Over the last few years, equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community has become an increasingly important issue for both politicians and wider society.
The Scottish Parliament has been at the forefront of progressive legislation in this arena - including the introduction of same-sex marriage in 2014 and the strengthening of legal protections against discrimination – and cumulatively, Scotland now meets 90 per cent of the equality and human rights criteria laid down by campaigning group ILA-Europe.
The latest data shows that if Scotland was independent from the UK, it would sit at the top of the Europe’s “Rainbow List” for the second year running. Only the lack of a specific protection for intersex people stops Scotland from scoring 100 per cent. The UK as a whole, meanwhile, met 81 per cent of criteria and sits third on the list, behind Malta and Belgium.
There is no doubt that Scotland is becoming a far more tolerant country. For evidence of this, we could look to Scotland’s politicians themselves. Four of the country’s six party leaders are openly either gay or bisexual, while the SNP has the highest proportion of gay MPs of any UK party.
Few eyelids were batted last week when both Tory leader Ruth Davidson and Labour leader Kezia Dugdale were photographed holding hands with their female partners. It’s hard to imagine that happening even 10 years ago.
Scotland’s progress on these matters should be warmly welcomed - but we must not become complacent. LGBTI people still face discrimination and intolerance in their everyday lives, a fact that no doubt brings misery to many.
That’s why equality laws are still important; making it clear that all citizens, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identification, are equal in the eyes of the law matters not only to our international standing as a tolerant nation, but surely also to our perception of ourselves.
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