This week, we sit down with legendary LBGT+ activist Tim Hopkins, to explore how campaigners used the law to achieve equality for LGBT+ people in Scotland, from the 1980s to the present. Tim shares his insights and wisdom from over thirty years of campaigning - against the notorious Section 28 law in the 1980s, to organising the first Pride March in Scotland in the 1990s, to leading the Equality Network for 14+ years, and finishing with the modern day struggles of trans and non-binary people to achieve equal dignity under the law.

Additional resources for this episode are linked below:

Legislation

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, Section 80(1) Equality Act 2010 Gender Recognition Act 2004 Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill Historic Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards)(Scotland) Act 2018 Local Government Act 1988

Legal Cases

For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers [2023] CSIH 37 For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers [2022] CSIH 4

Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza [2004] UKHL 30 Goodwin v United Kingdom (Application no. 28957/95) P v S and Cornwall County Council, Case C-13/94 [1996] Smith and Grady v United Kingdom (Application nos. 33985/96 and 33986/96) Sutherland v United Kingdom (Application no. 25186/94) Wilde, Greenhalgh, Parry v United Kingdon (Application no. 22382/93)

Media Clips Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Party Speech, 9 October 1987 Rishi Sunak, Speech, 5 October 2023

Other Resources

Equality Network LGBT Youth Scotland Scottish Trans Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) TransActual - Critiques of the Cass Review

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In part 2 of our interview with Alison Pickup, Legal Director at Asylum Aid, we pick up where we left off in the last episode: the legal win that her team secured after taking a case all the way to the UK Supreme Court that resulted in the court confirming that Rwanda was not a safe place to send refugees. Alison describes what the UK Government responded to that judgement, and how her team stepped in, again, to protect asylum seekers. We end the episode with some reflections from Alison on what more needs to be done to secure justice for refugees, and also her very wise advice for aspiring human rights lawyers and activists.

Resources:

• Rwanda – all is not lost: Asylum Aid's arguments on why the Home Office must still consider the real risk of people being sent into danger from Rwanda - Free Movement
• Rwanda: procedural fairness and extensions of time - Free Movement
• Fairness in safe third country removals: the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Asylum Aid’s case - Free Movement
• Press release: Home Secretary informs Asylum Aid about her intentions to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 in this Parliamentary session | Asylum Aid

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We’re here today to help listeners understand how the law can be used to achieve really significant change by looking at how Alison Pickup and colleagues led a successful campaign to challenge the UK Government's Rwanda policy, her role as a lawyer and activist in that campaign and your reflections now … a year on from that significant legal change, as the current UK Government prepares to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act in the Border Security Asylum and Immigration Bill currently before Parliament.

Additional resources for this episode are linked below:

Rwanda – all is not lost: Asylum Aid's arguments on why the Home Office must still consider the real risk of people being sent into danger from Rwanda - Free Movement

Rwanda: procedural fairness and extensions of time - Free Movement Fairness in safe third country removals: the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Asylum Aid’s case - Free Movement

Press release: Home Secretary informs Asylum Aid about her intentions to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 in this Parliamentary session | Asylum Aid

Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co

Read transcript