
July 3, 2025
A UK doctors union has voted in support of identity-based care for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Doctors represented by the British Medical Association (BMA) have voted to support the inclusion of “identity-based care” for LGBTQIA+ patients as part of updated medical training.
The decision came during the BMA’s annual representative meeting in Liverpool on June 25, where a majority of members voted in favor of a motion focused on ensuring “respect, safety, and dignity” for LGBTQ+ doctors and patients, the Independent reported.
Member Bethan Stanley spoke ahead of the votes being submitted to address a “blatant transphobia” within the current political climate. Urging her fellow union members to vote “yes” on the motion, she insisted, “gender-affirming care is healthcare.”
“I feel it is a no-brainer that we should support care that is going to improve the welfare and well-being of our patients,” Stanley said.
“Trans women are women. Trans men are men,” she added through resounding applause.
The BMA’s new measure moves forward despite concerns it could conflict with the law, following the Supreme Court’s April ruling that defined the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act as referring to biological sex. Union member Louise Irvine expressed her opposition to the motion, saying while it has a “laudable aim of protecting LGBTQ+ and other people’s rights to fair treatment,” it also “risks advocating that the BMA and other organizations adopt policies which are unlawful.”
The vote follows complaints from transgender patients that doctors have abruptly stopped prescribing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) without notice, often citing a “lack of expertise” and “lack of support” in managing the treatment.
The motion calls on BMA to “affirm the right of all LGBTQ+ patients and staff to identity-based care and working conditions – defined as care and policies that actively account for the individual’s lived, intersecting identities (including sexuality, gender, neurodivergence, race, and cultural background)” and for guidance and a “lobbying strategy to embed this principle into NHS equality standards, training frameworks, and institutional policies.”
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