General Election 2015: Stonewall chief praises parties for addressing gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans issues in manifestos
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Version 0 of 1. The chief executive of Europe’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) advocacy group has praised the majority of the UK's main political parties for addressing issues facing gay and trans communities in their manifestos. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, the Greens and the SNP have all made reference to LGBT people in the documents, with Plaid Cymru pledging to directly tackle issues facing the trans community. Ukip and the DUP are the only of the seven main parties not to promise to help LGBT people. Ruth Hunt, the chief executive of Stonewall, told The Independent that the charity is “very impressed” by the parties’ efforts in an area of policy largely ignored in 2010. "We’ve been very impressed by how all of them, [the main political parties] bar UKIP, have made explicit reference to LGB issues in their manifestos. That’s not what happened in 2010, you didn’t have these separate sections talking to the LGBT community, so that’s incredibly impressive," she said. In a wide-ranging interview at the Stonewall Workplace Conference 2015 in London, Hunt also discussed the charity’s #NoBystanders campaign, which aims to tackle all forms of bullying and hate crime, and extends beyond the LGBT community. #NoBystanders is the latest addition to a long line of hard-hitting and eye-catching Stonewall campaigns, including the ‘Some people are gay. Get over it’ slogan. Are you undecided about who to vote for on 7 May? Are you confused about what the parties stand for and what they are offering? Take this interactive quiz to help you decide who to vote for... Click here to launch It comes hot on the heels of a string of recent online videos showing members of the public defending victims of abuse. Last week, Australian Stacey Eden was praised for defending a Muslim couple in Australia. “The challenge is how do we get people around who are watching that hate crime to step in and say ‘no that’s not acceptable’. And not just in relation to sexual orientation, but gender, race, and disabilities," Hunt said. She added: “That is why No Bystanders deliberately covers all forms of identity, because gay people are equally capable of being racist. It’s an attempt to create a movement where we take responsibility for what’s going on around us.” Two men wear Stonewall t-shirts during the Gay Pride Parade in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Image: Getty Images) Hunt went on to argue that changing attitudes is as important as fighting for legislation: "You can't have one without the other, but legislation alone is never enough, so you need to be able to proactively put the effort in to transform culture." Addressing the charity's future plans, Hunt said she hopes to next confront the "very narrow idea of what it is to be gay" in the UK, particularly in the media, which she believes effects how LGBT feel they can behave. “I think that even if you look at the media and you look at soap operas and films, they only show very certain types of gay people. They tend to be gay men, or very pretty lesbians who die in the second episode." “I think that influences how LGBT people are able to be themselves." Stressing that even gay people who appear confident in being out are still anxious that they may become victims of hate crime, Hunt said this is exacerbated by an absence of openly gay footballers, and the fact that it is illegal to be gay in 78 countries. "I’m not convinced that every LGBT person in this country feels open about being LGBT. Until we reach a stage where people feel safe, then our work isn't done," she said. The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible. Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed: All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report) |