What are the big issues that need fixing for the LGBTQIA community over the next four years? This SNP MP has her say
BY NANCY KELLEY
When I speak to Kirsty, she’s at home, and our conversation is a joy. It’s half-sharp policy focus and half-laughing together about everything from politics and LGBTQIA culture to seagulls (including Kirsty’s new seagull tattoo).
Her political journey is a long one. Now 38, Kirsty has been an SNP member since she was 13 and an elected official since she was 21. It’s a journey she describes as taking her from advocating for independence as a political principle towards the belief that independence is also the best route to deliver a better society. “The older I get, and the more time I spend helping people and learning about people and hearing other people’s experiences, the more that independence is one of the things I want in order to get to the society that I want to see.”
She’s passionate about tackling inequality and happy to talk directly about what it would actually take to achieve that goal. “The UK is one of the most unequal societies in the world, so I very much believe in having much more progressive taxation than we’ve now got. I believe in having a state that looks after people. The welfare state should be a safety net. I would rather that some people who don’t need social security get it, than see anyone that does deserve it be excluded, because of having to jump through hoops – and it’s odd that it’s controversial!”
Kirsty speaks with great love and pride about Scotland and its people. “There tends to be a bit more of a communitarian outlook here – that kind of looking out for each other, caring about how your neighbours and your community is doing. That, I think, is the ethos in Scotland.” She believes that while independence is necessary for Scotland, other parts of the UK would benefit, including from the ability to adopt successful progressive policies. She gives the example of the way that Scottish policy on “debt breathing space” has been adopted South of the Border.
When we talk about her experience as an LGBTQIA woman MP, she’s in a more reflective mood. Although Kirsty has called people out in the past for making the assumption she is straight – “I was just so fed up with people labelling me and making assumptions about my sexuality!”– her identity isn’t something she’s talked about publicly before. She says being queer is “not something that I spoke a lot about at the start… partly because I’m aware of how much privilege I’ve got. You know, I can pass as straight, I do pass as straight. That’s a level of privilege that protects me from some of the prejudice that you might get.”
As we talk together about the distinctive experiences of queer and bi+ women in the world and in the workplace, Kirsty’s mind turns to the power of visibility. “When I was Deputy Leader I resigned… but I wanted it to be clear that I was resigning because of my mental health because it felt like it was really important to talk about that. Maybe I should feel the same imperative about sexuality. If visibility is a problem… then talking about [being queer] is a good thing for me to do – a good thing for others.”
Kirsty’s priorities for the LGBTQIA community are clear. “In legislative terms, the conversion practices bill is important that we get through. That’s one of the platforms that I’ll be fighting for. But on an everyday basis, trans healthcare just has to be the top thing.” Kirsty is deeply committed to improving healthcare access for her trans constituents, having worked with the community over recent years to get some local provision in Aberdeen. “We’re nearly three hours away from Edinburgh or Glasgow. Having to travel that kind of distance for a check-up, or having to travel just to deal with something that’s fairly minor, is just not on.” She’s equally concerned about the big picture: waiting lists that are years long, and a shutting down of access to care for children in the wake of the Cass Review.
Woven throughout our discussion of the big issues facing the LGBTQIA community is a powerful sense of being rooted in her constituency. Kirsty is a big supporter of Grampian Pride as an MP and marched in the very first Grampian Pride 20 years ago. “Apparently DIVA magazine was there taking photos 20 years ago, and I’m in one of the photos!” It’s clear she believes in listening to the LGBTQIA community, not just speaking for it. “I think supporting that kind of visibility, talking to people and making sure that when we’re talking in parliament, we’re not forgetting about the existence of more minority communities, is important.”
As the end of our time comes, we are still chatting and laughing. I leave with a new mission – digging out a 20-year-old copy of DIVA.
Kirsty Blackman is the MP for Aberdeen North, the SNP Chief Whip at Westminster, as well as the party spokesperson on the DWP and Women and Equalities briefs.
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