Cancellation of UK LGBT summit damages rights, advocates say

The U.K. government’s cancellation of an international summit to promote LGBT rights is “actively damaging” to the cause that the event sought to advance, according to a senior civil society leader.

The U.K. pulled the summit, scheduled for June, after nearly 200 organizations withdrew their support for the Safe To Be Me conference in protest of a recent decision to exclude transgender people from legislation banning the discredited practice of “conversion therapy.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson has since defended the policy.

“The government was making a big deal of this conference. It was a big flagship event,” said Tim Durrant, an associate director at the Institute for Government think tank. “They were proud of it and wanted to use it as an opportunity to create a good news story for the U.K. … It will have been a big decision to cancel.”

The country’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office played a key role in organizing the conference, which was promoted as the first international summit of its kind. It aimed to support legislative reform to promote equality and legal protection, tackle violence and discrimination, and improve access to public services.

Liz Truss — who, along with being the foreign secretary since September, has served as minister for women and equalities since 2019 — announced the summit in May, saying it would “take aim at the prejudices LGBT people still face, and look at the collective action we can take to tackle those injustices alongside our international friends and partners.” Along with Argentina, the U.K. is a co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition, a grouping of 42 countries promoting LGBT rights.

The U.K. government appointed an “LGBT business champion,” Iain Anderson — who resigned on Tuesday in reaction to the government’s decision on the conversion therapy legislation — and a special envoy on LGBT rights, Nick Herbert. An email that Devex sent to Herbert on Wednesday remained unanswered by press time.

“It [the summit] could not go ahead with any credibility,” Peter Tatchell, a human rights campaigner, wrote to Devex. “It is hypocritical for the U.K. Government to promote LGBT+ rights around the world while denying trans people protection from harmful conversion therapy in this country.”

"Although the conference would have been a great opportunity to promote LGBT+ rights on an international stage, that will have to wait … LGBT+ gains were never dependent on this conference,” said Tatchell.

“The cancellation of the conference after a series of bad decisions is problematic globally because it removes a global space for the advancements of the rights of LGBT people,” said Julia Ehrt, the excutive director at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, in a call with Devex.

“It is actively damaging — not only to the U.K. but also elsewhere, because other governments will or may take this as an example. The [U.K.] government was perceived as doing better at LGBT rights; it sets a bad precedent for other countries who can piggyback on that.”

Within the “global [LGBT] movement,” the cancellation “fuels resentment that global north issues are dominating global south issues … because of how U.K. government politics play out in this case,” Ehrt added.

“FCDO will have to work hard” to “repair” the relationship with other governments and groups involved in the summit, she said.

“The U.K. presenting itself as a global leader but then not taking care of affairs at home doesn't give us faith they can extend their influence elsewhere,” said Zelly Lisanework, a co-founder and co-director at House of Guramayle, a group working to support LGBT rights in Ethiopia. She said House of Guramayle’s decision to withdraw its support from the summit came about due to worries of government “pinkwashing,” or using pro-LGBT messaging to avoid criticism for other actions.

Both Ehrt and Lisanework welcomed the “solidarity” among the LGBT groups that organized to withdraw support from the event.

Lisanework said her organization could not be involved in the conference when the government was “actively harming and dismantling rights here [in the United Kingdom].” But she said there would be “other opportunities, other ways of ensuring we can collaborate with other organizations and still work with policymakers.”

In a statement, a U.K. government spokesperson said, “It is disappointing to see partners withdraw from an international conference that focused on the fundamental human rights issues facing LGBT people around the world, and as a result it will not be possible to proceed with the Safe To Be Me Conference.”

The U.K. remains committed to strengthening LGBT rights, campaigning internationally for “decriminalisation,” and supporting human rights defenders, the statement added.