Ourselves, Out, Safe, Respected
Every year the TUC runs a campaign to coincide with Pride in London. This year the TUC and its affiliates are calling on the government to promote equality and eliminate discrimination against LGBT+ people and build an inclusive culture in words and deeds that supports LGBT+ people’s safety, dignity and equality so that LGBT+ people can thrive and live authentically.
In the UK:
- 2 in 5 LGBT+ workers have been harassed or discriminated against by a colleague.
- A quarter have been discriminated against by their manager, and around one in seven by a client or patient.
- That rises to nearly 50% of all trans workers experiencing bullying or harassment at work.
- 70% of LGBT+ workers have experienced sexual harassment – and one in eight lesbian, bisexual or transgender women have experienced sexual assault or rape at work.
Unions were dismayed when the government jettisoned the 2018 LGBT Action Plan, which was based on evidence from more than 100,000 LGBT+ people. And we were disappointed at the decision to disband the LGBT Advisory Panel. The government must act now to dismantle all forms of discrimination.
Unions call for change
To start that work, we call on Ministers to:
- A call for an immediate ban on all forms of conversion therapy.
- A simplified, free, statutory gender-recognition process, based on self-declaration.
- Introduce a new duty on employers to protect workers from harassment by customers and clients.
- Create a specific duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment.
- Reinstate employment tribunals’ powers to make wider recommendations to employers, to root our systemic failings and cultures of bullying and harassment.
- To recruit a new LGBT+ Advisory Panel, with a clear mandate and trade union representation.
Ourselves, Out, Safe, Respected
Read the full letter
