Legislate to explicitly ban the Portsmouth Defence

35
signatures
closedMinistry of JusticeOpened 16 September 2025Closed 16 March 2026

Background

We urge Parliament to formally abolish the homophobic Portsmouth Defence, which allowed offenders to justify violence on the basis of same sex sexual advances. This undermines the Equality Act and put LGBTQ+ lives at risk. We call for urgent legislative reform to formally ban this defence.

Additional details

We believe this defence treated LGBTQ+ lives as less valuable. No one’s identity should ever justify violence. This defence has no place in a modern legal system. It must be clearly banned now.

Where it’s popular

Constituencies with the most signatures on this petition.

Source: UK Government & Parliament Petitions service. Petition ID: 725139.