Council of Europe in Leeds

The Council Of Europe are in Leeds this week to put together an intercultural profile of the city.

Myself (representing Leeds LGBT+ Community Hub ), Liaqat Ali (Cofounder of Leeds LGBT+ Pride), and Cllr Jonathan David Pryor met with them in the Freedom Quarter to show them around and tell them about Leeds’ LGBT+ community and organisations.

The Council of Europe is an international human rights organisation set up after World War 2 that represents 46 member states including the UK. Earlier this year, they rightly condemned the “virulent attacks” on LGBT+ rights by the UK media and government, noting how the transgender community is especially being targeted.

GIC Waiting Times Over 4 Years

TL:DR – The NHS is being take to court for the GIC waiting times. Please support the crowdfunding campaign. #pridemonth

Just been chatting to my girlfriend about the waiting times for the Gender Identity Clinics. She was referred in November 2018 and still hasn’t had her first appointment. That’s nearly 4 years when the constitutional waiting time on the NHS is supposed to be 18 weeks.

I was referred in 2015 and it took 20 months for my first appointment.

Both sides of the chart are terrible. But the wait times right now are unimaginably bad and, as you can see, they are getting worse.

In response, a groundbreaking legal challenge against the years-long healthcare waits UK trans people face on the NHS will now be heard in court.

Gendered Intelligence and the Good Law Project have been given permission to bring a judicial review against NHS England on grounds stemming from massive waiting lists and failures by the NHS to help trans people access affirming healthcare.

The case will hopefully be heard around August and there’s 3 days left to donate to their crowdfunding campaign. Please support it if you can.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/we-are-just-people-too/