Anneliese Dodds’ resignation from Cabinet comes after nearly nine months of Labour’s new anti-trans government. The Oxford East MP was Women and Equalities Minister when the UK’s first permanent ban on the prescription of puberty blockers came into place. If this is the kind of “groundbreaking new legislation on equality for […] LGBT+ people” that she is committed to then we welcome her exit from Cabinet.
We also note that, during Dodds’ time as Minister of State for both Women and Equalities and International Development, the Labour government’s response to global conflicts, including ongoing genocide and apartheid in Palestine and the brutal counter-revolutionary war in Sudan, has veered between woeful inadequacy and active complicity. In solidarity with our queer and trans siblings across the globe, we stand firmly against the increase in British defence spending at the expense of foreign aid that was the grounds for Dodds’ resignation, and demand urgent, unconditional, material support for rebuilding efforts in these conflict zones.
We hope that the next Women and Equalities Minister will start taking the wellbeing of queer people seriously. However we expect the Labour leadership will continue its hostility towards trans people while having no economic plan to improve the lives of working people, queer and straight alike. We invite queer people and allies to join the trans assembly on 16th March to help build real alternatives.
