English Defence League

Conference notes: 1.The ongoing threat from the far right and that cuts in essential public services, increasing poverty, and massive increases in unemployment, create the conditions in which the far right can increase its support. 2.The decision of National Delegate Conference 2011 that the campaign against the far right should be an integral part of […]

Building the Public’s Support For LGBT Public Services

Conference deplores the visible detrimental impact the Tory-led government’s brutal and unnecessary cuts have had on public services, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) services. These ideologically driven cuts to public sector funding have seen targeted services such as those delivered by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) prevention workers, LGBT Youth Workers and Equalities Officers […]

The Mental Capacity Act and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People

Conference welcomes the recent Personalisation in Social Care documentation released earlier this year, which describes the personalisation of care packages for those who require them. Personalisation considers the individual and puts them at the centre of the process of making important choices about their care and how they can be effectively supported. The Social Care […]

Recruiting and Organising Young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Members

Conference recognises that young people are among those disproportionately affected by the Tory-led government’s attacks on public services – especially education – jobs, employment rights and pensions. Cuts to youth work services, Connexions, housing benefit, the Education Maintenance Allowance and the hike in tuition fees – all are examples of the government’s contempt for young […]

Increased Age Of Single Person’s Housing Allowance

This Conference believes that the current housing benefit regulations already put young people at a disadvantage. Single Housing Benefit claimants living in the rented sector who are aged under 25 are classed in secondary legislation as “young individuals” for Housing Benefit purposes. When calculating the amount of Housing Benefit payable they are restricted to the […]

Negotiating In The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Voluntary Sector

Conference celebrates the long standing and well documented history of working with, as well as accessing the services of, the voluntary sector that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community has. Organisations such as Broken Rainbow which started in 2002 and the George House Trust which is now in its 26th year offer vital […]

Donating Blood and the Ban of Gay and Bisexual Men

Conference notes with disappointment the continued discrimination with regards to the donation of blood by gay and bisexual men. It notes that it was announced in early September that the blanket ban on men who had ever had sex with another man, which has been repeatedly identified as unfair and discriminatory, will be replaced in […]

Divorcing Transgender Parents and Legal Access to Children

Conference notes that it was only a few decades ago that Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) men and women were deemed inappropriate and unfit parents. When divorcing from their opposite sex spouse, many were refused custody of their children simply because of their sexual orientation. Direct discrimination by care professionals, such as social workers and […]

Equality and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community

We have seen over the life of the current United Kingdom Government, many cynical attempts to inveigle themselves with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community, but from a public relations man that lacks substance but deals in dogma alone, nobody should be fooled. The reality of the situation is that many LGBT equality […]

Police Cuts Will Undermine The Fight Against Hate Crime

YouGov research has shown that one in five lesbian, gay and bisexual people have experienced a homophobic hate crime or incident in the last three years. And three in four of those didn’t report them to the police. A third of victims don’t report incidents because they don’t think the police would or could do […]

EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM CRITICAL ILLNESS

This Conference is concerned that there is no employment protection for staff who are critically ill and at risk of being made redundant due to government cuts. Critical illness is often related to a disability and there are further complications when a disabled person has a critical illness. During this time of wide spread budget […]

STOP STATE ORCHESTRATED DISCRIMINATION

Conference is concerned about the State Orchestrated Discrimination aimed at disabled people. We have fought prejudice, attitudes and institutional discrimination but none of these are as the fight we now face. This isn’t about employers or service providers discriminating. The government won’t support our fight against State Orchestrated Discrimination because they are causing it. The […]

STOP DISABILITY HATE CRIME

This Conference is concerned about the level of hate crime aimed at disabled people. Any incident which is believed by the victim to be motivated by prejudice or hate is a hate incident. All hate crimes are hate incidents but not all hate incidents are hate crimes. Although there is no legal definition of Disability […]

SICKNESS ABSENCE AND DISABLED PEOPLE

The disability discrimination act 1995 introduced a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. The Equality Act 2010 outlines 3 areas where employers and service providers must make reasonable adjustments. These are: – Adjustments to a provision, criterion or practice – Adjustments involving the provision of auxiliary aids and services – Adjustments to physical […]

FUEL POV ERTY, TAX EXCLUSION AND DISABLED DRIVERS

This Conference recognises the importance of independent mobility as a civil right for disabled people, we also regret that in the 21st Century the majority of public transport vehicles and transport infrastructure remains inaccessible to a great number of disabled people. Disabled people continue to face greater living costs associated with disability and this applies […]