Kezia Dugdale

speaker

126 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 20 Apr

Kezia Dugdale’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Apr 2026 with 1.

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Today in Focus · Stonewall’s new chair on trans rights, JK Rowling and the future of the LGBTQ+ movement · 20 Apr 2026 podcast

And it was done in the heat and the

And I didn't feel in control of it.

So I think when you're not in control of your own story, that leads you to the language of saying that you've been outed against your will and all the rest of it.

So there was some sudden need to confront that and be very public about that.

And in the end, I'm delighted that I did it.

I should say, though, it never stopped me being an advocate for LGBT people or an ally or campaigning on those issues that

mattered.

Ruth Davidson was openly gay leader of the Scottish Conservatives at the time and it used to frustrate me that pretty much every sentence in the media there would start with lesbian kickboxer Ruth Davidson and I just thought it was really unfair that she was being constantly defined by her sexuality and I wanted to live in a world where that didn't matter because everybody was free and equal and able to live their life.

So it wasn't that you were ashamed of your sexuality?

Oh God, no.

I still had to have conversations with family members that were hard and I think, find me a gay person in the country that hasn't had that experience.

But there was no shame in it for me.

Look, I think anyone that's ever been associated with any organisation will put their hands up and say, we've made mistakes at certain times.

Given the chance to do things again, we might do things differently.

But I also think it's right to say, if we're going to have difficult conversations about difficult issues where a lot of people are feeling their way through...

messy issues people need to feel safe they need to believe that those conversations are in a safe environment where everybody's accepted for who they are to work their way through these difficult and challenging conversations and if you don't feel safe then those conversations

You have the right to walk away or ask for them to be done differently.

But I don't think there's ever been a no debate rule.

And we want to be in the position of persuading people.

We're not dogmatic and sitting in silos.

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