By Damien Donnelly
Tory/Reform No-Show…
Almost exactly ten years ago (March 2016), I attended the first ever ‘LGBTI+ hustings’ for Scottish Parliament elections in Edinburgh. It was at this event that Nicola Sturgeon stated the SNP’s intention to reform gender recognition in Scotland, including recognition of non-binary identities. The legalisation of same-sex marriage was just over a year old and it felt like a really hopeful time, in terms of public and political support. When a heckler outside the building shouted something incoherent, Sturgeon commented on the symbolism of people like that now being outside the room and trying to shout in.
Last night’s event had a very different context, taking place after several years of very successful right-wing campaigning against LGBTQIA+ rights and acceptance and, especially, significant policy changes in multiple aspects of society making life worse for trans people. This context was acknowledged by Kezia Dugdale who chaired the hustings and firmly reminded us of the code of conduct, recognising the potential for emotion and anger to influence audience responses.
There were around a hundred in the audience listening to four Scottish Parliament candidates: Maggie Chapman (Scottish Greens), Caron Lindsay (Liberal Democrats), Paul O’Kane (Scottish Labour) and Kaukab Stewart (SNP). Scottish Conservatives apparently did not think the event worthy of sending a candidate while Reform said Kim Schmulian would represent them but she did not show. Dugdale put six questions to the panelists throughout the session seeking their views on tackling the hostile media and political landscape, a conversion practices ban, trans healthcare, access to services and spaces post-SC judgement, LGBT+ Inclusive education and tackling hate crime. What follows is a summary of points made by each candidate based on their responses to these.
Maggie Chapman
If there was a debate winner based on the volume and duration of applause it would be Maggie. She very clearly and effectively put across her party’s unequivocal allyship. She stated pride in the Greens’ record in the face of significant backlash while acknowledging they still could have done more to call out transphobia in parliament. With that came a promise to do better, including tackling the misinformation and disinformation driving such behaviour. She described conversion practices as abuse an torture for which her party would seek civil and criminal penalties for, noting her fellow panelist Kaukab Stewart (as Equalities minister) had received many letter from her on the matter. She is apparently baffled by the lack of movement on this issue despite cross-party agreement on a ban five years ago. On trans healthcare, Chapman referred to her party’s fully costed policy designed to fix it. She would see rapid expansion of gender services across all health boards as well as a more methodologically sound review than Cass. She stated the Greens would push trans inclusion in all devolved policy, continuing to oppose regression, noting sadly that some trans people are no longer with us because of how impossible life had become for them. The Greens are committed to inclusive education as well as funding for mental health support and other services, including a national programme for tackling hate and bullying. Maggie pledged her party would work to tackle inequality and misinformation in order to prevent hate crime in future with a focus on social cohesion and building community.
Caron Lindsay
Caron’s answers were less policy-focused and more generally supportive. It was clear she personally is an ally, including of trans people (she noted trans people she loves), but the promotion of her party generally came mainly from reminding us that last place on the ‘peach ballot’ looked set to be a fight between them and Reform! She acknowledged the need for better allyship from all parties, noting all on the panel had been ‘on the right side of the argument’. She said more should be done on trans healthcare and also noted she’d push hard for a bill supporting neurodivergent young people (presuming, I imagine, audience understanding of significant overlap). She also expressed disappointment at no conversion practices legislation this parliament and promised to ensure it happens in the next. Caron referred to her own experience of supporting trans youth and recalled a time when, she felt, their healthcare was excellent, pledging to campaign for a return to that and wider access beyond the central belt which will require better workforce planning for the whole NHS. She said Lib Dem MPs have tried hard to advocate for trans people in parliament and its committees, raising serious concerns about the EHRC’s ‘Interim Update’ and the risk it posed to all girls and women, cis and trans. She expressed hope for change in the legal landscape in things to come and suggested people are starting to realise the very harsh rules suggested by the EHRC are not what they wanted and will not make life better for anyone. She noted trans youth were already being let down in schools and relayed the story of a young trans person who was only allowed to use the disabled toilet for which they had to request a key, resulting in them restricting their water intake and eventually avoiding school when bullying was not tackled. Her suggested solution was better funding for local authorities and third sector organisations (she promoted LGBT Youth Scotland) which she thinks are key to support.
Paul O’Kane
Paul’s answers drew diminishing levels of applause throughout the event as he seemed to prioritise defending the party line over signalling allyship. He said he found the way people have spoken about each other ‘challenging’ over the last five years. He acknowledged poor trans healthcare but referred to other healthcare needing to be improved too. Paul criticised the NHS structure which he said favours urban centres and said he knew trans people had poor experiences with GPs at times. He expressed a desire to find cross-party common ground and find better ways to debate issues where there isn’t consensus. On conversion practices, he suggested a four nations approach was required and chose to justify this with reference to how complicated legislation for Northern Ireland is and the fact he has people there he cares about. Paul chose to emphasise the idea that we must respect the Supreme Court ruling, reminding us they are not political, and suggested the Equality Act (2010) was about balancing rights. He made a comment about people who ‘feel their rights are under threat’ but reiterate this notion of competing rights (this was the only moment an audience member started to heckle but stopped himself). Paul described his very positive experience of going through school as a young gay man and said he hoped for the same for others, noting pride in cross-party work with Time for Inclusive Education (TIE). He said better facilities were required for trans and disabled youth in schools and their voices had to be listened to when planning. He also suggested teachers should be supported to facilitate LGBTQIA+ groups. Paul raised the importance of community cohesion and the leadership roles politicians can take. He pledged Scottish Labour would work to increase police officer numbers, including community officers, and work on public trust in police in order to tackle hate crime. He stated pride in what his party has achieved in the UK government but a desire to do better including in relation to access to public services.
Kaukab Stewart
Hustings must be especially challenging when you are a current government minister, as Kaukab is. She highlighted the challenge to equalities work generally in recent years and referred to her own experience facing racist activism in the 80s. She described our victories as fragile and expressed a preference for an intersectional approach to campaigning. She expressed Pride in SNP’s advances in progressive policy, including PrEP on the NHS, reforming blood donation rules, equality in civil partnerships and equal marriage (though the question had only asked them about the last five years). Kaukab referred to testimonies she’d read about conversion practices and explained the SNP government had hoped the UK government would have enacted a ban in order to prevent complications in relation to travel or potential conflicts but promised an SNP Scottish Government would bring in a bill to ban in year one if there wasn’t a cast iron agreement from the UK (very similar to Sturgeon’s promise five years ago). On healthcare, she acknowledged extraordinary pressures in Glasgow but said other places don’t have as lengthy waits. She said creative thinking is needed on this. Kaukab said the SNP accepts the supreme court ruling but reminds it’s not license for division and hostility. She urged a more humane approach which considers the terror provoked by hostile public discourse. She also reiterated that trans people are still protected from discrimination. On education, Kaukab expressed her party’s belief that all children should be free from bullying and commented on work with TIE supporting staff and young people with LGBT+ inclusive education, also mentioning the charity’s expansion into work around online influences, including misinformation and disinformation (their Digital Discourse Initiative). She said tackling hate crime requires investing in community cohesion.
The Equality Network organised the event in partnership with: Scottish Trans, LGBT Youth Scotland, LEAP Sports and LGBT Health and Wellbeing. Their LGBTQIA+ manifesto is available to read here: https://www.equality-network.
