Transgender Awareness Week

Today, I’m proud to join people across the country to mark the beginning of Trans Awareness Week- an important time to raise the visibility of trans and gender non-conforming people.

This week culminates in the Trans Day of Remembrance - a day set aside to remember the lives lost as a result of transphobia and anti-trans violence.

Globally, trans rights are eroding and rates of suicide and self harm in the community are alarming. Far too many live in constant fear of physical violence and persecution. This is unacceptable.

Far too many live in constant fear of physical violence and persecution. This is unacceptable.

There are also massive issues of concern within our own country.

The trans and non-binary community has been subjected to widespread attack within the media in recent years. And after years of debate and a huge opportunity to streamline the Gender Recognition Act, the government has refused to adopt a right of self-declaration for trans people without a medical diagnosis.

This is nothing short of appalling. As a proud ally, it is heartbreaking to see our trans friends treated with such little compassion and respect.

As a party, our commitment to equality is stronger than ever- we have recently adopted a new definition of transphobia and have just passed new policy to make our national party conferences more trans inclusive. We vow to be unwavering in our commitment to equality and will root out the poison of transphobia wherever we find it.

During this important week, I encourage all of us, to raise awareness and join the fight to end the violence, prejudice and judgement faced by trans and non-binary people. With so many attempting to erase trans and non-binary rights, we cannot rest until everyone feels safe and empowered to freely be themselves.

Comments

Jeremy Hunt’s Financial Statement Offers Only Uncertainty for Welsh Families

Commenting on Jeremy Hunt’s shock economic intervention Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said: “Hunt’s statement points to the despicable damage that the Conservatives continue to wreck on households, businesses and individuals. All his statement today has done is cause wider uncertainty for households and the businesses sector. “The Conservatives are trashing the economy with every day that passes and creating havoc for peoples’ mortgages. Now they are planning to inflict even more suffering by raising energy bills, hiking taxes and slashing crucial public services. These service cuts will see knock-on effects to the Welsh Government as budgets for key departments like education and health may be squeezed even tighter. “What’s worst is they are still determined to protect oil and gas giants from a proper windfall tax and they are still cutting taxes for the big banks. “Truss and Kwarteng are symptoms of a wider problem. This entire Conservative par

Significant Gaps Remain in Welsh Government Building Safety Announcement

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have welcomed progress announced today in the Welsh Government’s building safety announcement but have warned significant gaps remain. Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS and Cardiff Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Rhys Taylor addressing building saftey campaigners. The announcement given by Environment Minister Julie James MS confirmed that 9 property developers have now signed up to the Welsh Government’s “Developers Pact” agreeing in theory their responsibility to remediate buildings they constructed with safety defects. The announcement follows a lengthy campaign by leaseholders in the five years since the Grenfell Tower Disaster. However, three major developers are still yet to reply. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated that due to the Welsh Government’s failure to work with the UK Government on the Building Safety Act, they are left with little to no options to deal with the property developers who have refuse

Welsh Lamb Exports to the US Welcome - But the Conservatives Are Paving Over Other Cracks

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS. "While we will of course always welcome more export opportunities for our fantastic Welsh produce, Liz Truss and the Conservatives are trying to plaster over the cracks regarding the damage they have already done to the Welsh farming sector. "That is that they sold out Welsh farmers for cheap trade deals with Australia and New Zealand for nothing in return. This was spearheaded by Liz Truss despite Australian commentators even being in disbelief about how lopsided the deals were. “Tariff free access by New Zealand in particular poses a direct threat to the survival of the Welsh lamb industry and the communities it supports, including Welsh language communities. "If Liz Truss was supportive of such poor trade deals already, it does beg the question how much more damage she could do to the sector as the UK seeks revised trading arrangements with the likes of the US, Argentina and Brazil. “This is of cou

Welsh Liberal blogs

Search This Blog