What actions are the SNP taking to ensure there is no discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation?

We believe that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination, and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly, regardless of their sexual orientation.

The SNP has a proud record of advancing and championing LGBTI rights while in government. We have delivered the most progressive and extensive equal marriage legislation, a pardon for historical ‘homosexual offences’, and equal civil partnerships.  We opened up adoption and IVF for same-sex couples, reformed blood donation rules, established a Working Group on Non-Binary Equality and made Scotland the first country in the UK to approve the provision of PrEP by the NHS. We passed the Hate Crime Act at the end of the last parliament which makes it an offence to stir up hatred against people on the grounds of sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.

We continue to demand the full devolution of equality, employment and immigration powers so that the Scottish Parliament has the powers to protect LGBTI equality and make Scotland a fairer and more equal place to live.

There is no place for conversion therapy in Scotland. Such practices are discriminatory and harmful to the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTI people. The UK Government made a commitment to ban conversion therapy in their LGBT Action Plan, and we fully support this, as we know making a ban fully comprehensive will involve action in reserved areas. However, if the UK Government does not take action, we will bring forward our own legislation insofar as is possible within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

We remain fully committed to progressing delivery of the world‐leading recommendations on LGBT Inclusive Education across the curriculum in order to improve the learning environment for all children and young people. We believe an educational approach to tackling homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying and prejudice in schools is essential. LGBT history, role models and equalities education should be taught in schools to tackle the prejudice which often leads to the bullying and social exclusion of LGBT young people. To achieve this, we have funded Time For Inclusive Education (TIE) to work with decision makers, produce curriculum resources, and deliver services for teachers and pupils to raise awareness, heighten knowledge, and foster good relations. We are committed to that work and will continue to fund it until the prejudice that has blighted too many young lives is eradicated.

We will introduce an overarching Scottish Diversity and Inclusion Strategy covering the public sector, our educational institutions, justice system, and workplaces. This strategy will focus on the removal of institutional, cultural and financial barriers which lead to inequalities in relation to gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and social mobility.

We will increase and improve our data collection so that across all our policies we will be able to have a strong evidence base, gauge intersectional inequality, measure outcomes, and recommend improvements.