New Communist Party of Britain

This is just one section of the Main Political Resolution adopted at the 2009 16^th Congress of the New Communist Party of Britain.
An index to the other sections can be found here -> [2009 Policy Documents]

LESBIAN, GAY, BI−SEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

Progress has continued in this area. Following on from the equalisation of the age of consent in 2000, Labour has made it illegal to discriminate against lesbians and gay men at work, and in the provision of goods and services — from NHS care to insurance, hotels and restaurants — after pressure from the gay lobby.

Civil Partnerships offer benefits for gay couples similar to those enjoyed by heterosexual married couples in terms of tax, immigration, next of kin and other legal rights. All this is to be applauded.

But while it is possible in Britain today for transgender people to obtain a passport or driving licence in their new identity it is not possible to change a birth certificate. British law still defines a person’s sex by biological factors at birth.

There is a logical contradiction here which needs rectifying. A person should be fully recognised as being a particular gender — not with some documents saying one thing and some documents another. The present situation has legal implications; for example it means that a female−to−male transsexual cannot marry a woman.

Things have improved considerably and the Labour Government must be given credit where it’s due, but there are still things to fight for. Homophobic attitudes are still common and attacks on gay people regularly occur. The law still needs strengthening against such hate attacks and more resources put into education to change attitudes.