Sajid Javid named Home Secretary, Penny Mordaunt named equalities chief: Where they stand on LGBT issues
Sajid Javid has been appointed the new Home Secretary.
Communities, Local Government and Housing Secretary Javid has been ushered into the role after former Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned on Sunday evening following her admission that she “inadvertently misled” the government and public when she denied all knowledge of a deportation target increase that contributed to the Windrush scandal.
Javid first entered parliament in 2010, and has led the enquiry into the Grenfell disaster.
A supporter of LGBT+ rights, Javid said that he is “very proud” of the government’s introduction of equal marriage at the 2015 PinkNews Awards.
“I’m no stranger to inequality. I grew up as a young lad being verbally abused and physically abused because of my colour or people didn’t like a certain religion,” he said at the event.
“So it’s no surprise I’ve always been a strong advocate for equality.”
(Ross Brind)
Although Javid has a strong record on LGBT+ rights, he will not be taking on the women and equalities brief.
Secretary of State for International Development Penny Mordaunt will be taking over the minister for women and equalities role, making her the fifth person to hold the post in two years.
“Delighted to have this additional brief, and want to thank Amber for all she did in this role,” tweeted Mordaunt in response to her appointment.
The LGBT+ community will be pleased to hear that Mordaunt has consistently voted for LGBT+ rights.
However, the LGBT+ community waits in suspense as the government’s movements towards actioning a Gender Recognition Act reform as well as an upheaval of the sex and relationships education are in stasis.
Although Justine Greening introduced a reformation of the Act which would “demedicalise” trans people being legally able to change their gender, movements to implement the Act have come to a standstill.
Reforms to make sex education LGBT inclusive have also ground to a halt amid pressure from faith groups to scrap the changes.
Sex and relationships education for schools has not been updated since 2000.
