The key moments that defined the queer community in 2025

Throughout 2025, we have seen a series of political, legal and cultural developments shape the experiences of queer people across the UK. From the Supreme Court ruling in April, to financial struggles hitting key Pride events, the year was marked by moments that had an impact on the daily life, safety, and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in the United Kingdom.

The Supreme Court

In April this year, we saw the Supreme Court hand down a ruling in the For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers. The ruling has had a devastating knock-on effect for trans people and paved the way for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to publish harmful and contradictory interim guidance. A few days after the ruling, on the 19th of April, a protest took place in Parliament Square, London, which brought together queer people and allies.

Public Sector Guidance

In July, the Labour government published its revised guidance on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) which have, according to Gendered Intelligence, "significantly weakened schools' responsibilities to provide equal and fair education about transgender people, including almost completely removing the word 'transgender' from the document." Many people saw the new guidance as a new Section 28, a harmful piece of legislation introduced in the Thatcher years which acted as a 'Don't Say Gay' law in the United Kingdom.

Liverpool Pride

In June, LCR Pride Foundation, the organisation behind Pride in Liverpool, announced that their event had been cancelled. They put this down to "significant financial and organisational challenges," but in July, Sahir House, the city's oldest LGBTQ+ charity, stepped in and enabled the event to go ahead. And it's a similar story for other Pride organisers with financial pressures making events harder to fund, and with more and more criticism hitting organisations over their inclusion of corporate sponsors, I have a feeling that 2026 is going to be much harder for Pride events.

G-A-Y

A staple in the queer nightlife scene in London, G-A-Y closed its doors this year with its owner saying that Old Compton Street in Soho has "lost its LGBT identity". It may seem silly including a bar closing in a list of defining moments, but even as a northerner, I know the importance of these venues for the queer community in the south.

Conversion Therapy Bill... where is it?

When Labour was elected in 2024, we were promised a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices. We are still waiting. On the 10th of December 2025, Minister for Equalities Olivia Bailey said in the House of Commons:

"We will bring our comprehensive, trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices before the House as soon as possible."

She later went on to say that the legislation "is a priority", but there is no clear timeframe on when we can expect a draft bill. And as we have seen with the government's recent Employment Rights Act, any law to ban conversion practices is likely to get caught up in the House of Lords for a long time. Labour needs to get moving on this as soon as possible.

Some good news

The year has been plagued with doom and gloom, but amongst all that, there has been some good news, too.

• In October, King Charles unveiled the first memorial dedicated to LGBTQ+ members of the British Armed Forces. The memorial is made up of words found in letters that were used to disgrace closeted service members. This marked a huge moment in queer history.
• Research shows that a majority of English schools are taking 'active steps' to be LGBT+ inclusive, according to Just Like Us with 68% of secondary school teachers agreeing, or strongly agreeing, that their schools should take active steps to be LGBT+ inclusive.
• Jonathan Bailey became the highest grossing actor of 2025, which naturally is a huge win for the girls, the gays, and the theys. Thanks to his 'wicked' talent in both 'Wicked: For Good', and 'Jurassic World: Rebirth', Bailey, the British-born gay legend has put our community firmly on the Hollywood map.

Going into 2026

It's fair to say that if 2025 was bad, we're in for a rough ride in 2026 not just in the UK, but worldwide. With Donald Trump's ban on trans care for minors in the US, ongoing legal battles here at home, and global instability around queer rights at an all time high, our community needs to come together.

It's also worth noting that although the next general election is still some time away, we have local elections taking place in May 2026. Your local queer and queer-friendly candidates need you! The rise of the far-right is a threat to our entire community - and yes, that includes you, 'LGB' gays!