We asked all four candidates the following questions, for which their replies are posted in full and our full justification for scoring how we did.
Pledge 1
To acknowledge wholeheartedly that fighting for LGBTIQA+ liberation goes hand in hand with fighting the climate crisis.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
We know that climate justice and queer liberation are deeply intertwined. Marginalised communities, including LGBTIQA+ people, are disproportionately affected by climate breakdown. Environmental justice must therefore include social justice. It’s not just about saving the planet — it’s about transforming systems of oppression that harm both people and the planet.
Cade Hatton
Absolutely. Members of marginalised communities are both at the most risk of harm from the climate crisis, but also the smallest contributors to it. As Zack often says, there is no climate justice without social justice.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. LGBTIQA+ communities around the world are more likely to be hit harder by the effects of the climate crisis due to the higher rates of poverty and homelessness. As Greens we are fighting for a better world for everyone, not just the ultra wealthy who can better weather the man made climate change that they are responsible for. To tackle the issue we need to unite the working class and fight for liberation for everyone.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 2
To support and promote Green Party of England & Wales policy on LGBTIQA+ rights (including RR500 – RR539).
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
As two proud members of the LGBTIQA+ community, with years of combined experience in political organising, advocacy, and professional support work — Both through the Young Greens , Rosa through her role in FYEG, and Lu as chair of LGBTIQA+ Staff Network Chair.
We will always proudly and actively support policy that supports the rights of all LGBTIQA+ individuals. These policies are not only vital in principle, but provide a foundation for meaningful change when implemented through committed activism and political action.
Cade Hatton
Absolutely and completely, while of course continuing to improve it in line with best practice and understanding.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. We support our current policies and the efforts of our LGBTIQA+ members to further improve our policies. We’ll work to ensure our liberation groups are included all the way through the party’s manifesto making process as well, so our policies are highlighted in the best way possible to their communities. We are also keen for the party to take a bolder line in supporting young trans people, the idea that someone can be too young to know who they are is based on ageist tropes and people should be afforded their right to self-determine who they are at any age.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 3
To work with LGBTIQA+ Greens to deepen and extend the party’s support for and policies on LGBTIQA+ rights.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
We’re committed to building collaborative relationships with LGBTIQA+ Greens to help shape, strengthen, and extend the party’s policies. This means centring lived experiences, supporting grassroots organising, and ensuring the Green Party remains a truly inclusive political space. We have shown we are committed to collaborating with liberation groups as part of our roles in the young greens.
Cade Hatton
There are so many “boring” topics around politics that get forgotten. I’d love to see us work on campaigns around how the gender pay gap impacts lesbians, housing for LGBTIQA+ youth, protections for queer disabled people. Our policies (especially with the trans-positive motions to conference) are already strong on trans rights – we just need to remind everyone of that.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. As Equality and Diversity Co-ordinators we want to level up the party’s liberation groups so they have the resources from the central party to improve party culture and advocate for their interests. We also want to build more bridges between liberation groups, so all the groups have a shared vision on human rights, one that rejects the notions of trans rights and women’s rights being at odds or that being Muslim means you hold regressive views about LGBTIQA+ people. Fighting for human rights is one that we must all share together.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 4
To work with LGBTIQA+ Greens to improve GPEW policy on trans healthcare (RR532-RR534) to provide fully funded and much-needed support to all trans people, to end segregated healthcare and to support appropriate healthcare for trans youth based on informed consent, Gillick competency and internationally recognised best practice.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
We are passionate advocates for trans-inclusive healthcare. Fully funded, accessible, and informed-consent-based care — especially for trans youth — is non-negotiable. We must push to end segregated services and uphold international best practices, ensuring care that affirms and protects the rights and dignity of all trans people.
Cade Hatton
When I was Co-Chair of the LGBTIQA+ Greens I began developing the Trans Healthcare Reform Motion currently on the agenda forum, previously approved by the LGBTIQA+ Greens at our last AGM. I’m currently working on getting it accredited, so it is definitely heard this conference. I think the ship has sailed on pledging to do this for me – I’m nearly done.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. We support the motion coming to Autumn Conference, Reforming Trans Healthcare, moving trans healthcare out of secondary care and into primary care. There is no reason GPs couldn’t prescribe and monitor HRT to trans people under an informed consent model and likewise refer trans people directly for surgery, hair removal, speech therapy, and any other referral needed by a person for their transition. We believe that young trans people should have bodily autonomy and should be able to consent based on Gillick competency. The current ban on puberty blockers by the Labour government is outrageous, being based on the unscientific and biased Cass Report, while the actual evidence shows us that young trans people being prescribed puberty blockers and HRT leads to better quality of life.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 5
To support LGBTIQA+ Greens to make further gains in ensuring GPEW provides a welcoming, safe and nourishing environment for LGBTIQA+ members.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
Within the Young Greens we both contributed to creating a safe space for our liberation groups and we know creating a safe, nourishing, and empowering environment for LGBTIQA+ members is essential. This means meaningful inclusion in decision-making, safeguarding against discrimination, and fostering spaces where queer joy and community can flourish, we also need more Queer people as the leading voices of our party.
Cade Hatton
Keeping our membership spaces inclusive and accessible, while having a no tolerance policy for bigotry, is vital. Making sure our social media and other public facing content is also reflective of our diverse, inclusive party is also important to me.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. This is work we’ll prioritise, so everyone in the party has more awareness of LGBTIQA+ issues and compassionately counter the misinformation members get from wider society. We are keen to take an intersectional approach to this as well, we have lived experience of being queer, disabled, black and women. So we want to have the party take a less siloed approach to each group’s issues and there to be more recognition of the challenges people face with multiple marginalised identities. And the additional challenges that our older LGBTIQA+ members also face in an ever changing landscape of language, definition and identity. There has been some great ad hoc work done between liberation groups, but we want to make this baked into the fabric of the party.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 6
In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling, to work with LGBTIQA+ Greens and wider queer society, organisations and allies to campaign to protect previously established trans rights and for any changes to legislation which might be needed to ensure this protection.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
We are deeply concerned by recent legal developments that threaten trans rights. We pledge to stand firmly with LGBTIQA+ Greens and wider queer communities to defend existing rights and push for legal reforms where needed. Trans rights are human rights — full stop.
Cade Hatton
It’s long been considered the Equality Act isn’t fit for purpose, and this reading of it by the Supreme Court shows it needs fixing more than ever. Trans people are more likely to be assaulted in a bathroom than we are to assault anyone – and that’s not even considering the many cis, butch women who have already been attacked because of this chaos.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. The recent Supreme Court Ruling is incompatible with human rights and has led to a lot of confusion and fear. We support the legal action to the European Court of Human Rights and the calls for the Equality Act to be changed to explicitly protect trans people in at least the way it did for the 15 years previously. We’ll ensure that as Equality and Diversity Co-ordinators that the party has these connections to external organisations, so we can push for these efforts together.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 7
To fight for reform of the Gender Recognition Act to provide a kinder and less bureaucratic process for recognising trans people’s gender in law.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
We are committed to supporting reform of the Gender Recognition Act. The right to self-identification for trans people is a vital step toward equality. Recognizing gender as a social construct, we reject the enforcement of a binary framework, which sets a harmful precedent.
Cade Hatton
As a non binary person, I can’t currently get married, or buried, as myself. I would be a wife and a daughter and I do not recognise those words when I think about myself. The GRA fixed some problems, but it made others. It needs to be fixed.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. Kat led on passing the current Green Party policy to remove all barriers for gender recognition and add recognition for those for fall outside of the gender binary. Ultimately though we believe in removing sex and gender markers completely from all legal documents and government systems, the current way everyone is legally gendered is archaic and not compatible with feminist principles. Though while we have this system we’ll work to ensure trans people are recognised properly and without barriers
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 8
To support efforts to increase the number of LGBTIQA+ candidates for election to internal positions and to public office.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
Representation matters. We support proactive work to uplift and mentor LGBTIQA+ individuals, particularly those from marginalised backgrounds, to stand. Our democracy is stronger when it reflects the full diversity of our communities.
Cade Hatton
To be brutally honest – we’re really quite good as a party at getting LGBTIQA+ candidates and in roles. 1/4 of our MPs is a member- 2/3 of the current leadership team in England.
During the election last year, the only diversity target we had for ourselves as a party we fully met was for LGBTIQA+ candidates.
My focus will be on disabled and global majority candidates, not LGBTIQA+ ones specifically, but due to the statistical correlations between being queer and being disabled I could definitely see them going hand in hand.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. A key promise of our campaign is to ensure that people can vote for Green candidates who have similar lived experience, this includes the LGBTIQA+ community. Also to remove barriers and support candidates in election to both internal and public office. We recognise that LGBTIQA+ candidates experience a high degree of queerphobia when standing, especially trans candidates, so we’ll work to ensure this doesn’t come from inside the Green Party and put in place support candidates to help them deal with the external pressure.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Cade’s response is affirmative and shows clear willing despite perhaps not having as much of an emphasis on LGBTIQA+ candidates for roles as others.
Pledge 9
To campaign for this government to bring forward a genuine ban on conversion therapy. Conversion therapy includes medical, psychiatric, psychological, religious, cultural or any other interventions that seek to change, “cure”, or suppress the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of a person. Any ban must protect all LGBTIQA+ people, which includes providing genuine protection for trans people.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
Conversion therapy in any form is abuse. We unequivocally support a comprehensive and inclusive ban that protects all LGBTIQA+ people — including trans and non-binary individuals — from these harmful and medically discredited practices. No one should be told they need to be “fixed” for who they are.
Cade Hatton
One of the points within the Trans Healthcare Motion I am bringing back to conference includes a full and complete ban on all forms of conversion therapy.
As someone who has experienced positive therapy, it helped me understand myself and figure out who I was – that should be the only outcome desired by a therapist, a happier and healthier person.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. So called “conversion therapy” is abuse and must be fully banned for every part of the community including trans, non-binary and asexual people. The techniques used are the same for trans people as they are for lesbians, gay and bi people, if there isn’t a fully inclusive ban then those who commit this abuse can just say they are doing “conversion therapy” for “gender issues” rather than “sexual issues”, so for everyone to be safe from “conversion therapy” it needs to be banned outright.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Pledge 10
To stand in solidarity with LGBTIQA+ communities worldwide by working with international Green parties to oppose anti-LGBTIQA+ legislation and to promote global human rights and liberation.
Each candidate replied:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
Our liberation is bound up with the liberation of LGBTIQA+ people everywhere. We commit to working with international Green parties and movements to challenge anti-queer laws and fight for global human rights, from Uganda to Hungary to the UK. Rosa already has strong links with international Green Movements that work towards the liberation of LGBTIQA+ people.
Cade Hatton
The creep of the right wing across the world is terrifying, and I would proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with any other queer Green the world over to oppose bigotry and harm.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
Agree. The fascism of queerphobia is a global movement, a lot of the money received by anti-trans organisations in the UK is from Christian fascist groups in the US who seek to criminalise all queer people, ban abortion and aid Israel in their genocide of Palestinians. The fight for human rights is interconnected and global, so we stand together against the rise of fascism and win freedom for everyone. Which includes solidarity building with international communities inside and outside of work with other Green Parties around the world.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
No Response*
For each candidate we scored them one point. Every answer was affirmative and went into various amounts of detail, but quantifying answers was optional – what matters here is the affirmative response.
Overall Scores
For each candidate we have either given them one or zero points for their answers to their questions, and their final scores and what we think for each candidate are below:
Rosa Al-Baldawi
Luanne Thornton
10/10
Rosa and Luanne’s responses to our pledges were well thought out and very detailed, and it’s clear that they understand what we’re fighting for as a liberation group.
Cade Hatton
10/10
We think Cade’s responses to our pledges were very detailed and that he fully understands intersectionality when it comes to support and representation within the Green Party.
Ekua Bayunu
Kathryn Bristow
10/10
Ekua and Kathryn’s responses to our questions are very detailed and thought out and show a real understanding of the challenges facing LGBTIQA+ people in England and Wales.
Aasiya Bora
Debra Cooper
?/10
(*) We’re following up with the ticket about their responses and will update as we have more info.
If you have any questions or concerns about the scores we provided on this page, please feel free to contact us. We’re always happy to listen to feedback for future pledges and hustings processes.