‘ Being inclusive is not only the right thing … it is a strategic necessity ’

“It is safe to state that trade unions – including and in particular UNISON – have had a huge impact on global LGBTI organising,” delegates to UNISON’s annual LGBT+ conference in Edinburgh heard this afternoon. Addressing conference, Dr Julia Ehrt, the executive director of ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) World, said that she was especially proud that her first keynote speech was to an organisation that had been so important in the fight for rights. Yet this came “despite the fact that I have been doing this work for two decades”. So why had such a major speech taken so long? This formed the cornerstone of her speech, as Dr Ehrt sought to explore the reasons for that. It was not, she explained, about herself,“but a story of trans representation in queer movements”. ILGA is the largest international, membership-based LGBT+ organisation in the world, with more than 1,800 member organisations in 169 different countries. But Dr Ehrt asked delegateswhether there were other trans and non-binary people in the hall and whether there were other trans and non-binary people holding workshops and speaking at the event. “Those were very odd questions to ask – weren’t they?” she said.But it revealed how much had changed. “My first ILGA Europe conference was the one in Vienna in 2008: there was one workshop on ‘trans issues’ – and if I remember correctly, it was the only workshop in the whole four-day conference a...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News 2022 LGBT 2022 LGBT conference trans rights Source Type: news