The Broad Left Network stands in solidarity with all LGBT+ people. We recognise and respect the identities, dignity, and privacy of all workers in PCS and wider society. The labour movement must always work to fight for the liberation of LGBT+ workers as an inherent part of the struggle for workers’ liberty overall.
Refusal to defend LGBT+ members
We are very concerned that our union has seemingly refused to comment in this BBC article when asked to do so. It contains a report of legal action threatened by the Christian Institute to prevent our civil service members wearing LGBT+ identifying lanyards, listing their pronouns (such as in email signatures) and attending Pride events whilst on official business.
In this article we explain the importance of this issue and why PCS must speak out. PCS must defend all its members including those in the Trans+ community. “Trans+” is used here as an inclusive term to refer to all people who are trans, non-binary, intersex, or any other gender that differs from what they were assigned at birth.
There is a complete absence of LGBT+ voices in the BBC article published 20 August 2025 but what is particularly damning is the silence of PCS. According to the BBC our union leaders “declined to provide a comment” despite being asked and despite the threat of a legal challenge directly attacking PCS members.
PCS Proud, a self -organised group in PCS, representing LGBT+ members, were not approached by the central union to comment, nor did PCS warn Proud this attack was likely. The President, General Secretary, the “Left Unity” NEC majority and senior unelected FTOs running the union have visibly turned away from the issue, and the silence is deafening.
This has echoes of national president Martin Cavanagh’s recent refusal to show Proud the PCS response to the recent EHRC consultation about the supreme court ruling that sex for the purposes of the equality act refers to “biological sex.” PROUD provided a suggested response to PCS nationally, but to date, neither PROUD nor reps across PCS have a clue what was contained in the final submission. It is shrouded in secrecy and one can only assume that the response is a further attempt to undermine union policy by equivocating on full defence of Trans+ people.
PCS Conference Policy is clear – we support LGBT+ workers
Motion A317 here which carried overwhelmingly at PCS Annual Delegate Conference 2024 (and is therefore current PCS policy) states the following:
- Biological reductionism is harmful to everyone, but especially women, girls, and the Trans community
- Actively oppose any organisations or individuals who dehumanise others in words, deeds, or terminology thereby potentially bringing hate or harm to our minority members.
- Oppose the introduction of any policies within the UK civil service which undermine or remove the existing rights of minorities and/or our allies, including any attempts to politicise our lives or identities.
- Issue a public statement through all union media channels stating PCS opposition to all political or ideological beliefs that, through their manifestation, seek to dehumanise and/or increase fear or hate towards vulnerable minorities and affirming our support for the ECHR for all
Biological reductionism in this context, refers to the notion that gender roles are simply the predetermined result of genes and chromosomes – i.e. a woman is defined solely by “biology”.
PCS is compelled by its own policy to oppose the introduction of a ban on lanyards or Pride attendance. PCS must oppose the Christian Institute who, through their legal action, seek to dehumanise Trans+ civil service workers by attacking their right to use the pronouns which align with their affirmed gender.
Despite this clear policy and the union’s duty to defend LGBT+ members, PCS actively declined to comment on an attack within the civil service on its own members. This abandonment of LGBT+ members signals to the employer that PCS will not oppose or make any noise about this if they bow to the pressure to segregate and withdraw support for LGBT+ people, at a time where it is clear that the Labour government would like nothing more than to throw Trans+ people (along with immigrants, disabled people and other communities) under the proverbial bus.
Left Unity’s anti-democratic attacks
The Christian Institute is not legislating against PCS, but the civil service itself. As such, PCS is free to comment on the legal case. In fact, it is the most qualified and appropriate body to comment on such cases that affect LGBT+ members in the civil service.
While the BBC does not reference the exact question asked of PCS, it does say that PCS refused to comment on how the legal challenge could affect its members and whether the union felt they should be allowed to represent the service in Pride events. We know that the Christian Institute very clearly wants to impinge on the rights, liberty and dignity of Civil Servants based on their anti-LGBT+ beliefs.
PCS speaks loudly (and correctly) on other legal issues involving Rwanda deportations, the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, WASPI women, etc. to name just a few. There is nothing preventing PCS – the civil servants’ union which represents thousands of LGBT+ members – from commenting on this court case.
However, on this topic alone, the Left Unity-led leadership of PCS said no comment. This can only be because yet again the LU leadership do not want to make statements or act in support of LGBT+ rights.
We are still waiting for the statement demanded by members in ADC2024 Motion A317. LU have repeatedly blocked by undemocratically using the role of the President as NEC chair to rule out of order or delay the vast majority of NEC motions on trans rights submitted in 2024-2025.
This cowardly refusal also fits in well with LU’s recent history of blocking trans liberation and defending gender critical views, most often by using a bureaucratic smokescreen of legal advice to avoid standing up for Trans+ members. At ADC2025, the leadership of PCS successfully removed Motion A57 from the Conference agenda and did not print up to 25 emergency motions in relation to Trans+ rights.
The fight for liberation for all
Civil Service Pride and rainbow lanyards are not and were never the bastion of LGBT+ liberation by themselves. As socialists we know we will only eradicate hatred and discrimination through all working-class people uniting in opposition to the inherently exploitative capitalist system, and demanding sufficient (and abundant) provision for all.
However, branding expressions of being part of or supporting the LGBT+ community as “political” and seeking to ban them demonstrates a deeper and more dangerous intent. It attempts to establish that support for LGBT+ people is not widely held, and to remove visibility of LGBT+ people as ordinary members of society. This strengthens the capitalist system by making it seem strange and wrong to be LGBT+, and somehow harmful to other people which creates a false divide of “us” and “them”. This sets different groups of workers against each other, blaming society’s ills on workers with slightly different experiences of the same desire for family, privacy etc. rather than the greed and wealth-hoarding of global corporations. It creates the idea that being heterosexual and cisgender (not transgender) is the “normal” and “right” way to be, which puts pressure on anyone who doesn’t fit that mould to change and conform, aka for their real selves to disappear. This is one of the many reasons that anti-trans rhetoric and policymaking in the UK has caused the Lemkin Institute to issue a red flag warning for risk of genocide against Trans+ people.
The Christian Institute, in its case, suggests that in addition to being allowed to freely oppose the inclusion of Trans+ people through its gender critical ideology, it also seeks to further promote “traditional Christian views about marriage and sexual ethics”.
It is beyond the scope of this article to argue what “traditional Christian views about marriage and sexual ethics” include, but it will usually amount to criticism of the right to equal marriage, the right to divorce, the right to abortion, the right to have sex with people of any gender, and more. We have long held the view that the attacks on Trans+ rights and liberation foretell further attempts to erode, erase and distort the hard won civil rights across all equality strands and for all workers. This legal case is clear evidence of that coming true.
The Broad Left Network demands that the PCS National Executive Committee respect the sovereignty of our Conference policy, and agree to issue a statement in support of our LGBT+ members following its next meeting in September. We urge the NEC to support the motion put forward by BLN member Fiona Brittle repeatedly since May on Trans+ liberation, and act to defend LGBT+ members from these serious attacks.
Join the Broad Left Network and stand with us as we challenge Left Unity to defend LGBT+ PCS members.
Please also read this statement from the PCS Proud National Committee on the same subject.
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