LGB Liberal Forum

Who we are:

LGB Liberal Forum is a group of Liberal Democrat party members who are same-sex attracted.

We believe:

· that efforts to redefine homosexuality as ‘same-gender attraction’ do not reflect the lived experience of those of us who are lesbian, gay or bisexual;

· that efforts to impose that redefinition have the effect of denying our historic and continuing existence and freedoms;

· that human rights belong to everyone, whatever their sex, their sexual orientation or how they identify;

· that the hard-won rights of women and girls must be defended;

· that one person’s rights and interests can conflict with another’s and society should able to have an honest and respectful conversation about how those rights and interests might be reconciled;

· that any genuinely diverse and inclusive society will welcome and celebrate same-sex attracted people;

· that LGB people have a basic human right to associate and to express our beliefs as a group;

· and that we assert our freedom to organise and campaign as Liberal Democrats.

We aim:

· to provide a forum for LGB Liberal Democrats to meet, exchange views and provide mutual support;

· to develop and pursue policies that promote the rights and interests of LGB people, and children who may grow up to be LGB, and to campaign for those policies within the Liberal Democrats and beyond;

· To challenge and counter prejudice, hostility, discrimination, exclusion and abuse directed against LGB people and people who hold gender-critical beliefs, within the Liberal Democrats and beyond.

We welcome party members who are same-sex attracted, share our beliefs and support our aims.

The revised Definition of Transphobia - better but no cigar

by The Team • 18 Nov, 2022

We welcome the party's recently released revision of its definition of transphobia. Although parts of the revised definition continue to be deeply flawed, there are significant improvements from the highly illiberal original, some of which was in direct conflict with equality law. We're pleased that the revised definition reaffirms that it is utterly unacceptable for a member of the party to harass trans people or to create a hostile environment for them, but now recognises that holding and expressing gender critical beliefs is protected in law, and is permissible provided that this does not “harass or discriminate against trans people, nor create an environment which is hostile or discriminatory to trans people.” However, significant difficulties with the definition remain, particularly in its unwillingness to engage with the possibility that the party’s understanding of “the nature or effect of a policy or practice” may be flawed and should be open to challenge, especially where that challenge is evidence-based. We’ll wait to see whether the definition as applied continues to foster an environment that is hostile and discriminatory towards people holding gender critical beliefs. In the meanwhile, if you're one of the many LGB people who've left in despair, please consider coming back to help us to bring party policy back in line with biological reality and to defend the rights of same-sex attracted people.