- Conference
- 2025 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 23 July 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that since 2022, UNISON has run a successful Trans Equality Campaign which has recruited over 300 members to the Transgender, Non-binary and Gender Diverse (TNBGD) Caucus, over 7,000 UNISON members attending trans ally training and 80 activists trained to deliver the trans ally training.
However, The Supreme Court decision on 16 April on the definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010 has been hugely damaging for our TNBGD members, with increased harassment whilst using bathrooms, changing rooms and in their day-to-day life as well as causing uncertainty in the workplace. These attacks aimed at TNBGD people, have also impacted cis-gender Black, disabled and women members who do not meet the white, hetero-normative standards of the global north.
We welcome the return of trans ally training, with sessions having returned in July after a temporary pause to the training.
Conference also notes that whilst there has been positive movement since April, there is still work to do within UNISON more widely to push our trans equality campaign across our union and in lobbying the United Kingdom (UK) Government. The UK Government have failed to make the progress needed on issues such as gender recognition reform and trans healthcare, as promised in their 2024 manifesto.
Our trans equality campaign needs to be expanded, with more emphasis on advocating for change on these issues and the laws that impact on trans, non-binary and gender diverse people.
Conference calls on the National LGBT+ committee to:
1)Work with the National Executive Council to promote the trans equality campaign across the wider union, including but not limited to, providing support for campaigns in workplaces to challenge transphobia.
2)Work with Labour Link to promote our trans equality campaign within the Labour Party and to lobby the UK Labour Government to deliver on their manifesto commitments around trans, non-binary and gender diverse rights.
3)Develop an outward facing strategy to the trans equality campaign to promote changes to laws that affect TNBGD people, including emphasis on self-declaration and, legal recognition of non-binary identities.
4)Consider and promote the intersection of identities that have been affected by the supreme court judgment in all aspects of this campaign.