- Conference
- 2025 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 23 July 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the progress in recognition that LGBT+ rights are human rights, with more countries adopting laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, even where legislation is in place, many LGBT+ workers still face considerable discrimination.
The considerable progress toward equality for LGBT+ people in some countries is threatened by a conservative backlash. Right-wing populist leaders and movements have used pandemics, economic crises, and other real and constructed crises to strategically target LGBT+ people for vilification to enrage their constituencies, leading to a rise in abuse, violence, and even retrogressive legislation. The growth of unregulated, profit-driven social media platforms has further enabled homophobic and transphobic actors.
LGBT+ people’s lives and relationships continue to be subject to official harassment, criminalisation, and even the death penalty. Transgender, intersex, and non-binary people face legal, bureaucratic, social, economic, and medical barriers that deny their identity and human rights and even criminalise their existence. The trade union movement must do more to address inequality and social exclusion of LGBT+ workers.
The five core areas that UNISON’s National Executive council (NEC) International Committee works on: Palestine, Colombia, Turkey, Business of Human Rights and Public Services in the Global South all have significant failings regarding the protection of LGBT+ people.
Anti-LGBT+ rhetoric is part of right-wing strategies that weaponises stigma against sexual and gender minorities to align with the values of religious conservative voters. In many cases, anti-LGBT+ sentiment is being exported from the West through networks of activists, politicians, religious leaders and donors with ties to the United States (USA) right wing organisations.
Public services play a fundamental role in guaranteeing equal access, protection, and inclusion. From healthcare to education, from local administration to emergency services, LGBT+ people interact daily with the state. Yet, discrimination, institutional bias, and lack of awareness among staff continue to hinder equitable treatment.
Public Services International (PSI) and European Public Services Union (EPSU) now have dedicated LGBT+ working groups that influence their executive boards on LGBT+ equality. The Global Union Federation working group (GUFWG) has representation from the global public service working groups. This is a welcome development which has raised LGBT+ visibility and led to the sharing news of vital campaigns, organising factsheets and educational LGBT+ materials.
Conference calls on the LGBT+ committee to continue to:
1: work with the national executive council international committee to encourage global, regional and national trade union initiatives for LGBT+ equality.
2: work with LGBT+ Labour and Labour International Development to promote LGBT+ equality within the labour movement.
3: seek opportunities to utilise UNISON’s International Development Fund which works with trade unions in developing countries to improve their capacity to organise, defend and promote rights and represent workers effectively on LGBT+ workers visibility with a specific focus on trans, intersex and nonbinary rights.
4: provide education and good practice examples on inclusive policies and practices for LGBT+ workers nationally and internationally specifically around public service provision.