Labour’s Angela Rayner stands with trans community against ‘new section 28 moment’
Party's Deputy Leader made the comments at LGBT+ Labour meeting during party conference in Brighton.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Wiki
Labour’s Angela Rayner has spoken of a new “Section 28 moment” as part of a speech during the Labour party conference in Brighton.
The Labour Deputy Leader was speaking at a meeting with LGBT+ Labour on Tuesday (28 September) when she referenced Margaret Thatcher’s harmful and homophobic legislation from the 1980s.
Section 28 made it illegal to promote anything to do with homosexuality by local authorities, including schools, although no prosecutions were made under the law. It was introduced in 1988 and eventually repealed in 2003 across England and Wales.
“That is disgusting”
Rayner hit out at the UK Government, reportedly saying: “I have to say that there is a campaign of hate coming out of this government. Ministers are looking at vulnerable people, they’re looking at our trans community, they are looking at people’s identities and they see it as an opportunity to divide people” (as per The Scotsman.)
“That is disgusting. That is disgraceful,” she added.
She also said there appeared to be an anti-trans campaign in the media as well. Proclaiming her support for reform to the Gender Recognition Act, which the UK Government has failed to make many changes to, Rayner said: “We are the party that abolished section 28 and we will fight this section 28 moment again.”
She also stated that trans rights did not come at the expense of women’s rights.
Rayner also made headlines this week for saying she will apologise for calling Boris Johnson “scum,” once he apologies for his previous homophobic, racist and misogynistic remarks.
Trans issues have become a flashpoint for the Labour party, with MPs such as Rosie Duffield under fire for her views on self-identification.
She has called on the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, to meet with her and other MPs to discuss and “clarify” the party’s stance on trans issues. On 22 September Sir Keir said that he backed women-only spaces in “specific circumstances,” but said on 26 September that it was wrong for people to say only women have cervixes.
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