Paul Roberts

This blog has been written by Consortium’s CEO, Paul Roberts.

The actions of UK Government in the last week have simply been shocking. After years of promising a Ban on so-called conversion therapy, which the UK Government’s own evidence (the highly referenced LGBT Survey 2018) shows has affected 5% of our communities, the pulling of proposed legislation and then a partial U-turn is just unacceptable. What research also highlights is that trans and non-binary people are even more likely to experience so-called conversion therapy practices, with 11% of those responding to Galop’s survey (LGBT+ Experiences
of Abuse from Family Members) experiencing attempts to change or ‘cure’ or supress their identity.

Let’s not read this situation wrong, without a complete ban lives will continue to be lost. What is happening to people is torture and no one can say this is acceptable in the United Kingdom in 2022. A partial ban only including LGB people makes no logical sense. It is immoral and many other countries around the world have implemented it and shown it is perfectly possible to legislate effectively.

The UK Government has expended a lot of time, energy and resource on the international LGBT conference, planned for June this year. Whilst its focus is international LGBT+ issues, and has several events/forums taking place under the one banner, to hold this in the UK when we have a government that continues to treat trans and non binary communities with disdain can’t happen without challenge. We don’t want to see work our international focussed members are engaged in affected, but we (as do they) refuse to stand by and allow what is affecting people in the UK be pushed under the carpet in order to present a positive picture on LGBT+ rights. Whilst we are a UK domestic LGBT+ organisation, we will continue to stand by our international focused members to support work, collaborations and show solidarity and allyship globally.

Let’s also be clear, the LGBT+ sectors, and by that I mean the diversity and intersectionality of LGBT+ communities are as one on this. The one positive from the darkness we have seen emerging since late on Thursday is the solidarity of our sector. There has been some messaging that UK Government believes the sector is divided on this. This could not be farther from the truth and the only organisations who are not as one are those who are transphobic, plain and simple. We are as united as we ever have been and will continue to work together to ensure the UK is somewhere where every LGBT+ person can live a life safely and with dignity.

This afternoon, Consortium as the umbrella body for LGBT+ Voluntary and Community Organisations across the UK, along with members of the Ban Conversion Therapy Alliance and others, have published a statement responding to the UK’s Government actions regarding the withdrawal of plans to outlaw conversion practices. We are as one as an LGBT+ sector on this and will stand firm in fighting for a country where every LGBT+ person, and that includes every trans and non-binary and intersex person can live safely and with the dignity everyone deserves.

Read our statement in support of Stonewall’s here.

Alongside the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), Consortium were part of a research project commissioned by The National Lottery Community Fund exploring how all funders can better support LGBTQ+ organisations. It is encouraging to see this research helping to better understand the landscape and seek change to funder working practices.

One of the core pillars of Consortium’s work over the last few years has been the sustainability and resilience of our LGBT+ voluntary and community sectors. We purposefully don’t just talk about the need for funding of organisations, but rather investment in—which I am pleased this research reaffirms.

We all know the pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we live and the way we need to think as we rebuild out of it. Equity quickly became a focus of attention, but I hope there doesn’t turn out to be a sense of irony over this. We have seen an increase in attention on diverse communities, but equity doesn’t concern being flavour of the month or short-term focus. Equity is rooted in systemic change, so those most affected by inequality have access to the resources and opportunities needed to achieve an equal outcome. Funders talking about equity must deliver on their promises, and work alongside us and in partnership with us, to achieve this. Consortium’s previous research, as does that of many of our member organisations, highlights that LGBT+ people want specialist services. They feel safer using them, they give them more confidence of positive outcomes and the results from having accessed specialist services can be life changing and transformational. Imagine what could be achieved if longer-term investment, funding and support was given to our LGBT+ sector.

The opportunities are live to create this systemic change. LGBT+ communities are diverse and intersectional by their very nature and the pandemic has shone a light on a much broader cross-section of LGBT+ services and support. We need to encourage funders to embrace this intersectionality and not think of funding and investment as single-issue focus. Whilst as LGBT+ organisations our primary focus will be just that, the secondary, tertiary, focus of intersectional organisations is equally important. Those working in racial justice or those engaging in disability issues for example do so because other services within those communities cannot offer the specialist support and lived experience LGBT+ people want and expect. The interweaving of broad LGBT+ focus organisations alongside that of specialist intersectional organisations provides the golden opportunity to partner and collaborate for real change.

Trust in our communities to know what works for those most affected by inequality. Those emerging organisations working with diverse and intersectional LGBT+ people and communities do so because they understand what others are going through. Most diverse organisations in our sector are small in size. Some want to remain small and grassroots focussed, which should always be encouraged. Support alongside funding is what is needed the most in these cases. Others want to grow and expand, something funders should be investing in. However, with the majority being volunteer led, those professional fundraising skills found in larger staffed organisations are less likely to be present. How then, can we expect them to be able to submit funding applications that can compete—we can’t and we shouldn’t. The statistical evidence funders crave is also less likely to exist the more intersectional focus an LGBT+ organisation has. With this in mind, we need to find new ways of ensuring that funding, development and support gets to these organisations. New ways of doing funding has to emerge which challenges those more traditional models.

What the research with NatCen has shown is there is so much willingness to want to do better and this makes this a very exciting time. It also highlights some practical suggestions for creating this change. As an emerging specialist funder, as well as a key support mechanism for LGBT+ organisations, our door is open to supporting other funders in their equitable endeavours. Let’s work together, alongside those LGBT+ organisations, and put action against the recommendations from the research. Let’s invest and not just fund so can achieve long term sustainable change.

Nathan Hudson from NatCen has also written a blog about the research, which you can read here.

You can access the research here.