Question for the UK LGBT community: This article makes it sound like the pink vote is significant to the Tories. As an American, I’m having a really hard time imagining how that comes about. I’d accuse it of being slanted, but it quotes a number of Tory MPs who are publicly and strongly criticizing the statement.
In the US, the LGBT vote is pretty overwhelmingly Democratic. There’s a small group that support republicans, but it’s very rare - to the point it’s something worthy of notice and a point of contention.
So, is the portrayal in this article accurate? What are the politics over there? I’ve been active politically since the days of ACT UP, so I know what things are like over here, but I’m completely stunned by what they’re presenting about the political alignment over there.
Is it the same story with the trans community? In the US, our current round started a few years ago with southern states doing the culture war thing with bathroom bills. Basically, we’ve been gaining rights and representation for the past few decades, but marriage equality was the main focus. We went from Clinton passing the Defense of Marriage Act which banned the US from passing marriage equality and permitting states to outlaw it, to a conservative court instituting it. We also saw a climb in support for marriage equality reach majorities even among republicans. Once they realized they lost that war, they re-aligned as anti-trans. Once they saw they were getting traction there, they’re now going after the LGBT community as a whole again.
In the US, there’s a pretty general perception that the mainstream UK is more transphobic, so is that a misconception, or does it also apply to both Tories and Labour, or is the LGBT community not in solidarity (if the Tories are transphobic but others are not, if that was unclear)?
It may be true that the UK is more transphobic, though I have no experience of the US so it’s hard to compare.
It’s not just right wingers who oppose trans rights. Lots of TERFs, a mix of older radical lesbian-inspired and more mainstream popular feminism (cf the Mumsnet forums). Also famous figures previously seen as socially liberal/left wing, i.e. JK Rowling, Graham Linehan, several Labour and SNP politicians.
Worth noting all these people are mostly bothered about trans women. Trans men are almost invisible in the debate. It’s the usual taking points about women’s safety or erasure of female identity.
Right wing transphobes are all about the ‘woke mind virus’ argument, whereas left wing ones more from a TERF perspective. ‘Centrist’ voices like The Economist have also criticised things like trans inclusion in women’s sports. So yes, there aren’t many mainstream pro-trans voices.
Thank you. Yes, that was my impression. I’m cis, but I’ve been politically active for the community for awhile, and (most) of us take the solidarity stuff pretty seriously. There’s always the Log Cabin Republican or lesbian TERF who is otherwise incredibly liberal, but they’re mostly the exception, in my experience. The Democrats have recognized that, at least , and have generally resisted right wing efforts to split the community with transphobia.
It’s obviously shit here and getting worse, but the trans community has a definite “side” in politics, and the majority of the LGBT community is there as well.
Does the trans community there feel split off from the queer community in general? Do they feel represented in government, or is it like the 1959s?
These stories give you some idea of the tensions. I’m going to say it’s sadly a 1950s hegemon with some green shoots attempting to come through
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2023/oct/03/transphobic-homophobic-tory-member-removed-from-conference-during-bravermans-speech-video
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/mar/30/tory-mp-jamie-wallis-trans-reveals-rape-ordeal
You would hope a Labour government would be less transphobic but they’re terrified of the right wing press and obnoxiously timid on any issue they fear being attacked on.
As to public attitudes, this poll has a depressing headline but the detail is a bit more nuanced. I don’t know how this compares to the US?
https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/43194-where-does-british-public-stand-transgender-rights-1?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Fsociety%2Farticles-reports%2F2022%2F07%2F20%2Fwhere-does-british-public-stand-transgender-rights