From 13 to 19 November 2026, we mark Trans Awareness Week: a moment to hear and respond to what transgender and non-binary people are telling us, to honour all they bring to our communities, and to face up to the obstacles still standing in their way.
Over the past year, many of those obstacles have become harder to overcome. In August, a new Code of Practice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission took effect that shuts trans people out of facilities matching the gender they live in, sometimes out of those matching their sex at birth as well, and invites questioning of women based on whether they look “female enough”. Support groups say gender non-conforming women are already facing more harassment in women’s spaces. Between 2020 and 2025, police-recorded hate crimes against trans people increased by 50%, while tens of thousands wait years for NHS gender-affirming care. Being treated with dignity should never be this much of a struggle.
Standing up for LGBTQ+ people runs deep in Liberal Democrat history. Ed Davey moved the clause that helped scrap Section 28, the Conservative law banning councils from “promoting homosexuality”. Lynne Featherstone championed equal marriage until it became law. And our former MP John Leech won pardons for people wrongly convicted because of who they loved. Time and again, our party has been proven right, and we bring that same determination to securing equal rights, respect and recognition for trans and non-binary people today.
We are deeply grateful to the trans members who have shaped our party over the years: standing as candidates, knocking on doors and pushing for a more welcoming party and a fairer country.
In September, our Autumn Conference passed an emergency motion in response to the EHRC’s Code of Practice. Our message could not be clearer: the Code as it stands is discriminatory, it cannot work in practice, and it leaves service providers carrying an unfair burden.
That motion builds on Free to Be Who You Are, the policy paper agreed at Spring Conference 2025, which makes the case that every person should be able to live as themselves, free from fear and prejudice, with equal access to healthcare, education, work and the rights all citizens share.
Today we will keep pushing to:
This Trans Awareness Week, Liberal Democrats are proud to stand with trans and non-binary people in every part of the UK. We celebrate their courage, talent and determination, and we are honest about the distance still to travel. We won’t stop campaigning until everyone in Britain is free to be who they are.
The Liberal Democrats will continue to stand in solidarity with trans and non-binary communities, defending equal rights, personal dignity and safety for all.