- Conference
- 2025 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 20 February 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the end of the disastrous Conservative government’s 14- year rule. In their time in government, the Tories stoked division and utilised anti-LGBT+ narratives for political gain, especially about trans people.
In 2023, the Department for Education published their new guidance for teachers on how best to support pupils in schools “questioning” their gender. Gillian Keegan, the then Education Secretary noted that “This guidance puts the best interests of all children first, removing any confusion about the protections that must be in place for biological sex and single-sex spaces… Parents’ views must also be at the heart of all decisions made about their children – and nowhere is that more important than with decisions that can have significant effects on a child’s life for years to come.”
Just as Section 28 aimed to prevent the “promotion and indoctrination of homosexuality”, these guidelines could do the same for transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people. It states that there is no general duty for schools to allow a student to socially transition and references the Cass Review’s Interim Report in stating that social transitioning (i.e. using different pronouns, wearing different clothes and changing one’s hair) ‘is not a neutral act’, that this may have later impacts on children that are not yet fully understood.
Furthermore, the guidance sets a dangerous precedent by advising that parents should be informed when a child is questioning their gender or socially transitioning unless forcibly outing a young person to their family carries a “significant risk of harm”. Some LGBT+ people grow up in unsafe homes, where being LGBT+ is unacceptable and is a safeguarding concern and involving parents may not be in the best interests of the child or young person. There can be a lasting impact of parental rejection on LGBT+ children and young people. For children questioning their gender identity facing parental hostility, school may be the only safe place available, and this guidance can strip them of that safety.
This guidance has a direct impact on our LGBT+ members who work in schools, as it may result in them being concerned about being open about their gender identity and refrain from discussing gender in classrooms for fear of reprisal. Our members are also having to make difficult decisions on whether following this guidance might put a child questioning their gender at risk of harm at home.
Conference notes that the TUC survey of LGBT+ Workplace Experiences 2023 concluded that although LGBT+ workers are protected under the Equality Act 2010 from discrimination, harassment and bullying, it is common for LGBT+ workers to experience workplaces as negative and harmful. LGBT+ workers surveyed largely had low expectations and were grateful even when the most basic legal protections were in place.
The survey also highlighted the situation for transgender, non-binary and gender diverse employees to be particularly shocking, with many referencing the toxic narratives about LGBT+ people that are prevalent in the media and this new school guidance as leading to a hostile working environment. Furthermore, another TUC survey carried out in 2022 noted that 1 in 5 workplaces do not have any policies to support LGBT+ staff.
Conference calls upon the Local Government Service Group Executive to work with the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Plus (LGBT+) Committee as appropriate to:
1) Promote LGBT+ bargaining factsheets, model polices and LGBT+ policy checklist to branches so they can assess whether existing workplace policies are inclusive for LGBT+ members;
2) Work with Labour Link to seek ways to raise concerns with the Labour government around the schools guidance and its impact on members.
