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LGBT rights: Better not worse – richer not poorer

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In just a generation, there has been a profound change in attitudes and culture on sexuality and transgender. Of course, all too often ‘gay’ is still thrown round as a casual term of abuse in schools, and homophobic bullying has found a new outlet online and in social media. But some of the issues unions have campaigned for, like equality and gay marriage, are no longer contested as they once were.

It’s not a change that is in anyway perfect or universal. Nor did it drop fully formed from the sky. It’s a change of attitude and culture that has been driven by unions and others who have fought long and hard for equality and respect.

Equal marriage is now on the statute book – something unthinkable just a generation ago. That change, that recognition that a person should be free to marry whoever she or he wants, was brought about thanks to the efforts of campaigning; something we truly take pride in.

However, many widowers and same-sex partners are losing out on pensions, says TUC. The TUC is urging the government to change the rules on the accrual of survivor pensions so that widowers and same-sex couples are treated in the same way as widows, and do not lose out when their partners pass away.

Many widowers, surviving civil partners and same-sex spouses are currently losing out or may lose out on thousands of pounds worth of retirement income because of ongoing discrimination in the pensions system that successive governments have failed to put right.

The TUC wants the government to stop widowers and same-sex couples losing out by requiring equal rights to survivor pensions to be fully backdated. We urged delegates at our LGBT conference last week to sign a petition calling on the government to act, and to raise awareness of the scandal of the survivor pension gap amongst their friends and colleagues.

On Tuesday (1 July) a government review of survivor pension inequalities, required by the equal marriage legislation, which was passed in 2013, will estimate the cost of fully backdating survivor pension rights. The TUC believes that the cost is negligible compared to the overall liabilities of pension schemes and hopes it will spur the government to end this discrimination against surviving civil partners, same-sex spouses and widowers.

At the time of the Civil Partnership Act, unions persuaded the government to backdate survivor pension rights in public service schemes to 1988, so civil partners’ rights were in line with widowers’ rights. This 17-year backdating has had no significant financial consequences for the schemes, and proves that the full backdating of these rights is easily affordable.

Many private sector companies have already changed the rules of their schemes and the government should change the law so that no-one misses out on a survivor pension predicated on their sex or sexuality.

Beth Farhat – Regional Secretary Northern TUC

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