What We Do

GLADD is proud to take its place and march in the Pride in London parade each year, as a celebration of our community and bold reminder of the work still to be done to improve the health of LGBTQ+ people. In 2020 we were part of the virtual parade on the Piccadilly Circus big screen andwere delighted to be able to to return in force in 2022. We are also working to increase our presence at other Prides throughout the country - keep an eye on our events calendar to join us next time!

GLADD has worked closely with the GMC on their work to recognise the harm and injustice caused by taking regulatory action against doctors under historic homophobic laws. This is a significant piece of work which has culminated in a formal apology:

The profound impact of investigation and sanction on the lives of lGBTQ+ doctors cannot be overstated. This is an important step in righting the wrongs of the past and, while the hurt and damage that has been caused to those doctors cannot be undone, it is important to acknowledge past injustices.
Although the threat of erasure from the medical register due to a doctor's sexuality no longer looms, prejudice against LGBTQ+ healthcare staff persists to this day. This apology represents progress towards justice for those impacted by these historic wrongs and progress for the LGBTQ+ community. We hope this gesture brings some measure of solace to those affected doctors and their loved ones.
It is particularly important to recognise that this initiative came from within the GMC, and we extend our gratitude to members of the GMC's LGBTQ+ staff network for their work and dedication in helping to bring about this apology.

GLADD is a signatory of the Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy, working to end this destructive and unethical practice in the UK.

Find out more about our leading work encouraging medical schools to sign up to a charter to commit to tackling this issue, protect their students and bring about change for the next generation of doctors.

Our efforts continue with the submission of proposals to the Government Equalities Office and an article in the BMJ.

Our former Trans Rep Dr Katie McDowell features in a special episode of the She's The Doctor podcast, discussing gender & allyship in healthcare and their experience as a trans non-binary doctor. For further reading we recommend Katie's excellent BSDJ article on what the medical profession can do to better understand and improve healthcare for young trans people.

Read GLADD's 2020 statement regarding the now overturned High Court ruling on Bell v Tavistock, outlining our concerns of the impact on the wellbeing of young trans people, access to gender identity services and the inadequate representation of trans and non-binary people in the decision-making process.

In the BMJ, GLADD members highlight that poor data quality and patient care arise from a failure to distinguish between sex and gender in medical records and research. Much more needs to be done to understand health issues facing trans people, which is why we will soon be launching a campaign for better quality guidance from medical specialties.

GLADD and the BMA have joined forces again to explore the experiences of LGBTQ+ doctors and medical students. We have been surveying our members periodically since 1997 and have witnessed the continued improvement in the lives of LGBTQ+ doctors. However, our most recent survey in 2016 laid bare the unacceptable prevalence of prejudice and lack of support that still exists, limiting the potential of the LGBTQ+ workforce, which can only lead to poorer care for our patients. All the background is in an excellent BMA article available here.

The 2022 survey will tell us what’s changed, what still needs to be addressed, and for the first time explicitly seeks the views of the T, Q and + members of our community.

We are proud to announce that we have co-signed the LGBTQ+ Inclusive Medical Education Alliance (LIMA) open letter to the General Medical Council and the Medical Schools Council.

LIMA is a network of medical students, doctors and service users campaigning for better LGBTQ+ teaching for medical students and doctors, to improve the medical curriculum and queer patient experiences. It was founded in 2022 by a group of medical students from across the UK who are passionate about improving LGBTQ+ healthcare teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum.

This open letter calls for LGBTQ+ healthcare to be included in the UK medical undergraduate curriculum, through inclusion in Outcomes for Graduates and the content assessed in the Medical Licensing Assessment. You read the letter can find out more about LIMA here.

GLADD is delighted to support more inclusive rules around blood donation and will continue to advocate for more that remains to be done in this area. Read our letter to members, also published in The Lancet.

GLADD members discuss the impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ+ health inequalities and the concerning lack of evidence in this area, in this BMJ editorial and rapid response article.

We sit on the BMA's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion advisory group and regularly review the equality impact of policies for the GMC and Royal Colleges. The GMC's new Guide for LGBT patients, published to coincide with Pride Month, was produced with the support of GLADD.

We also contributed to the Parliamentary Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into health and social care for LGBT people.

Read our submission here.

GLADD is a member of the General Medical Council's Strategic Equality, Diversity and Inclusion forum. We welcome input from our members for these meetings, so please get in touch with us if you would like to raise or feedback any relevant issues and experiences to the GMC.

In 2022 we have been invited to participate in the review of Good Medical Practice, the GMC's professional guidance and standards document for doctors. Check the Tidings newsletter for details of how to join the consultation.

GLADD and our partners have successfully campaigned to allow doctors to remove their gender from the public medical register for the first time.

In the BMJ, former Chair Dr Christopher Morrison highlights the importance of diversity monitoring in developing a greater understanding of the medical workforce.

GLADD has adopted the forward-looking Progress Pride flag as a symbol of greater diversity and inclusivity, as explained in this BMJ article.

We work to raise awareness of and challenge discrimination against LGBTQ+ staff and patients. Read Dr Michael Alexander's article in i News, along with our report with the BMA on LGBT equality in the workplace.

GLADD member Dr David Brills' reflections on being an LGBTQ+ medical student and doctor over the past 20 years in the BMJ.

For International Pronouns Day we are supporting the use of pronouns on ID badges commonly used in healthcare settings.