We shall share their answers with you as we get them over the following days
Today we hear from Caroline Lucas from The Green Party standing in Brighton Pavilion
”What do you see as the challenges faced by our LGBTQ+ communities in Brighton&Hove, and how would you address them in Parliament if we elect you to represent us?”
If I am re-elected to represent you as MP for Brighton Pavilion, I will keep doing all I can to champion LGBTQ+ rights at home and abroad.
In Parliament, I’m proud to have been a leading voice in the campaign for inclusive mandatory sex and relationship education, and it will continue to be a priority for me. I will stand unequivocally against outrageous bullying and harassment outside primary schools.
I will work for an end to blanket restrictions on men who have sex with men donating blood – we need to switch to individual risk assessment, and I will continue campaigning for all who need it to have access to the HIV prevention drug PrEP.
I believe so called ‘disregards and pardons’ should be extended with any gay ‘offences’ not currently included added – and that men prosecuted under previous discriminatory laws should be compensated. I will continue to defend and advance trans rights, including privacy, legal affirmation of gender identity by a process of statutory self-declaration, and access to timely appropriate treatment. I will stand for Trans Pride, and against exclusion and discrimination, including speaking out in the media when equality and human rights are attacked or undermined.
I will champion respect for LGBTQ+ human rights in any future trade deals and continue to demand that LGBTQ+ refugees who flee persecution be protected by the Government, as well as an end to the detention and deportation of LGBTQ+ people who seek asylum.
Locally, I will continue working with the LGBTQ+ community on equality of access to services in particular, and to tackle hate crime. In short, if re-elected as MP for Brighton Pavilion, I will keep advocating for and celebrating LGBTQ+ rights at every opportunity. My door will always be open to my LGBTQ+ constituents and I will stand #Proud.
The GScene LGBTQ+ Election Hustings. Wednesday 27th November 7 – 9pm. Dorset Gardens Methodist Church. All Welcome