Keir Starmer’s track record on LGBTQ+ issues as he resigns

Former human rights lawyer Keir Starmer has resigned as leader of the Labour party, after weeks of uncertainty in Downing Street and exits from other politicians.

Starmer announced his decision on 22 June, saying outside 10 Downing Street: “I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.” He will remain as the Prime Minister until a new leader is found, with nominations opening on 9 July.

As he finished his announcement, Starmer said he would be spending time on “the most important job” of “being the best husband” to his wife Vic, and “being the best dad” to his children.

Calls emerged for Starmer to resign following the 7 May local elections, which saw a sharp decline of more than 1,220 councillors for Labour. Meanwhile, more than 1,300 new Reform UK councillors were voted in.

At the time, Starmer held firm that he would be going nowhere, however last week reports emerged that he was preparing to resign.

Before he became Prime Minister in 2024, there was hope that his appointment would be a huge positive for the LGBTQ+ community.

He said at the 2019 PinkNews Awards, at which he was a guest of honour, that his “proudest” work was with the Human Dignity Trust, who “challenges laws across the Commonwealth which penalise people for being LGBT+”.

Speaking to The Guardian the same year, he said he wanted “trust to be restored in the Labour party as a progressive force for good”.

Starmer also had a track record of voting in favour of LGBT+ equality after becoming an MP. He backed a proposal to make LGBT-inclusive education mandatory in the curriculum in 2019, and during his time as a barrister was involved in the legal battle to secure the right for LGBTQ+ people to serve in the military.

He also told PinkNews in June 2021: “Trans people are one of the most discriminated groups in our society. Labour knows how much work there is to do… We’re committed to updating the [Gender Recognition Act] to introduce self-declaration for trans people.”

Starmer pledged to make hate crimes against LGBT+ and disabled people carry the same gravity as racist hate crimes, too. This came into law in April 2026.

However, Starmer caused controversy in 2024 around the time he became Prime Minister, telling The Times that trans women who had not had gender affirming surgery “don’t have the right” to be in female-only spaces.

“They shouldn’t,” he said. “That’s why I’ve always said biological women’s spaces need to be protected.”

‘A woman is a biological woman’

He also appeared to step back on his previous support for LGBT-inclusive education and trans rights, saying, as per The Independent: “I’m not in favour of ideology being taught in our schools on gender.”

Following the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling that the Equality Act’s definition of woman was only “biological woman”, Starmer said he did not believe trans women were women, saying: “The Supreme Court judgement has made clear that when looking at the Equality Act, a woman is a biological woman.”

Under Starmer’s government, as of February 2026, there is no way for trans youth to get new prescriptions for puberty blockers, either.

In 2024, Starmer told PinkNews that Labour was committed to a “full, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices” should they be elected into government. As of May 2026, so-called “conversion therapy” has not yet been banned in the UK.

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