Law and Policy Outdated for LGBT Community - Dr Brooks-Gordon
By Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon
Originally published by LGBT+ Liberal Democrats
Gay couples are being failed in some areas of social policy and the law, Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon told a Stonewall LGBT fringe event at the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference.
She said there have been legal cases where judges had treated same sex relationships very differently to others committing the same offence.
Dr Brooks-Gordon was invited to speak on the issue Ensuring LGBT Representation in Public Life. She has written extensively on sexuality as a policy issue and explained how the last government had left in place policy areas that need to be corrected.
"Same sex couples are being discriminated against under our legal system," said Dr Brooks-Gordon. "Current law and social policy has not been updated to represent these people in modern society.
"It can also be extremely traumatising when transsexual people have to get divorced when they change sex and then have a civil partnership. We need to look closely at how we can overcome these obstacles."
Dr Brooks-Gordon spoke alongside the Liberal Democrat's London Mayoral candidate, Brian Paddick, MP Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Simon Hughes and Stonewall CEO, Ben Summerskill among others.