04/01/1999
Equality at Holyrood (annotated 1999 version)
Annotated to show progress so far - last updated March 2008.
Progress on equal opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the new Scotland.
This is the main section of our April 1999 Equality at Holyrood manifesto for LGBT equality at the Scottish Parliament, with annotations to show Progress so far, and where SUCCESS! has been achieved.
The Scottish Parliament's purpose
Inequality of opportunity remains widespread in Scotland. Discrimination occurs on many grounds, including gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age and social origin. It should be a fundamental part of the Scottish Parliament's purpose to tackle inequality and social exclusion.
- The Scottish Parliament should adopt the equal opportunities measures proposed in the Consultative Steering Group report. An Equal Opportunities Committee and an Equality Unit should be established, and the explanatory memorandum of each Bill should set out its implications for equality of opportunity for all in Scotland.
SUCCESS! In May and June 1999, the Scottish Parliament and Executive adopted all these measures.
- The remit of the Equal Opportunities Committee must be to tackle inequalities throughout Scottish society, not just within the Parliament itself. It must be proactive and consultative, with expert consultative sub-committees considering, for example, gender equality, race equality, disability equality, LGBT equality, age equality and poverty. A very effective model of good practice here is the Equality Committee of Glasgow City Council.
SUCCESS! Although the Equal Opportunities Committee has decided to work without subcommittees, it has appointed reporters for each of: sexual orientation, gender, disability, and race/religion equality. The Commmittee and its reporters have taken a proactive and consultative role in working towards equality throughout society.
Fair treatment under the criminal law
At the time of writing, there is a higher age of consent for sex between men than for sex between a man and a woman, or between women. The criminal law discriminates in a number of other ways, for example, consensual adult sexual activity which takes place with a third adult present is completely legal for heterosexuals, but illegal for gay men. Furthermore, some police, prosecution authorities and courts still treat minor offences committed by two men or two women, for example, sexual activity in a secluded corner of a park, much more harshly than the same activity between a man and a woman.
- The Scottish Parliament should institute an immediate review of sex offences law, similar to that being conducted in England and Wales, with a remit to ensure that the law provides effective protection from sexual abuse and assault for all people, while removing the remaining discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Progress so far In January 2000, the Scottish Parliament voted by 99 votes to 16 in favour of equalising the age of consent at 16 for all, in a 'Sewel motion' agreeing to Westminster legislating to that effect for Scotland. Westminster passed the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act in November 2000, and the equal age of consent came into effect on 8th January 2001.
In May 2001 the Parliament passed the Convention Rights (Compliance) (Scotland) Act, which repeals the law making private group sexual activity between men illegal. The repeal came into effect on 6th July 2001.
In 2004, the Scottish Executive asked the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) to review the law on sexual offences, with particular regard to equality issues. The SLC reported in January 2008, recommending that sexual offences laws should be overhauled, including removing discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Scottish Government introduced a Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament in June 2008, to implement these recommendations. The bill may pass by June 2009.
- The Scottish Parliament should promote non-discriminatory policing and prosecution policies.
Progress so far Our sister organisation Outright Scotland was instrumental in establishing a Scotland-wide LGBT Police Liaison Forum, which is actively working to ensure that policing across Scotland is non-discriminatory. There has been major progress since 1999 - for example with the introduction of a Scotland-wide definition of homophobic / transphobic incident.
Fair treatment for young people
Many young LGBT people have a miserable time. Homophobic bullying is widespread in our schools. No support structures exist for young LGBT people in most of Scotland. Teachers are inhibited from tackling homophobic bullying and from providing advice and support to young LGBT people, by section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, and by a lack of clear national policy in these areas. Personal and sex education compounds the problem in many schools by ignoring, marginalising and stigmatising LGBT identities.
- The Scottish Parliament should repeal 'Section 28' as a matter of urgency.
SUCCESS! In June 2000, the Scottish Parliament voted by 99 votes to 17 to repeal section 28, in the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act. The repeal came into effect on 29th March 2001.
- National policy is needed explicitly to recognise and tackle homophobic bullying in schools. School curricula should be inclusive, non-discriminatory, and supportive of the diversity of pupils. Local authorities should recognise and support the particular needs of young LGBT people in their area, and Parliament should promote this recognition and support across Scotland.
Progress so far In June 2000, the Parliament passed the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act, which places a duty on education authorities to publish each year plans for encouraging equality in their schools, including on grounds of sexual orientation. The Scottish Executive has defined equality as a national priority for schools. The Executive Education Department has established an LGBT Education Forum, to discuss education issues with LGBT organisations, and is funding work by LGBT Youth Scotland on homophobic bullying in schools.
Fair treatment by public bodies
Discrimination in society can extend to the operation of public bodies and services. This leads to a lack of trust in public services by members of the LGBT community, with the result, for example, that homophobic assaults go unreported to the police and the perpetrators are left free to attack again. Public bodies must address discrimination in their service provision, and further, they have an important role to play in tackling and redressing the effects of discrimination in society as a whole.
- The Scottish Parliament should use its equal opportunities promotion powers to encourage all public bodies, including local authorities, police and health services, to adopt effective non-discrimination policies which include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Progress so far The Scottish Parliament has placed a duty to encourage equal opportunities, including on grounds of sexual orientation, on education authorities (Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000), on social landlords (local authorities and housing associations - Housing (Scotland) Act 2001), on the bodies that regulate social care establishments and social workers (Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001), on local councils in all their functions (Local Government in Scotland Act 2003) and on NHS boards (NHS Reform (Scotland) Act 2004). These duties need to be extended to all public bodies. This may be done by a Westminster Equality Bill during 2009-10.
- Parliament should monitor the operation of these policies, and gather and promulgate best practice.
Progress so far With limited resources, the Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee is working to monitor the operation of equality policies. The Scottish Executive Equality Unit, through its Equality Strategy, is working to develop tools for mainstreaming equality through public services, and ways of monitoring the effectiveness of this. Audit Scotland is planning a study of the equality performance of some public bodies.
- A key element of national policy for all public bodies and services should be the need to understand and counter the effects of discrimination in society.
Progress so far As described above, Scottish Parliament legislation has placed a duty on many public bodies to encourage equal opportunities. This needs to be extended to all public bodies, and national guidance is needed to ensure that public bodies carry out this duty in a proactive way.
Fair treatment under the civil law
The civil law at present denies the identity, relationships and families of LGBT people. For example, in law, transsexual people remain the gender specified on their birth certificate, making it impossible to marry a partner of the opposite gender, and leading to other problems in the appropriate provision of services.
The law does not recognise committed same-gender partnerships, and such partnerships are denied the rights and responsibilities available to mixed-gender couples by registering a marriage.
For example, a same-gender partner is not recognised as able to act for an incapacitated partner, and is discriminated against in inheritance law.
The law does not recognise that same-gender couples may co-parent. This means for example that if a mother shares the upbringing of her child with her female partner, that family relationship is not legally recognised, and were the mother to die, the co-parent would have no recognised responsibility for the child. Courts continue to discriminate against LGBT parents and their children in deciding matters such as access arrangements.
- The Scottish Parliament should legislate to allow transgender and transsexual people to register their gender identity for legal purposes.
SUCCESS! The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transsexual people to register their true gender for all legal purposes. This was a Westminster act, passed with the approval of the Scottish Parliament in a 'Sewel motion'.
- Parliament should introduce legislation to make the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage available to couples regardless of gender.
SUCCESS! The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which is due to come into effect on December 5th 2005, allows same-sex couples to register a civil partnership which has the same legal effects as a marriage has for mixed-sex couples. This was a Westminster act, passed with the approval of the Scottish Parliament in a 'Sewel motion'.
- Parliament should negotiate with Westminster for all such couples to have equal rights and responsibilities in reserved areas such as tax, benefits and immigration.
SUCCESS! The Civil Partnership Act does this.
- Parliament should amend the legislation on joint fostering and adoption to remove the discrimination against same-gender couples.
Progress so far The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 will remove this discrimination when it comes into effect, which we expect to be in June 2009.
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