‘Delivering Equality’

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGB&T) Module 2: Historical & Research Contexts

Historical & Research Programme 1. Aims 2. Background 3. Case for Change 4. What history teaches us 5. LGB&T and the law 6. UK Attitudes 7. World Today 8. Contact Us

Aims

• Participant’s will increase their awareness of the issues experienced on a personal, community and institutional level by Lesbians, Gay men, Bisexuals and Trans (LGB&T) communities • Participants will learn the evidence based context the training was designed • Participants will learn the legal and historical context in relation to LGB&T people and communities • Participants will explore the barriers and discrimination LGB&T people experience • Participants will learn how to improve accessibility to LGB&T communities

Background

In April 2012, NHS Somerset and Somerset LINk jointly commissioned the Diversity Trust to find out about the experiences and views of LGBT people of health and social care in Somerset.

In particular, they wanted to hear about the stories, both positive and negative, LGBT people in Somerset had to tell about accessing and receiving health and social care.

The research was carried out throughout the county between April and October 2012.

The training and associated modules were developed as a result of the research.

Case for Change

• We know from research carried out nationally by organisations including Stonewall, Sigma Research and Press for Change and regionally by Equality South West a range of health inequalities exist for LGB&T people

Case for Change

• LGB people are more likely than people in general to have smoked, taken drugs and to be drinking frequently • LGB people are much more likely than people generally to have attempted suicide or self-harmed

Case for Change

• Half of Gay and Bisexual men have experienced at least one incident of domestic abuse from a family member/partner since age 16, compared with one in six of all men • Four in five of LGB men or women who have suffered domestic abuse never reported it • Three in ten Gay and Bisexual men have never had an HIV test • A third of Gay and Bisexual men have had a negative experience related to their sexuality when receiving health services • A third of Gay and Bisexual men are not ‘out’ to their general practitioner or other healthcare staff • Only one in 11 Gay and Bisexual men have been asked directly about their sexual orientation by healthcare professionals

Case for Change

• Less than half of Lesbian and Bisexual women have never been tested for any sexually transmitted infection.

• Lesbian and Bisexual women are more than likely than the average woman to say they have an eating disorder.

• Half of Lesbian and Bisexual women have had negative experiences in the health sector. • Half of Lesbian and Bisexual women are not ‘out’ to their GP. • One in ten Lesbian and Bisexual women say that a healthcare worker ignored them when they did come out. • 70% of Lesbian and Bisexual women said healthcare workers made inappropriate comments when they did come out. • Only one in ten Lesbian and Bisexual women felt that their partner was welcome during a consultation.

Case for Change

• Trans women and men frequently encounter barriers in health and social care services, with policies and access to adequate and safe treatment being inconsistent and generally unsatisfactory

What can history teach us?

Lesbians, Gay men, Bisexual & Trans people and the law

• More than eighty men are executed for sodomy under English law, mostly by hanging in 1800.

• In 1806 there are more executions for sex between men than for murder.

• In 1861 the death penalty for sodomy is abolished in England and Ireland.

Lesbians, Gay men, Bisexual & Trans people and the law.

• The Criminal Law Act of 1886 made sexual acts between men (“gross indecency”) illegal.

• Oscar Wilde was sentenced to 2 years hard labor in 1895 under the 1886 Act.

Criminalisation of Lesbianism

• Unsuccessful attempts were made to pass laws criminalising Lesbianism up to the 1920’s.

Decriminalisation of Homosexuality

• In 1957 the Wolfenden Committee recommended decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK • In 1967 homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK, between adult men, over the age of 21

Section 28

• Section 28 of the Local Government Act become law in 1989. The law made it illegal for a Local Authority to: “intentionally promote homosexuality or promote the teaching in schools of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretend family relationship.”

World Health Organisation

• In what year did the World Health Organisation (WHO) de-classify homosexuality as a mental illness?

1952 1972 1992 2002

World Health Organisation

Answer: 1992

• In 1951 – The last lobotomy to “cure” homosexuality was carried out in the UK.

• In 1987 – Virginia Bottomley MP, (then Health Minister), advocates Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) to “cure” homosexuality.

• 1993 - UK Government strikes homosexuality off its list of psychiatric disorders.

Criminal Justice Act (1994)

• In 1994 the Criminal Justice Act is amended, reducing the age of consent for gay men to 18.

Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations

• In 1999 legislation was written which protects a person who intends to undergo, is undergoing, or has undergone gender reassignment and includes those preparing for treatment.

Suicide Rates in LGB Young People

• How many more times likely are young LGBT people to commit suicide than other young people?

3 times 4 times 5 times

Suicide Rates in LGB Young People

• Researchers at the University of Columbia have found Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual young people five times more likely to attempt suicide than their Heterosexual peers.

Source: Columbia University, 2011

Age of Consent

• In what year was the age of consent made equal for gay men?

1971 1981 1991 2001

Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act

• In January 2001 the age of consent for gay men is made equal at age 16, this follows 34 years of campaigning for equality.

Lesbian & Gay Adoption

• Lesbians and Gay Men can legally adopt a child in the UK. True False

Adoption & Children Act

• In 2002 the Adoption and Children Act receives Royal Assent. It gives unmarried and gay couples the right to adopt a child.

Section 28

• On the 18 September 2003, 14 years after it became law, Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1989) is repealed in England and Wales

Discrimination in Employment

• It has been unlawful to discriminate against lesbian, gay and bisexual employees in the UK since what year?

1975 1989 1998 2003

Discrimination in Employment

• Discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation became illegal in 2003.

• Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003).

Criminal Justice Act

• In 2003 sentences increased for hate crimes motivated by racism and homophobia • Sentences are increased by as much as four times when hate crimes

Adults with Learning Difficulties

• The University of Bristol carried out research with a group of LGB people with learning difficulties; half of them said they didn’t know another Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual person True False

Adults with Learning Difficulties

• True. They found that they didn’t tell many others they were Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual • They were frightened of what people would say to them • They worried that they may be told to leave where they were living, or not be allowed to use services if they told staff they were lesbian, gay or bisexual

Marriage Equality

• Lesbians and Gay men can legally marry in the UK?

True False

Civil Partnerships Act

• From 21 December 2005 Lesbian and Gay couples have been able to register as Civil Partners and have many of the same rights and responsibilities as other married couples.

UK Attitudes Survey

• 24% of people think gay sex should be made illegal (1) • 56% of people think same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt children (1) • In the last three years, one in five gay people has been a victim of a hate crime, because of their sexual orientation (2) • Almost four million people have witnessed homophobic bullying at work (3)

‘Serves You Right’

Research by Stonewall examined LGB people’s expectations of public services across Great Britain, and found that in the South West Region: • 35 per cent of LGB people expect a police officer to treat them worse than a heterosexual if they were suspected of having committed an offence • 17 per cent of LGB people expect a housing officer to treat them worse than a heterosexual when applying for social housing • 7 per cent of LGB people expect their GP to treat them worse than they would a heterosexual patient • 84 per cent of LGB people expect to face barriers to becoming a school governor because of their sexual orientation

World Today

• Being gay is illegal in 80 countries across the world • 73 countries punish consenting same-sex adults with imprisonment • In 7 countries the penalty is death, including; Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, and parts of Nigeria and Somalia • In 2012 Uganda planned to make homosexuality punishable by death

Contact Us • Phone 0844 800 4425 • Email [email protected]

• Website www.diversitytrust.org.uk

• Facebook http://facebook.com/DiversityTrust • Twitter http://twitter.com/DiversityTrust