EQUALITY NETWORK - Your Rights

06/10/2009
Hate crime
Hate crime is defined as crime motivated by malice or ill will towards a social group. There is clear evidence of hate crime against LGBT people in Scotland. Scotland currently has the least progressive law on hate crime of any part of the UK, but that will change in a few months time. more

07/10/2009
Housing
The law provides tenants with certain rights and bans discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and transsexual identity. The law also protects homeowners in some circumstances and gives some protection to homeless people. more

19/03/2008
Myself and my partner (both female) would like to foster kids but from all I'm reading and being told it seems that same sex couples in scotland are not allowed to foster in this country. Is this still the case and if so, how can we challenge this and change it? Any advice would be welcome.
In Scotland, fostering is still covered by the Fostering of Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996. The regulations will change in early 2009 when the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act becomes law. The Scottish Government ran a consultation earlier this year on the old fostering regulations, to which the Equality Network responded in March 2008. more

10/07/2009
Housing
The law provides tenants with certain rights and bans discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and transsexual identity. The law also protects homeowners in some circumstances and gives some protection to homeless people.

Tenants have some protections in law, for example against being suddenly evicted from their house. If a tenant dies, and their partner has been living with them, the partner has the right to take over the tenancy. These rules apply both to public sector tenancies (local council and housing association tenancies), which are known as "social tenancies" (Housing (Scotland) Act 2001), and to private sector tenancies (Housing (Scotland) Act 1988). The definition of partner includes same-sex cohabiting partner and civil partner.

Under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, providers of housing must not discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation. They must provide an equally favourable service to people of any sexual orientation. Discrimination by providers of housing on grounds of gender reassignment is also against the law, under the Sex Discrimination (Amendment of Legislation) Regulations 2008. Gender reassignment is defined as a process undertaken under medical supervision for the purpose of reassigning a person's sex by changing physiological or other characteristics of sex. This is a wide definition, which should include transsexual people who have non-surgical treatment.

In addition, the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 says that local councils and housing associations must provide their housing services in a manner which encourages equal opportunities, including for LGBT people. If you are facing any kind of discrimination in housing, contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which promotes observance of the anti-discrimination laws.

Homeowners also have some protection, and in particular have certain rights if they fall behind on mortgage payments (Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001).

Local councils have a duty to assist homeless people to find accommodation, and the law recognises that homophobic harassment can contribute to homelessness (Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003). For more information on harassment, see our page on hate crime.

In addition, the law protects the partner of a tenant or homeowner from being thrown out of the home if the relationship breaks down (Civil Partnership Act 2004 and Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 as amended by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006). This applies to civil partners, married partners, and same-sex and mixed-sex cohabiting partners.

For more advice on housing, see the following:

Communities Scotland's HomePoint information website
Shelter Scotland
Positive Action in Housing
Scottish Council for Single Homeless
Citizens Advice Scotland
for advice on discrimination issues, the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Equality Network and Age Concern Scotland worked with Communities Scotland during 2004 and 2005 on research into the housing needs of older LGBT people. The research project published advice on housing options for older LGBT people in Scotland, which can be obtained in printed form by contacting the Equality Network.