of the community
and here are the results:
1: I've increased the number of resources on my website, now with more focus than ever on LGBTQIA+ identities
2: I started and finished the LGBT Foundation Champions course - I'm a Gold Champion
3: no real physical activism yet, but I attended the vigil in honour of Brianna Ghey in Reading
4: I now volunteer for two charities: Galop, the LGBTQ+ anti-abuse charity, and Pride in Education, a leading education charity
5: I think my social media channels speak for themselves.
So, actions for the coming year?
1: continue making LGBTQIA+ inclusive resources for the ELT industry
2: look for further training to be a better ally to the entire community
3: apply to be a speaker or presenter at conferences
4: set up and run my own independent workshops or courses on LGBTQIA+ representation in ELT
5: continue to be unapologetically queer and an ally to all
What actions are you going to take?