Labour leadership candidates to be grilled on queer issues at PinkNews, Diva and LGBT+ Labour Hustings
The 2020 LGBT+ Labour Leadership Hustings will take place in Manchester on February 20.
Labour leadership and deputy leadership candidates will be quizzed on LGBT+ issues and how they’re going to return Labour to power at the 2020 LGBT+ Labour Leadership Hustings on Thursday, February 20.
The event, presented by PinkNews, will be hosted by LGBT+ Labour and supported by DIVA.
Taking place in Manchester, the hustings will be open to all leadership and deputy leadership candidates who reach the final ballot on Friday, February 14.
Tickets are available to LGBT+ Labour members, wider party members and members of the queer community, and the hustings will be a chance to find out where candidates stand on issues like homelessness, conversion therapy, reforming the Gender Recognition Act and international LGBT+ rights.
Questions for the candidates can be submitted online, and the event will also be live-streamed by PinkNews.
LGBT+ Labour co-chairs, Melantha Chittenden and Heather Peto, said: “The Labour Party has done more than any other to radically transform the lives of LGBT+ people in this country.
“However, progress is not inevitable and with the rapid rise in hate crime, the refusal of this government to roll out PrEp and their inaction on GRA reform, the challenges the LGBT+ community faces now are serious.”
After the worst election result for Labour since 1935, candidates will also be quizzed on their vision for the future of the party.
Chittenden and Peto continued: “With Labour further away from power that we have seen in nearly a century it’s vital that the next leadership team has the ability to win back power in order to create a society where all LGBT+ people can live and love without fear or discrimination.
“We are so proud to be hosting these hustings with the support of PinkNews and DIVA to ensure as many party members as possible get the chance to question and scrutinise all candidates on such important issues before casting their vote.”
PinkNews CEO Benjamin Cohen said: “At a crucial time for our country, the 2020 PinkNews LGBT+ Labour Hustings are a unique opportunity to hold the Labour leadership and deputy leadership candidates to account on their policies for LGBT+ rights.
“In an environment where political discourse is dominated by Brexit, it is vital that we support initiatives that enable us to focus on LGBT+ rights, as such conversations are fundamental to the life of the LGBT+ community as well as the community at large.
“We hope this first-of-its-kind hustings will lay the foundations for how all political parties choose their leaders in the months and years to come.”
Linda Riley, publisher of DIVA magazine, added: “DIVA is delighted to partner with PinkNews at the Labour LGBT+ hustings and look forward to hearing the views of the future Labour Party leadership on LGBT+ issues.”
