Dear Members,
We’ll be posting one of these at the start of each month to keep members up to date!
AUTUMN CONFERENCE
Here’s what we got up to at the recent Autumn Federal Conference in Brighton.
Policy Motion: Restoring Trans Rights
Conference passed our policy motion Restoring Trans Rights, which opposes the cruel and unworkable EHRC guidance and calls for a fix to equalities law. We were pleased to see Conference vote overwhelmingly in favour, demonstrating once again that Liberal Democrats are united in supporting trans people and defending everybody’s human rights. The motion came top of the emergency ballot – thank you to everybody who ranked it highly.
Our Chair, Lucas North, proposed the motion and did a fantastic job of setting out why it’s so important. Jennie Rigg summated strongly, calling out the transphobia that happened during the policy debate. There were some brilliant speeches in support of the motion, including Rebecca Jones’ powerful call for trans people to be allowed to live their lives in peace. Thank you to everybody who spoke for, and voted for, the motion.
LGBT+ Lib Dems celebrated the motion passing with a giant trans flag unveiling on the Brighton promenade, where we were proudly joined by many of our parliamentarians, including party President Josh Babarinde and Scottish leader Alex Cole-Hamilton. The flag, known as “The Monstrosity” – was first unveiled two years ago to demonstrate solidarity with trans Conference attendees.
You can find more detail about the Restoring Trans Rights motion here.
Amendment to Party Strategy
We were proud to pass an amendment to the Party strategy motion reaffirming the party’s commitment to challenging prejudice against, and defending the rights of, minorities. The amendment was submitted by ourselves, jointly with the Lib Dem Campaign for Racial Equality, Lib Dem Disability Association, and the Young Liberals.
In an era where many groups, including LGBT+ people, are scapegoated by the far right, our party will continue to stand up for decency and fairness.
LGBT+ Brunch
At this conference, we held our first ever LGBT+ brunch. Co-hosted with LGBT Foundation, the brunch provided an excellent opportunity to recover from the previous evening with some free food and of course to meet LGBT+ charity exhibitors that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to attend Conference.
There were lots of really positive and productive conversations had and connections made, and we look forward to hosting an even bigger and better event next year.
Drinks Reception with Young Liberals
We also headed to the Harbour Hotel for a drinks reception with the Young Liberals. Lucas gave a powerful speech about how the LGBT+ Lib Dems put our values into action when we support LGBT+ candidates standing for election. It was great to meet so many members and relax away from the main venue.
Stall
Thank you to everybody that came by our stall, whether to buy our merch, ask us questions, or just show your support! The money we raise goes towards our campaign fund for getting LGBT+ candidates elected.
LGBT+ Lib Dems in the news
Our Chair, Lucas North, was interviewed by GB News about the Restoring Trans Rights motion. You can watch the clip of them fighting back against misinformation on any of our socials.
Membership System Update
The Plus Executive apologise for the lack of communication lately. We have had serious issues with our membership system which have made it tricky to get in touch directly. We are soon going to be replacing the system and head onto a new system. This migration is planned to start between November and March next year pending on when we can get permission to use the new system for our membership database.
We know you want to be able to keep up to date. In response to feedback from members, we’re temporarily posting newsletters here. We’ll post a new one at the start of each month, and we hope you enjoy.
We hope to get back to circulating newsletters via email directly early next year.
Christine Jardine standing down
We were saddened to hear that Christine Jardine will not be standing at the next General Election. Throughout her time in Parliament, Christine has been a dedicated and vocal supporter of LGBT+ rights..
Christine in her time as the party’s Women & Equalities Spokesperson draftingted the comprehensive LGBT+ rights motion Free To Be Who You Are, , which was passed at our 2025 Spring Conference. You can read that motion here.
Events & Training you might be interested for October
7th October
12th October
14th October
19th October