01st Jun 2022

FLiP are proud supporters of Pride Month 2022

FLiP are proud supporters of Pride Month 2022

 

FLiP is proud to support LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2022 – a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world. This year marks a special year for Pride as it celebrates its 50th birthday.

You may notice that our firm’s logo and our email sign-off have taken on the rainbow colours as an indication of our support. Despite this, we recognise that it is important to show a genuine commitment across our firm to diversity and inclusion – in the work that we do and in the way that we do it.

Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and how in some places there’s still work to be done.

In our work as lawyers we have witnessed significant change over the years in the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, for example:

  • 1967 saw homosexual acts between men largely decriminalised by The Sexual Offences Act 1967, section 1. However, as the age of consent for heterosexuals was 16 then, the legislation itself was discriminatory. It was not until the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was implemented that the age of consent was finally equalised.
  • In 2003 the Local Government Act repealed section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 which had prohibited local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality and prevented them from spending money on educational materials and projects perceived to promote a gay lifestyle.
  • The Civil Partnerships Act 2004 became law on 5 December 2005 creating a marriage equivalent for lesbians and gay men, but it fell short of calling it marriage.
  • On 29 March 2014 the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 became law, finally allowing marriage for same sex couples.

But we recognise that there is still more to do, both within our own legal system and abroad. For example, individuals with gender identity issues continue to suffer significant prejudice:

  • Even in the UK where trans individuals have protection, it remains necessary for an individual to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they can transition, something that arguably stigmatises trans people by perpetuating the assumption that being trans is a mental illness.
  • Despite the Government announcing in the recent Queen’s Speech that it would ban conversion therapy aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation, this ban would not extend to transgender conversion therapy which would continue to be legal.

Meanwhile, there are many LGBT individuals around the world who continue to face significant discrimination. In many countries LGBTQ+ couples do not have full equality and gay sex remains illegal in many jurisdictions with the death penalty still applying in 8.

We need to show that this continuing discrimination is not acceptable and do what we can to call for change.

At Family Law in Partnership, we are leading experts in all issues relating to same sex couples including civil partnership agreements and same sex marriages, parenting and children issues and financial arrangements following a divorce or separation. Director David Allison is one of the leading experts in this area of law. For expert advice contact David or any of our other leading divorce and family lawyers at Family Law in Partnership E: hello@flip.co.uk or T: 020 7420 5000