The ongoing possibility of the United Kingdom exiting from the European Union has left human rights and legal experts in doubt of the future of LGBT rights in the UK. While the EU has provided rights for the LGBT individuals under its Charter of Fundamental Rights, a law prohibiting any form of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, the UK government has no constitution in which to enshrine such a law that stipulates categorically any rights for queer individuals. It is therefore not shocking for the LGBT community to question the status of their protection against discrimination following Brexit (British exit from the EU). LGBT rights are assured to be protected by the UK Government within the EU, but with the UK exiting under Brexit these rights are not as guaranteed, and the EU’s protection for LGBT rights may be limited or curtailed.  The UK government has stated that to assume there will be changes pertaining the LGBT rights following Brexit is farcical, though historically these rights have been applied inconsistently often resulting in the firing of gay people, lesbians, transgender and bisexuals. |An ongoing such inconsistency in the UK is that in Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, equal marriage is still not legal unlike the rest of England, Wales, and Scotland.

After the UK voted to leave Brexit, the majority of the European laws were transferred to the domestic statutes under the EU withdrawal Act, but notably, the Charter of the Fundamental Rights has not been transferred. This charter provided a clear framework for assuring equality and human rights, including that of the LGBT people, and leaving the Charter out means that LGBT rights are not guaranteed post-Brexit.  However, LGBT rights are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK government is a signatory, and the ECHR has provisions that protect all human rights. The UK’s own Human Rights Act is another option for providing protection against discrimination and promotes fair treatment to all citizens in public institutions, especially when it comes to discrimination based on sexual orientation.

As the UK Parliament debates how to address Brexit, having recently succeeded in securing an extension, there is an ongoing concern that the separation will weaken LGBT rights in the UK. In addition to these rights being supported by the EU, The European Court of Justice has been instrumental in promoting the rights of LGBT people in the UK, and occasionally pushing for greater rights and freedoms. It is safe to say that UK’s membership of the EU has contributed immensely in grounding the UK’s LGBT rights where the government, British society, or some of the political parties were slower in making progress. Brexit is giving the UK government freedom to amend these rights, and considering the opposition to LGBT equality, such as the recent Parliamentary debate of sex education, it is evident that there is opposition from certain politicians, this can make it difficult for the UK government to pass rights that protect the LGBT people critically.

Though it is an important concern for LGBT people in the UK, their equality, non-discrimination, and family rights have been fought for over many years in the UK, and the fear of their rights being revoked without the EU is still possible. Brexit, however, does not mean the loss of human rights and legislation of equality.