We want a UK where hardworking LGBT+ Brits do not find their existing rights diluted, or fall behind European workers in the future.
This is a statement is from the May 2018 briefing on Brexit and LGBT+ rights by the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The briefing explains how EU law has directly created significant rights for LGBT+ workers in the UK and EU law is an important backstop for the UK. Because of this, it argues that protections for LGBT+ rights are at risk when the UK leaves the EU.
The briefing finds:
- Many people think LGBT+ rights are safe in the UK, especially since the Conservative Party has shifted from a position of introducing section 28 banning the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality to legislating for same-sex marriage and has promised to incorporate all current EU law into UK law
- However, when we leave the EU all those protections are at risk. Future governments would have unconstrained freedom in those areas currently governed by EU law relevant to employment enabling them to scrap the protections at a future date
- Additionally, where there is not a complete repeal of the rights currently guaranteed by EU law, successive governments could bring in changes that undermine or narrow them. For example, there have been attempts by some to restrict rights to equality for LGBT+ people on the grounds of religion or belief.
The report concludes that workers must not pay the price of Brexit, and whichever option the UK takes, it must guarantee workers’ rights, and specifically LBGT+ rights
