Pride Month taking place in June is no coincidence, this month was deliberately chosen as a commemoration of the police raid on the Stonewall Bar in New York in 1969 and the subsequent riots. How things have changed. This was commemorated a year later with the first US Pride march, the UK followed two years later in 1972.
I am very grateful to have been asked to write this blog for Pride about my experience as a magistrate from one of the communities that make up the wider LGBT+ community.
When I reflect on my journey to the magistracy, I do look back at the UK justice system when I was growing up and how much it has changed for the good. There have been many changes in law, especially since 1997 – an equal age of consent, universal adoption rights, access to military service, marriage and civil partnerships, the Gender Recognition Act and the Equality Act. Growing up as a gay man, I was also acutely aware that the police service did not reflect the communities they served. It would have been the same for the magistracy. This has also changed, with targeted recruitment of underrepresented groups, so that our organisations and institutions better reflect our diverse society.
I sit as a magistrate on the Surrey bench and my experience there has been extremely positive. Everyone has been very supportive, and my sexuality hasn’t been an issue, which is exactly what I hoped for and what I expected. I am conscious though that for some magistrates it has not been as easy.
I am one of two representatives from the LGBT+ communities who sit on the Magistrates’ Association’s diversity and inclusion committee. We have run regular drop-in sessions for magistrates from the LGBT+ communities and a number of LGBT+ magistrates have raised concerns. Some have been nervous about being open and honest about their sexuality, therefore as a result they can’t bring their whole selves to their work as a magistrate. A small number of LGBT+ magistrates have shared that they have not received a positive welcome when they have shared their sexual orientation with fellow magistrates. Both examples are concerning and need to be dealt with. Within the magistracy we have the excellent Equal Treatment Bench Book – we all need to remember why we have that guidance and what we need to do to comply with it, not just in the courtroom but in the retiring room and elsewhere too.
It is really important to have a diverse and inclusive criminal justice system and a diverse and inclusive magistracy. That is one of the reasons why the Magistrates’ Association created a diversity and inclusion committee and its related networks, including the LGBT+ network. As I mentioned earlier, the diversity and inclusion committee has a number of drop-in events where magistrates can join and give us their views on what has been happening and raise any concerns, I would really recommend joining a meeting, it’s your opportunity to have your voice heard. Sexuality and gender identity should never be a barrier to being a magistrate.
We must never give up the campaign for true equality, so let us celebrate what we have achieved with pride but also strive to achieve equality with pride.
I would like to wish everyone a very happy Pride month.
