- Conference
- 2022 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 11 November 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that comments made by Keir Starmer on 28 October in a Mumsnet interview regarding trans youth healthcare have caused significant concern
In response to a question from a Mumsnet user about the interim report by Dr Hilary Cass on the provision of trans youth healthcare, Starmer focussed on the idea of consent, saying: “Children shouldn’t be making these very important decisions without consent to their parents, I say that as a matter of principle as a parent.”
“We all know what it’s like with teenage children. I feel very strongly about this. This argument [that] children [can] make decisions without the parents is one I just don’t agree with at all.”
This seems to go against the concept of Gillick competence, which dates back to a 1985 legal ruling, and is used to determine whether young people can consent to healthcare such as contraception.
Conference further notes that Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury, has reportedly said she would rather be arrested than call Eddie Izzard a woman. Eddie has launched a bid to be selected as the Labour candidate for Sheffield Central constituency at the next general election. She is one of six candidates who have put themselves to replace outgoing MP Paul Blomfield.
LGBT+ Labour, Labour Students and Young Labour have called on the party to withdraw the whip from Duffield. On 24 October, Labour Students published a statement on social media saying that “Duffield’s behaviour has gone beyond the pale and we echo LGBT+ Labour’s calls that she should lose the whip”, arguing that the MP has “consistently gone out of her way to damage the trans community”.
LGBT+ Labour first called for Duffield to have the Labour whip withdrawn in July 2021 as well as urging the party to suspend her, alleging a “pattern of LGBT-phobic behaviour” on the part of the MP. The group retweeted Labour Student’s statement, stating: “Our position on this has not changed.”
Conference therefore calls on the National LGBT+ Committee to raise these issues as a matter of urgency with Labour Link, with a view to urging the Labour Party leadership to speak out clearly and consistently in support of trans rights and responding to the issues raised by LGBT+ Labour relating to Rosie Duffield.