# LGBT+ Liberal Democrats

Part of a series on :
LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom :
By location :
United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland :
Crown dependencies Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man :
Overseas Territories Anguilla Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands :
Same-sex marriage by territory United Kingdom Scotland Northern Ireland Guernsey Jersey Isle of Man Akrotiri and Dhekelia Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands :
Policy aspects :
Sexual orientation
Adoption
Age of consent
Blood donation
Christian nation
Civil partnership
History of violence
HIV/AIDS
Military policy
Same-sex marriage :
Gender identity, sex and intersex
21st-century anti-trans movement
Transgender rights
Intersex rights
NHS Gender Identity Development Service
Gender Recognition Panel :
Legislation :
Criminality
Buggery Act 1533
Offences Against the Person Act 1828
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
Labouchere Amendment
Wolfenden report
Sexual Offences Act 1967
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980
Homosexual Offences Order 1982
Section 28
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Policing and Crime Act 2017
Alan Turing law
Merchant Shipping (Homosexual Conduct) Act 2017
Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Act 2018 :
Protection and recognition
Public Order Act 1986
Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
Adoption and Children Act 2002
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
Civil Partnership Act 2004
Gender Recognition Act 2004
Equality Act 2006
Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
Equality Act 2010
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014
Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019
Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 :
Litigation
Corbett v Corbett (1969)
X v United Kingdom (1978)
Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981)
R v Brown (1993)
Sutherland v United Kingdom (1994)
Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (1999)
Goodwin & I v United Kingdom (2002)
HJ and HT v Home Secretary (2010)
National AIDS Trust v NHS Service Commissioning Board (2016)
Bell v Tavistock (2021)
AB v CD and others (2021) :
Culture :
By city
Brighton
Cardiff
London
Liverpool
Leeds
Manchester :
Gay villages
Birmingham Gay Village
The Calls
Canal Street (Manchester)
Old Compton Street
Pride Quarter, Liverpool
Vauxhall :
Gay male
Polari
Saunas
Cruising :
Organisations :
LGBT advocacy and support
Stonewall
Hall–Carpenter Archives
Black Gay Men's Advisory Group
Akt
Naz and Matt Foundation
FFLAG
LGBT Foundation
LGBT Network
Outright Scotland
Switchboard (UK)
NUS LGBT
LGBT+ Liberal Democrats
LGBT+ Conservatives
LGBT+ Labour
Labour Campaign for Trans Rights
Mermaids
Press for Change
The Gender Trust :
Pride events
BiCon (UK)
Big Gay Out
Birmingham Pride
Bourne Free
Brighton Pride
Bristol Pride
Doncaster Pride
GFest – gayWise LGBT Arts Festival
Glasgay! Festival
Homotopia (Liverpool)
Leeds Pride
Leicester Pride
LGBT History Month
BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival
Manchester Pride
Mr Gay UK
Mr Gay Wales
Northern Pride
Nottinghamshire Pride
Pride Cymru
Pride Glasgow
Pride in Hull
Pride in Liverpool
Pride in London
Pride Scotia
Reading Pride
Swansea Pride
Worthing Pride :
Former groups
OutRage!
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Homosexual Law Reform Society
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Rights Working Party
Order of Chaeronea :
History :
Topics
Timeline
List of politicians
First LGBT officeholders
Violence against LGBT people
HIV/AIDS crisis
Death penalty :
Timeline 342 MSM activity made illegal 1533 Death penalty introduced for MSM activity 1543 Buggery Act extended to Wales 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 1835 James Pratt and John Smith executed 1861 Death penalty for buggery abolished 1885 Labouchere Amendment introduced 1889 Cleveland Street scandal 1895 Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency 1912 The Cave of the Golden Calf opens 1921 Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated 1936 Mark Weston transitions 1952 John Nott-Bower begins crackdown 1954 Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned 1954 Alan Turing commits suicide 1957 Wolfenden report released 1967 MSM activity made legal (England & Wales) 1972 First British Gay Pride Rally 1976 Jeremy Thorpe resigns as Liberal leader 1981 MSM activity made legal (Scotland) 1981 First case of AIDS reported in the UK 1982 MSM activity made legal (NI) 1983 Gay men barred from donating blood 1984 Chris Smith elected as first openly gay MP 1987 Operation Spanner begins 1988 Section 28 comes into force 1989 Stonewall UK forms 1994 Age of consent for MSM becomes 18 1997 Angela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP 1998 Bolton 7 found guilty 1998 Lord Alli becomes first openly gay Lord 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing 2000 Gay men allowed in HM Armed Forces 2001 Age of consent equalised to 16 2001 MSM activity involving multiple men legal 2002 Same sex couples granted equal rights to adopt 2003 Section 28 repealed 2004 Civil partnerships introduced 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 2006 Discrimination made illegal 2008 Equalised access to IVF for lesbian couples 2008 Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime 2009 Public apology to Alan Turing 2010 Equality Act 2010 2011 Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) 2013 Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 2014 First same-sex marriages take place 2016 MSM activity not grounds for military discharge 2017 Turing law implemented 2017 Blood donation deferral 3 months (excl. NI) 2019 MPs legislate for gay marriage in NI 2020 Gay marriage legal across UK, incl. NI 2020 Blood donation deferral 3 months (incl. NI) 2021 Blood donation deferral equalised :
LGBTQ portal UK portal :
vte :
LGBT+ Liberal Democrats is a British lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual minorities equality group of the Liberal Democrats political party. The organisation is one of several Specified Associated Organisations, giving it special status within the party, and has been referred to as one of the "most important" of such groups. The group campaigns both within the party and UK-wide on LGBT+ issues, as well as mentoring and providing advice to the party's candidates.

## Formation and early years

Initially known as Democrats for Lesbian & Gay Action, or DELGA for short, the organisation was formed in 1988 from the groups "Liberal Lesbian & Gay Action" and "Social Democrats for Lesbian & Gay Action". The parent parties of those organisations, the Liberal Party and SDP, had merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, known generally as the Democrats. The name was officially altered to be Liberal Democrats for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Action in 1996, including bisexual and transgender people in the title and reflecting the renaming of the party to the Liberal Democrats. However, the shorthand DELGA remained in use until 2011, when the organisation renamed to "LGBT+ Liberal Democrats".
One of the early campaigns by the group was "16 or bust". Started in 1991, it pushed to lower the age of consent for sex between gay men from 21 to 16, equal with heterosexual couples. This was in contrast to the approach of organisations such as Stonewall who were in favour of lowering the age to 18, seeing it as an achievable compromise. Although the first round of votes in parliament only lowered the age of consent to 18, it was finally brought in line with opposite-sex couples in 2000.

## Policy successes

Because LGBT+ Liberal Democrats is recognised as a Specified Associated Organisation of the Liberal Democrat party it is able to put forward policy motions to the twice-yearly Federal Conference, the main democratic policy making forum of the party.
Motions accepted for debate and passed into party policy have included:
* 2011: "Science Not Stigma" motion on blood donation rules in the UK.
* 2010: "Equal Marriage in the United Kingdom" motion on the introduction of same-sex marriage.
* 2008: "Deportation to States which Persecute on the Grounds of Sexuality and Gender Identity" on treatment of LGBT asylum seekers.
* 1988: Repeal of Section 28, Criminalisation of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, prohibition of legal and social discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

## Fringe events

LGBT+ Liberal Democrats runs a series of fringe events discussing various topic issues at Liberal Democrat conference each year, including regular joint fringes with LGBT+ campaigning organisation Stonewall.
Events at a joint 2011 fringe received widespread coverage after then Stonewall Chair, Ben Summerskill stated that his organisation did not support equal marriage and that he believed it would cost £5 billion to implement. The statement resulted in critical comments from prominent campaigner Peter Tatchell and openly gay Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Gilbert, who stated "it should not be up to me as a member of parliament to lobby Stonewall on equal rights. It should be Stonewall lobbying me". The controversy later caused a split within Stonewall itself, following further criticism from founder members Ian McKellen and Michael Cashman.

## 2013 apologies

In 2013, both G4S and TalkTalk were forced to apologise to the organisation, following separate incidents. In the first incident G4S, who provided conference security, had insisted on checking banners being carried by members of the group for "potentially offensive campaign material". Three months later, TalkTalk issued an apology after their web filter classified the organisation's web site as pornographic.

## Views on MPs
### Tim Farron

Many members of the group, while denying that former party leader Tim Farron is a homophobe, have been openly critical of his answers to questions about his views on the sinfulness of gay sex during the 2017 general election, viewing it as a distraction from the party's pro-LGBT record. Former head of the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats Chris Cooke made unsubstantiated complaints to the party about Farron's personal conduct when "drunk", and admitted that he "made up a story to cause trouble" following his suspension over Twitter comments directed at Conservative MP Anna Soubry.
Farron's continued fraternisation with evangelical anti-'gay lobby' groups has been seen by the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats as a lapse of judgement, with them asking him to apologise for a "lack of care" shown to the LGBT community.

### Phillip Lee

On 3 September 2019, Conservative MP Phillip Lee joined the Lib Dems in opposition to Brexit.
Moments after he had defected, LGBT+ Liberal Democrat chair Jennie Rigg along with the vice chair, executive members and several other activists left the party in opposition to Lee's views on same-sex marriage and his previous campaign to bar people with HIV from being able to come to the UK.
A subsequent meeting took place between Lee and the LGBT+ Lib Dems at their annual conference to discuss his views.
Having previously said "Marriage should be left to the churches and the redefinition of marriage simply required more debate and consultation", Lee later insisted that his views on LGBT+ rights and had been misrepresented, stating that he was right to abstain on the same-sex marriage vote because it was a "liberal" choice and part of a "nuanced argument". Jennie Rigg later rejoined the Liberal Democrats, after Lee lost his seat in the following general election.

## Executive committee

The oversight of the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats is managed by its Officers and Executive Members. The executive committee, consisting of members elected by the party's membership, individuals co-opted by the Executive, and representatives from other Liberal Democrat affiliated organisations, is tasked with this responsibility. The present Executive assumed their roles on 1 January 2023.

### 2023 Executive committee

Source:

#### Executive Officers

* Chair: Charley Hasted
* Vice-Chair: Gareth Lewis Shelton
* Treasurer: Alan Collins Rosell
* Secretary: Charlie Campion

#### Executive Members

There are seven elected members and up to three co-opted members.
* Luke Allan
* Em Dean
* Andy Hinton
* Caron Lindsay
* Katharine Macy
* Rachel-lee Mackenzie
* Jennie Rigg
* Lucy Tonge

## Previous chairs

* Charley Hasted (Jan 2023 – present)
* Gareth Lewis Shelton (Sept 2020 – Dec 2022)
* Dave Page (Sept 2019 – June 2020)
* Jennie Rigg (Feb 2017 – Sept 2019)
* Chris Cooke (Jan – Feb 2017)
* Adrian Trett (2016)
* Dave Page (2015)
* Ed Fordham (2014)
* Adrian Trett (July 2010 – 2013)
* Benji Starr (Jan – Jun 2010)
* Jen Yockney (2007–2009)
* Kelvin Meyrick (2006)
* Richard Porter (2005)
* Alison Wheeler (2004)
* Denys Robinson (2003)
* Hannah Kaitlin-Boyer (2001–2002)
* Jonathan Simpson (1998–2000)
* Mark Baker (1998)
* Brian Stone (1989)