Communities and neighbourhoods

Archived content

You are viewing archived content. If you believe this content has been archived in error, or you regularly access this content, please contact us to let us know.

Sexual orientation legislation

The Government recognises the discrimination that many gay, lesbian and bisexual people face in today's society. We are committed to a just and fair society and have already made progress in a number of areas relating to sexual orientation.

Current areas of work on sexual orientation

The Government has brought forward legislation to tackle discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on grounds of sexual orientation, which came into force on 30th April 2007.

This legislation is a major step forward in ensuring dignity, respect and fairness for all. These measures will help tackle the practical barriers and real, everyday problems faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

These new measures will make sexual orientation discrimination unlawful in the provision of goods and services (e.g. shops & hotels), in the exercise of public functions (e.g. in the delivery of health services), in education and in the rental or sale of premises.
By introducing these measures the Government is providing protection from sexual orientation discrimination outside the workplace that is on a par with the protections provided on grounds of sex, race and Stopping religious discrimination.
In order to protect practices that arise from basic doctrines of faith, the Regulations include an exemption for religious organisations, for whom complying with the Regulations could conflict with either the doctrine of the organisation, or the strongly-held views of a significant number of the religion's followers.
However, where a religious organisation enters into an agreement to provide a service to the community on behalf of and under contract with a public authority, or on a commercial basis, that brings with it a wider social responsibility to serve the public as it is constituted - not pick and choose who will benefit or be served. In these circumstances the exemption will not apply.
The Regulations will apply to faith based adoption and fostering agencies but they will be given until the end of 2008 to adjust. In the interim, any agency wishing to take advantage of the transitional arrangements will have to refer prospective gay, lesbian and bi-sexual adoptive parents to agencies who are able to assist.

History

The Equality Act 2006 included an order making power that allows Regulations to be made to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services, in education and in the execution of public functions.

A consultation document [External link] setting out proposals for the Regulations was published on 13 March 2006. This sought views on specific points about the range of activities that should be covered by the Regulations, and on whether any exceptions should be provided from them to ensure that the protection from sexual orientation discrimination that is introduced is effective and appropriately targeted. A summary of this consultation paper is also available in Welsh. The consultation period closed on 5 June 2006.

On 7 March 2007 the Government published the Getting Equal: Proposals to outlaw sexual orientation discrimination in the provision of goods and services - Government response to consultation to the 'Getting Equal' consultation and laid Regulations [External link] in Parliament to prohibit discrimination in goods and services on the grounds of sexual orientation. A The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 - Final Regulatory Impact Assessmentand The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 - Equality Impact Assessmentwere laid alongside the Regulations.

The Regulations were debated and approved in the House of Commons and House of Lords on 15 March and 21 March respectively. They came into force on 30 April 2007, at the same time as Part 2 of the Equality Act (Part 2 provides parallel protection against discrimination in the provision of goods and services on the grounds of people's Stopping religious discrimination). The Government published Guidance on both the Sexual Orientation Regulations and the Stopping religious discrimination provisions on 30 April, which sets out practical advice on what the legislation means.

For more information about sexual orientation legislation please visit the Women and Equality Unit website (link available to your right).

For enquiries about the new legislation please email: equalityactenquiries@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Or write to: