Scottish LGBTQIA+ Manifesto 2026-2031

View our manifesto (PDF)

The Scottish Parliament election is on 7th May 2026 which comes at a time of great uncertainty for LGBTQIA+ people in Scotland.

Since the last Scottish election 5 years ago, we have seen an increased rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and action, with trans and non-binary people bearing the brunt of this, which has posed a serious risk to our equality and human rights. This has to change.

We believe that this election is an opportunity for a reset in the Scottish Parliament, and for the newly formed Scottish Government and elected MSPs across all parties to take concrete action to improving LGBTQIA+ people’s lives in Scotland.

As an organisation working to improve LGBTQIA+ equality and human rights, we have partnered with some of our LGBTQIA+ sector colleagues – LGBT Youth Scotland, LGBT Health and Wellbeing and LEAP Sports – to devise a manifesto.

The manifesto, which is aimed at all political parties, sets out clear, evidence-based priorities that we hope the next Scottish Government will act upon to advance our equality and rights in law, policy and practice. It is not a finite list of action that is needed but rather, some of the areas that we feel are most pressing based on our collective research and longstanding engagement with the LGBTQIA+ community in Scotland.

It is important to note that as this is a Scottish Parliament election, our manifesto focuses on policy areas that are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and actions that the next Scottish Government can take. Many policy areas and laws that affect our equality and rights – like immigration and asylum policy, the Human Rights Act 1998 or Equality Act 2010 – are reserved. This means that action can only be taken by the UK Government, and so our manifesto is written to reflect this.

Ultimately, we want to see a Scotland where LGBTQIA+ people are healthier, treated equally, have fairer living standards, valued as part of a shared society, and have our rights upheld. We believe this is possible and our manifesto is a roadmap to make this a reality.

If you have a query about any of the content, please email us at en@equality-network.org.