TUC says coalition must do more for LGBT community
July 2nd, 2010 by Chloe.Setter
The UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the coalition government to show true commitment to the LGBT community.
Speaking at the TUC’s annual LGBT conference in London yesterday (1 July), the union’s deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady welcomed the coalition’s pledges over gay equality but warned that below the surface, it “isn’t quite so rosy”.
At the meeting, which welcomed several hundred gay trade union activists, she said: “Thankfully, the new coalition government is not hostile to LGBT people in the way the 1980s Tory government was… but scratch beneath the surface and it’s not quite so rosy.
“Ministers have already signalled the new public duty in the Equality Act will be pretty toothless - a case of light-touch implementation.”
She added: “And while some Conservatives may pay lip service to tolerance and diversity, earlier in the year we witnessed the squalid spectacle of Conservative frontbencher Chris Grayling defending B&Bs which refuse to accomodate gay and lesbian couples.”
She also referred to the Conservative’s allegiances with “the most regressive political parties in Europe” asking what message this sent out to the British people.
O’Grady argued that the public sector must “take the lead” in challenging prejudice and urged LGBT people to “lead from the front and show our movement is a champion of all working people, regardless of creed, colour or sexuality”.
The TUC will take part in London’s Pride parade this weekend (3 July), setting off from 1pm on Baker Street into central London. TUC policy officer Peter Purton will speak at a rally in Trafalgar Square from 3pm.
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