Guest blog by Nabil Ali (Senior Policy Advisor – Refugee & Migrant Children, Barnardo’s)

I’ve often seen, in public discourse, a question continually raised:

“Do we really need both Pride and LGBT+ History Months? Our society is pretty equal, same-sex marriage is legalised, and by the way, aren’t we one of the most equal countries in the world?”

Well, sort of…

Up until 2015, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) ranked the UK as the number one most equal country in Europe and Central Asia in its yearly mapping of LGBTQIA+ rights across much of the world. 

Ten years later, and we’re now 16th. 

But why has the UK dropped so starkly? 

The theme of this year’s LGBT+ History Month, Activism and Social Change, aptly provides us with a forum to reflect on this central question – and the answer is, in part, because of the UK’s asylum and refugee legalisation and policies. 

1999 – 2010: the fight for sexual orientation as a protected status

As the UK’s ILGA ranking has slipped, so too have protections for LGBTQIA+ people seeking asylum in the UK– those who are persecuted and driven to flee their home countries because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Today, 64 countries worldwide criminalise same-sex activity, and in 12 of these, being LGBTQIA+ is punishable by death. 29 of these countries are Commonwealth countries with strong historic and cultural ties to the UK. 

It wasn’t until 1999 that LGBTQIA+ people were recognised as legally eligible for refugee protection through the Refugee Convention, established by the United Nations in 1951 as a response to the mass displacement caused by World War II. 

Later still, as recent as 2010, the UK Supreme Court issued a judgement that no individual from the LGBTQIA+ community seeking asylum should be required to hide their sexual orientation to escape persecution in their country of origin. Up until this point, the UK would regularly refuse to grant asylum if it believed that a person could credibly ‘act straight’ or ‘wouldn’t act on their desires’ on return to their home country. 

Keluar – ‘not at home’ or ‘revealed’

Last year, I was privileged to meet Warren – the first ever gay person to be granted asylum in the UK in 2000, shortly after the Refugee Convention was amended to include claims on the grounds of sexual orientation.  His experiences are documented in the film Keluar, a Bahasa Malaysia word that means ‘not at home’ or ‘revealed’, depending on the context.

It’s a thoroughly recommended watch. As a young man of 19, in receipt of an international scholarship studying at the University of Edinburgh, he describes his formative years in Scotland as some of his best, intrepidly living his best queer life. 

Before finishing his studies, he was unwillingly outed to his parents by a letter, sent by an unknown person to his parents in Malaysia. They wrote:

“Warren shares a flat with a Caucasian man like husband and wife. His pierced ear signifies one’s marital attachment to a man; it’s as if they are already married.”

Subsequently disowned from his family, disqualified from any further financial support for his studies, and risking arrest if he returned to Malaysia, he had no option but to claim asylum in the UK. With no right to work and unable to return to university, he faced destitution, with no means to afford food or essentials – a scenario all too familiar for those seeking asylum in the UK today. 

Fast forward to the present day, living in London, he tells his story to a captivated audience in a packed theatre with his husband in the front row. Warren’s story acts as a testament to his experience as a refugee, of being able to balance both joy and sadness through this collective celebration of his life.

Trans and seeking sanctuary 

Stories for those seeking sanctuary in the UK based on sexual or gender identity may not be so positive. According to the British Social Attitudes Survey published in 2023, 64% of the British public described themselves as ‘not prejudiced’ towards trans people, down from 82% in 2021. 

People who are both queer or trans and seeking asylum are dually ‘othered’ against a backdrop of growing harmful rhetoric against asylum-seekers, trans and non-binary people.

 It wasn’t until 2020, after an initial refusal by the courts, that the High Court ruled that Joestar, a non-binary person from El Salvador, could seek asylum in the UK on the basis of their gender identity, likely faced with physical and sexual violence, if they were to return. 

Looking back to look forwards 

In 2025, the processes for being granted asylum to live as a refugee in the UK is arduous, and more difficult than in 2000 when Warren sought asylum.

In the past couple of weeks, the government announced its intention to repeal much of the Illegal Migration Act, a former piece of legislation that would have disallowed any asylum claims in the UK after a certain date.

While this is undoubtedly positive, it remains harder than ever to claim asylum, and now even harder to be granted citizenship. A rigorous process and a burden of evidence are required for LGBTQIA+ people to seek refugee status based on their sexuality or gender identity. 

Under the new rules to be implemented in the new Border Security, Immigration & Asylum Bill (currently being debated in Parliament), certain nationalities, including Georgians, whose state is hostile to LGBTQIA+ individuals, now face a similar blanket ban in making a claim, yet they may well be victims of homophobic or transphobic persecution and in need of sanctuary in the UK. 

It’s fitting then that this year’s LGBT+ History Month is themed on Activism and Social Change; the UK has some way to go.

Nabil Ali is Senior Policy Advisor – Refugee & Migrant Children, at Barnardo’s