Gay-equality-outsourced

Tonight, David Cameron will be meeting with gay community leaders at Downing Street

. Conversations will be geared towards addressing the inability of the new government to abolish the last remaining discriminatory law in the U.K. By doing so the government would truly be granting equality to all homosexuals in the U.K.

The question of homosexuality has always been the centre of debate and controversy in the United Kingdom. Along with those of traditionalist tendencies, most religions tend to clash with the concept of homosexuality. But the previous labour government did well to battle those laws that discriminate same-sex couples. There was the repeal in 2003 of the infamous section 28, which effectively enforced a ban on promoting homosexuality. Then there was the implementation of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 which inter alia, threatened to force Roman Catholic adoption agencies to close (as they refused to allow same sex couples to adopt catholic orphans).

Prior to that, the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which introduced new legal rights for same sex couples in the face of opposition, again, from religious groups. These acts may be perceived to be morally and politically neutral and supporting equality for homosexuals, but the flip side of this is that the government is enacting legislation that discriminates against religion and is essentially stripping the very values of religion. Should this be a concern for the government? Is it possible to satisfy both obviously opposite groups?

Many have argued that it is in the governments interest to legislate for the rights of gays and lesbians as it is a western value. This legal commentator would respectfully disagree. In order for the protection of homosexuality to be considered a western value, it must be exclusive to the west and it must be entrenched into our society. A value, which seems to placed somewhere between a tradition and a principle, suggests, that if seriously challenged it would overturn your whole perspective. A value would not necessarily need to be legislated for in order to be enforced, as societal expectations would do that regardless.

Based on this, homosexuality cannot truly be treated as a western value. It is not restricted to the Western world. South Africa was actually the first country to enshrine gay equality into its constitution and the fifth to legalise gay marriage. Yet in the U.K. the civil partnership is the best that a same-gender couple could hope to achieve in the form of marriage. But this screams discrimination. A heterosexual couple could not have a civil partnership, while a homosexual couple could. If the situation was slightly different, and the UK government said that only white people could be married and all the rest (black, brown, yellow etc) had to have civil partnerships, there would be outcries of racism and international condemnation for such an obvious system that promotes second class citizenry! As it stands there are not such condemnations!

The western governments seem to be more adept for exporting its unbridled fear of homosexuality than actually protecting it. Most laws that are found in the developing world regarding homosexuality are there from the colonial era, and have simply not been removed. Added to this, is the growing influence that religion has in the developing world, and the obvious opposition that religion has to homosexuality. A bill was passed in Uganda for example, only last year, that threatened death to any gay or lesbian. This decree was assisted by the American Evangelicals that have a huge presence in Uganda. In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe described same-sex couples as lower than dogs and pigs. The House of Lords are discussing the issue of equality for homosexuals abroad and in the U.K.

An UK poll found that 61% of the public supported the idea of gay marriage.

Essentially, the gay community leaders will want to press home to David Cameron, that his government and the media need to become more in tune with the opinion of the public and repeal the Civil Partnership Act 2004. This act effectively creates a two tier system of citizens and is the one remaining law that effectively degrades the meaning of commitment that same-sex couples wish to express.

by: Antonia Torr

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