Ed Miliband welcomes first trans Parliamentary candidate
The leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband has tweeted his support for a Parliamentary Candidate standing for the party, who came out as transgender in an interview on PinkNews today.
Emily Brothers, who is standing for the Sutton and Cheam Parliamentary seat came out as trasngeder on PinkNews today in an interview with trans journalist Naith Payton.
In doing so, she became the first transgender Parliamentary Candidate to come out of their own accord, and stand for one of the major UK Parties.
Mr Miliband tweeted his support for Ms Brothers, saying: “So proud to have Emily Brothers as a Labour candidate. She is an important voice in our movement.”
So proud to have Emily Brothers as a @UKLabour candidate. She is an important voice in our movement. https://t.co/KfKmw8YqZd
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) December 9, 2014
In a second tweet, Mr Miliband said: “Emily Brothers has long been a courageous campaigner on disability rights & now on trans issues too.”
The decision to come out by Ms Brothers was also supported by Labour’s shadow equalities minister Gloria De Piero, who tweeted: “Too few Trans, disabled and women’s voices in politics. Labour’s Emily Brothers is stepping forward to change this.”
Too few Trans, disabled and women's voices in politics. Labour's Emily Brothers is stepping forward to change this https://t.co/AD2x7qctJf
— Gloria De Piero (@GloriaDePiero) December 9, 2014
Cllr Bev Craig, a Co-chair at LGBT Labour added: “We’re incredibly proud that Emily has taken the decision to come out as trans. We know all too well that trans people still face too many barriers in politics and beyond. We are pleased that Emily has the full support of the Labour Party.
“It was Labour who delivered huge progress for trans legal equality when in government. And it will only be a Labour government – with Emily as an MP – who will continue to fight for trans communities.”
While there have been openly trans local councillors, and Nicky Sinclair who represented UKIP at the European Parliament before leaving the party, this is believed to be the first time a Parliamentary Candidate for a major party has come out as transgender without being outed.
A Lib Dem PPC Stephanie Dearden was outed as transgender in 2005 by the Daily Mail.
Click here for the full interview.
