Government Abusing Gay Rights for the Muslim Vote

KENILWORTH, 19 NOVEMBER 2004 — The Government is accused today of compromising the rights of gay people in order to regain votes lost from the Muslim community.

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) made the accusation after the Department of Trade and Industry announced plans for a new single equality body, to be called the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), that will challenge discrimination against a raft of minorities – including, for the first time, religious believers and the gay community. But as part of the new body, new legislation is to be introduced specifically outlawing discrimination on grounds of religion in the provision of goods and services. This is something that the Muslim community has been agitating for over several years.

Terry Sanderson, a spokesperson for GALHA, said: “Specific laws against discrimination on grounds of religion are to be introduced, but there are no plans to introduce similar legislation for gay people. And yet discrimination against gay people comes almost entirely from religious sources. The CEHR is permitting a hierarchy of discrimination to form with gay people right at the bottom. Who will protect us if, say, a bed and breakfast decided to define itself as a ‘Christian’ establishment and then refused to permit gay and lesbian couples to share a room? What if a hostel for the homeless, run by a religious charity, decided that it would not allow ‘unrepentant’ gay people to use its services? Who would be discriminated against, and who would be the discriminator? Courts will have an impossible task trying to balance the rights of these two incompatible communities, but the Government will have given the religious bodies a head start.”

Mr Sanderson said that recently leaked minutes from a Labour Party National Executive Committee election planning meeting showed that Labour was desperate to recapture its lost Muslim constituency, and was now promising new laws against religious discrimination and incitement to religious hatred that were dangerous and undesirable. The Government specifically mentions in its launch document that this will be introduced at the behest of the Muslim Council of Britain.

Terry Sanderson said: “We fear that the Government is compromising gay rights in order to win votes. This is entirely unacceptable.”