[2] Today, lesbian, gay and bisexual rights are considered to be advanced by international standards, while transgender, gender-nonconforming and non-binary people face some of the highest levels of discrimination of any modernised country.

[12] However, by 2020, the UK had dropped to ninth place in the ILGA-Europe rankings with a score of 66% and the executive also expressed concern about a "hostile climate on trans rights fuelled by opposition groups".

Another amendment proposed by Sir Anthony Durant suggested lowering the age of consent to 18, which passed by 427 votes to 162, and Tory supporters included Michael Howard and John Major.

However, as the bill had not completed its passage through the Lords at the end of the parliamentary session on 30 November 2000, then Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin certified that the procedure specified by the Parliament Acts had been complied with.

Thus, the previous conditions relating to privacy were removed, and sexual acts were viewed by the law without regard to the sex of the participants (except that the definition of rape includes use of the defendant's penis).

The first civil partnership ceremony took place at 11:00 (GMT) on 5 December 2005 between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex.

[90][91] The legislation allows for lesbians and their partners (both civil and de facto) equal access to legal presumptions of parentage in cases of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or assisted/self insemination (other than at home) from the moment the child is born.

[99] Home Office Minister Lord Brett was full of praise in his comments: This positive change means that, for the first time, female couples who have a child using fertility treatment have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts to be shown as parents in the birth registration.

[111] Since 1 January 2021, UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom explicitly includes "gender reassignment" (alongside race, disability, religion, sex and sexual orientation) within its hate speech legal policies and procedures.

It said the report pathologised gender diversity, made "outdated" assumptions about trans people, ignored newer evidence, and promoted an "unconscionable degree of medical and state intrusion" into everyday matters such as pronouns and clothing choice, as well as into access to gender-affirming care.

[146] In October 2024, over 100 experts and organisations signed an open letter to the new Health Minister Wes Streeting, stating they had a "deep lack of confidence" in the Cass Review and cautioning against the "degrading" of trans healthcare based on it.

[citation needed] In December 2023, the UK government said it would no longer accept gender recognition certificates issued by 50 countries and U.S. states, due to concerns those jurisdictions allowed people to transition "too easily".

Badenoch's plans were criticised by Shadow Equalities Minister Anneliese Dodds (Labour), who said the list of accepted jurisdictions may have diplomatic consequences, since it no longer included the other four members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance: Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

[159][160] In August 2024, NHS England introduced new mandatory diversity training which, according to The Daily Mail, stated that it was potentially "illegal harassment" to ask a trans colleague to use another toilet or changing room.

Actions by intersex organisations aim to eliminate unnecessary medical interventions and harmful practices, promote social acceptance, and equality in line with Council of Europe and United Nations demands.

[172] In October 2007, the Government announced that it would seek to introduce an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act to create a new offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

[174] The Equality Act 2010 (Welsh: Deddf Cydraddoldeb 2010; Scottish Gaelic: Achd na Co-ionannachd 2010; Cornish: Reyth Parder 2010)[175] received royal assent on 8 April 2010.

[191] An earlier effort was made in 2018 to ban homophobic chanting by Damian Collins, at the time chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and former Wales rugby player Gareth Thomas.

The National Police Chiefs' Council attributed this to a lack of witnesses or evidence, including difficulties in proving the assault was motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity.

In a speech to the conference in 2008, the first of its kind by any Army chief, General Sir Richard said that respect for LGBT officers and soldiers was now "a command responsibility" and was vital for "operational effectiveness.

In her 10-minute Queen's Speech, which is prepared by the UK Government, she stated that "measures will be brought forward to address racial and ethnic disparities and ban conversion therapy.

"[232] However, the Government's plans involve a consultation before any ban is put in place, which led to criticism by campaigners including Stonewall that such delay leaves LGBT groups "at further risk of abuse."

[242] In July 2024, the new Labour Party Government at Westminster made a formal announcement - that will establish community consultation and an inquiry on a bill to officially ban conversion therapy within the UK.

PSHE [Personal, Social, Health and Economic education] must help pupils recognise their true identity, and teach them that our media-framed, market-driven culture that often leads to body image anxiety can be challenged.

This issue is the focus of the Bishop of Gloucester's #liedentity campaign which aims to challenge negative body image and encouraging young people to look within to discover true value and beauty.

[250] In September 2018, the UK's Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, agreed to comply with this new policy and published guidelines on how to teach LGBT sex education in British Jewish schools.

[282] In May 2020, on the 5th anniversary of the passing of the same-sex marriage referendum in Ireland, Amnesty International, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and the Rainbow Project announced plans for mass demonstration in Belfast.

"[288] According to YouGov, however, studies such as that of the Integrated Household Survey underestimate the true proportion of the population that is LGBT as they use a face-to-face methodology, and non-heterosexual people are less willing to disclose their sexual orientation to an interviewer.

[296] In November 2020, it was announced that staff working in news and current affairs at the BBC were banned from attending UK pride marches, so as not to be seen as politically biased (even in a "personal" individual capacity).

[327] A poll in June 2009 conducted by Populus for The Times reported that the majority of the public supported same-sex marriage; 61% of respondents agreed that "Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships".