OFI Policies

The following is a list of policy resolutions passed at OFI conferences by date. This does NOT include internal resolutions regarding our own organisational administration or constitutional amendments.

2024 OFI Conference – 19th May 2024, Glasgow University Union

LGBT Older People

Conference welcomes the publication of LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s 2023 report ‘Fit for Purpose: inclusive housing and social care for older LGBTQ+ people’.

Conference acknowledges its findings that LGBTQ+ older people are at significant risk of loneliness and social exclusion, and that many live in fear of being forced back into the closet if entering care settings becomes necessary, as well as being concerned about attitudes of carers who come into their homes.

Conference recognises the results of Compassion in Care’s report, ‘Stripped of all Pride’, that LGBTQ+ older people in care settings frequently experience homophobic and transphobic abuse from care home staff.

Conference, therefore, calls on the Scottish National Party to ensure that policy pertaining to older people takes into account the unique needs of LGBTQ+ older people, that the National Care Service is delivered in an inclusive manner, and to give consideration to LGBTQ+ focused care services.

Hate Crime

Conference congratulates the Scottish Government for successfully implementing the new Hate Crime Act in April of this year. Conference recognises that the Hate Crime Act is a step forward for protecting the rights and safety of all marginalised people in Scotland, and especially extends further protections to LGBTQ+ people.

Conference notes, however, that many people from marginalised communities, including the LGBTQ+ community which continues to live with the legacy of criminalisation, are hesitant to report hate crimes to the police.

Conference, therefore, affirms the importance of Third Party Reporting Centres, which allow people to report hate crime confidentially in safe community spaces and calls on the Scottish National Party to develop stronger policies to promote, safeguard, and support these essential services.

Human Rights Bill

Conference commends the Scottish National Party on its commitment to incorporating four UN Human Rights Treaties, in addition to the Right to a Healthy Environment into Scots Law, and the SNP Scottish Government for taking the first steps by putting forward a consultation on these proposals in autumn of last year.

Conference affirms that incorporating human rights into domestic law is essential for ensuring that rights can be realised and that there are domestic legal consequences for violating them.

Conference notes that in the current environment, where the UK Government continually violates human rights, threatens to leave the ECHR, and repeal the Human Rights Act, it is imperative that Scotland enact its own laws to protect human rights.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish National Party to ensure that the proposed Human Rights Act is progressed as quickly as possible so that the people of Scotland can have their rights realised and protected.

LGBTQ+ People & Homelessness Statistics

Conference notes the progress of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Conference supports its aims of improving rights for tenants in both the private and public sector. Conference further notes that LGBTQ+ people are more likely than the general population to rent their homes.

Conference recognises that while the Housing Bill contains commitments to preventing homelessness in line with the Ending Homelessness Together strategy and Housing to 2040, none of these strategies take LGBTQ+ people’s housing needs into account, despite community-based research suggesting disproportionate rates of homelessness in the LGBTQ+ community, especially LGBTQ+ young people.Conference notes that research indicates that homelessness support organisations and councils are not routinely tracking data on sexual orientation and gender identity, despite this recognised need, nor is this data available in the demographics sections of the annual Homelessness in Scotland reports.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish National Party to adopt a policy of improving data collection in homelessness services in order to formally establish the scale and causes of LGBTQ+ homelessness, and therefore improve services and prevention.

Conversion Practices

Conference commends the Scottish National Party for its 2021 manifesto commitment to ending conversion practices, and applauds the hard work of our previous first ministers, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, in progressing the proposed bill to consultation stage.

Conference welcomes our new party leader and First Minister John Swinney MSP, and is thankful for his quick action to re-affirm the party and Scottish Government’s commitment to ending conversion practices wherever they take place in Scotland.

Conference affirms that conversion practices are abuse, that they cannot be consented to, and that it is unacceptable to engage in conversion practices regardless of the age of the victim. Conference affirms that conversion practices are unacceptable whether committed on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Conference recognises that the legislation to create a criminal ban on conversion practices, as well as civil protection orders and a statutory aggravation relating to conversion practices, is only the first step in ending this abuse, and that education, engagement, and support for survivors will be essential to ensuring these practices are ended and not merely banned.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish National Party and SNP Scottish Government to continue to progress this legislation and ensure that a complete, inclusive, and watertight ban on conversion practices is passed within this parliament and that non-legislative measures to both educate the public and support survivors are put in place as quickly as possible.

Informed Consent Model for Adult Transition Care

Conference recognises that the ICD-11 has removed Gender Dysphoria from it’s list of mental health conditions, and the move away from pathologizing trans identity this represents. Conference also recognises the extreme waiting times and significant distress that needing to seek this outdated diagnosis imposes on trans people trying to access Gender Affirming Care.

Given that cis (non-trans) adults can already access HRT and surgeries for a range of medical conditions without additional need for a psychiatric diagnosis, Conference calls for Gender Affirming Care to be brought in line with all other models of healthcare for adults, and operate off of an informed consent model.

Conference further calls for additional training and support to be given to GPs and other healthcare practitioners to assist them with supporting their trans patients.

2023 OFI Conference – 27th May 2023, Glasgow University Union

Expansion of HIV Testing in Scotland

Conference welcomes the Scottish Government’s aim to eliminate Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission in Scotland by 2030.

Conference recognises that eliminating HIV transmission in Scotland will require a multi-faceted, whole-society approach, and notes the expansion of HIV testing is vital to meeting this goal.

Conference urges anyone who may need a HIV test to get one as soon as possible; recognises that there should be no shame or stigma in taking a HIV test nor in living with the virus, and that those who have HIV can live normal, healthy lives if on effective treatment.

Conference commends HIV Prevention England for its annual National HIV Testing Week campaign, and welcomes recent commitments by the Welsh government to implement its own testing week for Wales.

Conference also notes the success of emergency department opt-out HIV testing in England and its successes in teaching communities most impacted by health inequalities.

Conference calls on the Scottish Government to commit to the expansion of HIV testing in Scotland as a matter of urgency, including committing to the introduction of a funded National HIV Testing Week for Scotland, and to piloting opt-out HIV testing in Scotland’s emergency departments in areas where HIV is most prevalent.

Surrogacy Reform

Conference recognises that families are formed in diverse ways; that surrogacy is a valid route to parenthood for couples and individuals who are unable to, or do not wish to, become parents through other routes; and that the current law on surrogacy is out of date, inadequate, and leaves both intended parents and surrogates in a legal grey area with very little protection.

Conference believes that everyone has the fundamental right to start a family and those who require assistance to do so should have fair, well-regulated access to alternative routes to parenthood such as surrogacy.

Conference welcomes the joint publication of a report and draft bill on Surrogacy Reform by the Law Commission for Scotland and the Law Commission of England and Wales; and commends the fair and balanced approach that seeks to provide maximum protection for women volunteering as surrogates, as well as simplifying the process for all involved and increasing legal protections for both the intended parents and the surrogate.

Conference notes with concern that the Law Commission recommendations do not address access to fertility treatment for couples and individuals having a child through surrogacy, and that parents requiring a surrogate do not have the same access to NHS funded fertility treatments as parents who are able to carry their own child.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish Government to ensure equal access to NHS funded fertility treatments for parents who are unable to carry a child for themselves, once legal reform has taken place.

A Strategy for Ending Intimate and Sexual Violence Against Men and Boys

Conference notes the recent publication of a report from Glasgow Caledonian University showing that one in four gay and bisexual men in Scotland have experienced intimate partner violence, and that research by Survivors UK and Galop have found that over half of gay, bisexual, or trans men have experienced some form of sexual assault.

Conference recognises that the 2021 SNP manifesto promised the introduction of a national strategy for ending intimate and sexual violence against men and boys to sit in parallel with and complement the work of Equally Safe, but that further action has not been taken and does not appear in the 2022-23 Programme for Government.

Conference also notes that, at present, the Scottish Government does not have a national strategy for dealing with intimate and sexual violence against men and boys, leaving survivors without support and feeling as though police and public services are unprepared to take their cases seriously.  Conference acknowledges that this lack of services, support, and recognition for men and boys who survive intimate and sexual violence creates a culture of silence, driving high rates of isolation, shame, and unacknowledged trauma. 

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish National Party:

1) to fulfill its manifesto promise and move quickly and decisively to create a comprehensive, robust, and appropriate strategy for male survivors of intimate and sexual violence; 

2) to commit to an education strategy for public services, the police, and the court system about supporting male survivors of intimate and sexual violence; and

3) to develop outreach services to ensure that all survivors can access the help and support they need.

Sex Work Decriminalisation

Conference notes that the formal legal situation for sex workers in Scotland has not been reviewed since devolution, despite numerous changes to law in other areas. Conference recognises that the creation of Police Scotland in 2013 removed local discretion from policing of sex work and has created a more difficult environment with little flexibility.

Conference recognises that sex workers are disproportionately LGBTQ+, and that criminalisation of sex work therefore disproportionately affects our community.

Conference further notes that the 2021 SNP manifesto and the Scottish Government strategy on violence against women and girls, Equally Safe, refer to the act of purchasing the services of a sex worker as inherently violence against women, and that this definition ignores the 20% of Scottish sex workers who are men, removes agency from women who engage in sex work, and devalues the high levels of sexual assault and violence that sex workers do experience.

Conference acknowledges that the 2021 SNP manifesto commitment to ‘consider how aspects of international approaches which seek to challenge men’s demand for prostitution would best be applied in Scotland’ biases policy approaches toward the ‘Nordic Model’, which criminalises the purchase of sex. 

Conference recognises that the ‘Nordic Model’ has been associated internationally with higher rates of violence, with sex workers in Ireland reporting at 92% increase in violent crimes against them since the ‘Nordic Model’ came into force in 2017, and that most sex worker-led organisations, such as Umbrella Lane, UglyMugs, and Scot-Pep, view decriminalisation as the best way to reduce violence against sex workers.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish National Party to:

1. Decriminalise sex work as the first step in reducing health risks and violence;
2. Consult with sex worker self-advocacy organisations to determine how to best serve their needs; and
3. Develop and fund services to support sex workers’ health and wellbeing without stigma, with recognition of the needs of LGBTQ+ sex workers, and acknowledgement of male sex workers.

Rights & Recognition of Scots who are Intersex and Scots with Variations in Sex Characteristics

Conference believes that Scotland should continue to be a world leader in equality, human rights and progressive values. As such, Conference must ensure that no Scot gets left behind as we move toward becoming an egalitarian Independent Nation.

Conference recognises the existence of people with a variation in sex characteristics or who are intersex (I/VSC), and that their exclusion from legal recognition, definition and access to protections has resulted in: social & medical misinformation; the non-essential genital mutilation of infants with an I/VSC for cosmetic and social purposes – causing chronic pain and serious conditions from dysphoria to infertility; and that lack of understanding of what it means to be Intersex or a person with a VSC leads to stigma, discrimination or exclusion.

Conference therefore proposes that Scotland should establish: 

1. An “I/VSC Working Group” within the Scottish Government for Intersex Scots and Scots with Variations in Sex Characteristics – providing a platform for people with an I/VSC and respective community Stakeholders.

2. Recognition of Scots with an I/VSC with their inclusion in antidiscrimination laws – with inspiration from already existing laws such as those in Jersey, as well as advancing upon the work of previous I/VSC campaign stakeholders which have worked productively with the Scottish Government on matters such as Hate Crime legislation. Acknowledging the said stakeholders must be a part of the conversation on healthcare policies.

3. A campaign of social awareness, normalisation, anti-bullying and rectifying the spread of misinformation within both education & healthcare, as well as preventing the unintentional/intentional exclusion or even ‘outing’ of adults & children with an I/VSC. This process must allow for contributions from Scots with an I/VSC which respects individual privacy; provides anonymity if requested; and guarantees that social policy has both the individual needs of people with an I/VSC, as well as respective stakeholders’ inputs, central to any decision making.

4. An immediate and complete ban on all future ‘non-essential nonconsensual’ medical procedures performed on Scots with an I/VSC, including, but not limited to, the banning of genital mutilation on infants with an I/VSC through non-essential ‘sexing’ or cosmetic procedures, whilst guaranteeing that personalised medical support is expanded and is increasingly accessible, given how vitally important it is.

LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers

Conference notes the current lack of safe routes to seeking asylum in the UK from abroad, forcing asylum seekers to endanger their lives to reach these shores. Conference further notes that, under the new Illegal Migration Bill, the UK risks breaching its international human rights responsibilities. Conference affirms that it is not illegal to seek asylum and that seeking asylum is a basic human right.

Conference acknowledges that the global rise in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment has placed the lives of queer people across the world in danger, and that many LGBTQ+ people will be forced to seek asylum. Conference specifically notes the passage of the extreme anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Uganda, which has become the first country in the world to criminalise merely identifying as LGBTQ+.

Conference recognises that LGBTQ+ people who arrive in the UK and are able to claim asylum often face humiliating assessments, hostile Home Office staff who disbelieve their sexual orientation, and unsuitable accommodation that places them at greater risk of violence and exploitation than their straight counterparts. 

Conference acknowledges that LGBTQ+ asylum seekers placed in detention are at high risk of abuse and are not protected, and that trans women in particular are at risk of being placed in male detention centres. Conference notes that having to hide their gender identity or sexual orientation in detention makes pursuing an asylum claim on the basis of LGBTQ+ identity difficult.

Conference therefore condemns the Illegal Migration Bill, and calls on the Scottish National Party to pressure the UK government to: 

1. End detention of asylum seekers; 
2. Create a framework providing appropriate services to LGBTQ+ asylum seekers; and
3. Urgently improve the process of decision-making for LGBTQ+ asylum claims with an emphasis on rights, dignity and respect.

Bi+ Inclusion, Health & Wellbeing

Conference notes that the recent census data from England & Wales suggests that nearly half of the LGBTQ+ population identifies as falling under the Bi+ umbrella. Conference acknowledges that, despite this, Bi+ people often feel they are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and one study found that 42% felt they needed to pass as gay or lesbian to access LGBTQ+ services, and that 27% had experienced biphobia in these settings. 

Conference further acknowledges that the Bi+ community faces considerable stigma from both the straight and larger LGBTQ+ communities, resulting in feelings of isolation, vulnerability, and poor health outcomes. Conference notes that Bi+ people are less likely to be open with their GPs than gay men and lesbians, are three times less likely to be out to their families, and less likely to be out at work, in educational settings, and to friends, fuelling isolation. 

Conference recognises that there has been progress in government services and recognition for LGBTQ+ people, but that few of these have explicitly targeted the bi+ community. Conference notes that Bi+ people report being targeted by negative stereotypes when engaging with medical professionals, the police, and other public services.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish National Party to:

1. Fund research into the needs of the Bi+ community;
2. Ensure that Bi+ inclusion is considered when formulating LGBTQ+ policy;
3. Develop materials to address negative stereotypes of Bi+ people held by medical professionals and other people delivering public services; and
4. Ensure that LGBTQ+ health policy addresses the specific negative health outcomes in the Bi+ community.