a process rather than a sudden change at
any given moment. But yes, and it’s a bit of
catch-up in a sense because there were still
processes going on which increased popular
acceptance of LGBT equality, especially in
the 2000s with all the legal changes that the
then labour government introduced. Every
year a new measure was introduced to remove
existing prejudice legislation and generate
equality. Obviously you had the outlawing
of discrimination at work, which for us was a
key issue. One of the first things I did when
I started work at the TUC was to organise a
campaign to make that happen. Then there
was the equal age of consent, the abolition of
Section 28…all these things trickled in one
after the other during that period, so that was
part of a change in popular attitudes
and it was both cause and effect
of those processes which
would have been
reflected in the trade
unions. But also there
were changes in the
actions we took as
trade unionists to
promote the issue
in the workplace,
to put it on the
negotiating table,
to train our own
representatives
to be able to
negotiate policies
with the employers.
The ripples of that
permeated throughout
the rest of the trade
union movement over
that period and reflected in
even more unions setting
up and equality structure
for their LGBT members
and dedicating staff time
to supporting it and taking
things forward.
FT: So what do you think was your
greatest achievement?
PP: Well none of it was achieved on my own.
By the very nature of trade unions we are
collective and things only happen when people
come together to work together to promote
something. So when I retire shortly I think I
will look back and think that my part in the
TUC has been at the centre of the movement,
in helping to spread good practice more rapidly
across the trade unions and being there to
support and give advice to officers and go out
and speak at meetings and help draft policy. As
I say, it’s all part of a collective effort because
this was our own LGBT members coming
together at conferences, which I have been
responsible for organising, but then them
telling us their own experiences and what they
want us to do. My job then has been to funnel
that information in and then out again.
FT: Finally a bit about your future.
What does the future hold for you in
terms of activism or is it time to do some
gardening?
PP: For me personally I’d very much like to put
pen to paper, well, put finger to keyboard, and
write a history of the processes that has taken
place over the last 20 to 25 years. It hasn’t
been done and it is a gap in history of the
labour movement and LGBT rights history as
well, and so if I can fund a publisher that will
be a major challenge. I will remain active as a
retired member of the trade union movement
as well and support LGBT struggles nationally
and internationally where I can. But it is for a
new generation to take this forward. I’m very
conscious at my age about how young LGBTs
today have an entirely different life experience
to me and the one that I had growing up. They
are raising all sorts of new questions which I
am not familiar with and it is for them to take
the fight forward, not just centrally but across
the movement.
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