Nadia Whittome was among a number of cross-party MPs calling for LGBTQ+ equality in the UK during a debate in the House of Commons on 2 February.
Each of them took the opportunity to reflect on the past, present and future of queer rights given that February marks LGBTQ+ History Month.
Dame Angela Eagle, the Labour representative for Wallasey who was the second-ever MP to come out as lesbian, discussed how trans rights are increasingly under attack and often pitted against the rights of cis women. “If we start losing LGBT rights, women’s rights will not be far behind,” she explained.
Eagle also referenced the number of hate crimes reaching record highs in England and Wales last year, with a total of 155,841 recorded by police in the year ending March 2022 – an increase of 26% from the previous 12 months.