Dear Andy,

For years, Manchester has proudly presented itself as a city where LGBTQ+ people are welcomed, celebrated and valued, and you have helped shape that story. You’ve marched through our streets at Pride, spoken publicly about equality and inclusion, and consistently recognised that diversity is one of this city’s greatest strengths. That leadership has mattered, not just symbolically, but to the thousands of LGBTQ+ young people who have looked to Manchester as a place where they might finally feel seen, accepted and able to be themselves.

It has mattered to the young person arriving in Manchester for the first time hoping they might find the community they never had growing up, it has mattered to parents trying to better understand and support their children, and it has mattered to organisations like The Proud Trust that spend every day working alongside LGBTQ+ young people whose lives are shaped by decisions made far beyond our youth groups, classrooms and community spaces.

As Prime Minister, I hope you take that same commitment to inclusion with you, because from where we’re standing, many LGBTQ+ young people feel the progress they believed was permanent is beginning to slip away. The time for political courage is now.

Over the past few years, we’ve watched the public conversation around LGBTQ+ people become increasingly hostile and polarised. Policies affecting their lives are debated daily, rights many believed had been secured are being taken away, and young people are growing up hearing their identities discussed as political problems rather than simply part of who they are. Whether it’s changes to guidance affecting schools, uncertainty surrounding healthcare, or the tone of national debate, many of the young people we support tell us they feel less safe, less certain and less hopeful about their future than they did just a few years ago.

We don’t see those consequences in headlines, we see them when young people walk through our door. Following the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, referrals to The Proud Trust increased by 171%. That wasn’t simply an increase in demand for a service, it represented hundreds more LGBTQ+ young people reaching out because they needed reassurance, somewhere they felt safe, or simply someone to tell them they still belonged.

Young LGBTQ+ people don’t necessarily arrive at our door because life is going well. They can come because they’re frightened to come out at home, because bullying has made school feel unbearable, because they’re struggling with anxiety, loneliness or poor mental health, or because they’re terrified about what the future might look like for them. Increasingly, they also come because the constant political and public debate surrounding LGBTQ+ rights has left them wondering whether this country is slowly deciding there is less room for people like them.

Young people often tell us they feel like they’re constantly being spoken about but rarely spoken to. They watch adults debate their identities on television, read headlines questioning their existence, and hear politicians discussing their futures, yet too few people stop to ask the simplest question of all, “What do you need?”.

Every young person deserves to grow up feeling they belong somewhere. They deserve schools where they feel safe enough to be and to learn, healthcare where they are treated with dignity and respect, communities where they are welcomed rather than scrutinised, and youth services that exist long before they reach crisis point. They deserve political leaders who recognise that behind every policy decision and every headline is a real young person trying to navigate adolescence with the same hopes, fears and dreams as anyone else.

As you now lead this country, I know you’ll remember the city you came from. Please remember the communities that showed the rest of Britain what solidarity looks like, and the LGBTQ+ young people who still arrive in Manchester searching for hope. Equality is never something we achieve once and keep forever, it has to be protected, defended and strengthened, especially when doing so becomes difficult.

The next generation of LGBTQ+ young people shouldn’t grow up believing their rights are conditional, that their identities are matters for political negotiation, or that they must wait for society to decide whether they deserve dignity and respect. They deserve leaders prepared to stand beside them, speak up for them and build a country where every young person, regardless of who they are or who they love, knows they belong.

Please, be that leader.

Yours sincerely,
Rachel Williams, CEO, The Proud Trust