International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
On International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Britain is celebrating after being named the best place in Europe for LGB&T rights.
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone marked the occasion by speaking out about the importance of stopping prejudice at home and abroad.
She revealed the work being done to tackle discrimination in the UK, but called for more to be done here and around the world.
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: ‘Today is an opportunity to celebrate how much progress has been made in changing attitudes towards LGB&T people.
‘In the UK, we are continuing to remove barriers and tackle prejudice - by toughening hate crime laws, campaigning to eradicate homophobia and transphobia in sport, supporting action against bullying in schools, and through our current consultation on how to implement equal civil marriage.
‘However, today it is also important to reflect on the challenges we still face, at home and abroad. We are continuing to drive change across government through our LGB&T action plan as well as pushing for more action from partners overseas.’
The Minister spoke out as the UK topped a ‘Rainbow Map’ of Europe, which found it offered the best legal human rights to LGB&T people of any country on the continent.