Brexit would risk hard-won rights for LGBT equality, says TUC

The TUC has published a briefing today (Tuesday) on the ways in which LGBT workers have benefitted from the UK’s membership of the EU, and the risks to their rights from Brexit.

The briefing is part of a series of notes on the social benefits and anti-discrimination protections arising from membership of the EU, and it looks at the risks to those protections if Britain was to leave the EU.

In 2000, the EU adopted a directive that required all EU countries to ensure equal treatment for lesbian, gay and bisexual workers, a move for which UK trade unions had campaigned. As a result, lesbian, gay and bisexual workers gained legal rights that had not previously existed in UK law.

Similarly, protection from discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment came from a European Court of Justice ruling in 1996.

EU law requires that penalties for discrimination must be large enough to be effective, and compensation must be commensurate with the harm caused. However, in an indication of the possible direction of change if Britain was to leave the EU, some Conservative MPs and advisers have said they would like to cap compensation for discrimination claims.

The TUC also notes that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has taken a robust approach to equality, including ruling that people in registered same-sex partnerships must have equal access to marital benefits.

An independent legal opinion, commissioned by the TUC from leading employment lawyer Michael Ford QC, concluded that in the event of Brexit “all the social rights in employment currently required by EU law would be potentially vulnerable”.

TUC Equalities Officer Huma Munshi said: “EU laws underpin many of the hard-won rights that are essential to equality for LGBT people. But outside of the EU, the legal guarantees for these rights would be at risk.

“Brexit campaigners have made no secret of their radical agenda for deregulation. To them it’s ‘red tape’, but to us it’s our right to equality, and our right to fair compensation if we suffer discrimination.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The TUC briefing note on LGBT Equality and the Risks of Brexit at http://bit.ly/22dvqBK

- The TUC commissioned independent legal opinion from Michael Ford QC on the consequences of Brexit can be found at www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Brexit%20Legal%20Opinion.pdf 

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews
 

Contacts:

Alex Rossiter  T: 020 7467 1285  M: 07887 572130  E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk
Tim Nichols  T: 020 7467 1388  M: 07808 761844  E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk
Michael Pidgeon  T: 020 7467 1372  M: 07717 531150  E: mpidgeon@tuc.org.uk