The Government is planning sweeping gay rights laws which threaten to curtail religious liberty. The new sexual orientation regulations will make 'homophobic' discrimination illegal in many aspects of life. They are set to cover: the provision of goods, facilities and services; the selling or letting of premises; education; and public authorities.
The plans will follow the approach taken with new religious discrimination provisions in the Equality Act 2006 and existing laws covering race and sex. The term 'goods, facilities and services' is very broad, covering, for example, hotel or guesthouse accommodation, retail sales and the services industry.
The new sexual orientation regulations will mean that it will be illegal to treat a homosexual differently when providing a good, facility or service. In most cases, any Christian business would want to sell its products regardless of who the purchaser is. A bookshop would be as happy to sell a Bible to a homosexual as to anyone else. But should the law force Christian B&B owners to give homosexuals a double bed? Should it become illegal for a church to refuse to hire out its hall to gay rights activists? This would be as ridiculous as forcing the Labour Party to hire out its HQ to the Conservatives.
Without an exception the regulations would cover the school curriculum. This could force the equal promotion of homosexuality and heterosexuality in schools, a move which threatens to be just as controversial among the public as the repeal of Section 28. Could these laws be used by gay rights groups to stop Christian Unions in schools, as activist students already try to do in universities?
The sexual orientation regulations create civil, not criminal, laws. This means that they are relatively easy to use - activists could launch legal actions against their opponents with little difficulty. And sadly there are people who oppose Christians strongly enough to do so.
The Government's deadline for the consultation on the regulations was 5 June 2006. Copies of the consultation paper are available online from the Women and Equality Unit 
or can be obtained from:
DTI Publications Orderline
ADMAIL 528
London SW1W 8YT
Tel: 0845-015 0010
Fax: 0845-015 0020
Minicom: 0845-015 0030
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