- Conference
- 2023 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 18 July 2023
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes with concern the decision in 2022 by London Pride that the Metropolitan Police could not march at pride in uniform, and the decision in 2023 by Brighton Pride that Kent Police would not be welcome to march this year.
However, Conference also notes the Baroness Casey Review into the Metropolitan Police reported “institutional racism, sexism and homophobia in the Met”. The Chief Constable of Police Scotland has accepted that the same is true of Police Scotland. It is likely that police services across the country will recognise the findings within their own organisations.
Legitimacy is an essential part of British policing, which is done with the consent of the public. When some communities do not have a significant level of trust in the police, those relationships need to be rebuilt.
Conference recognises that accepting the findings of the Baroness Casey Review does not mean that everyone, including UNISON members, who works for the police is homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, racist or sexist, but recognises that there is more that police services can do to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans plus (LGBT+) inclusive as both an employer and as a public service.
Conference observes the #ApologiseNow campaign launched by the Peter Tatchell Foundation in June 2023 and notes that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, was the first United Kingdom police chief to apologise during this campaign for the organisation’s past homophobic persecution, and that the Chief Constable of the Isle of Man Constabulary has also apologised for similar reasons.
Conference believes that police services should be encouraged to march at Pride events, and that this should be done not just as a token gesture, but as part of a genuine programme of community engagement to build and maintain trust with LGBT+ communities.
Conference calls on the National LGBT+ Committee to
1)Work with the National Police and Justice Service Group Committee to encourage UNISON Police and Justice branches to attend Pride events, whether as part of an employer contingent or alongside other UNISON colleagues.
2. Work with the National Police and Justice Service Group Committee to map which Police Services have specific LGBT+ and trans specific inclusion policies, with a view to developing a bargaining strategy to encourage police service employers without inclusive policies to adopt them.
3. Support and promote the #ApologiseNow campaign.