The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) has called on members of its Postal Action Scheme to put further pressure on the Government to accept the new European Directive’s proposals that would – for the first time – give statutory job protection to gay people.
Among those who have written to the Prime Minister and employment ministers at GALHA’s behest are two of its vice-presidents – author and broadcaster Claire Rayner and leading scientist Sir Hermann Bondi – and gay journalist Terry Sanderson.
Claire Rayner is outraged that the Government should be considering watering down the protection from discrimination for gay people. “I don’t see how you can protect gay people from discrimination when you are giving religious organisations the right to discriminate against them”, she said. “Religious bodies control thousands of jobs, many of them paid for by the taxpayer. It is totally illogical that they should be allowed to reserve those jobs exclusively for people who share their own beliefs and lifestyle.”
Sir Hermann Bondi said: “By denying the protection of the laws against discrimination to the entire workforces of religious organisations one is creating a ‘state within a state’ to the detriment of all efforts at integration. It is morally and socially repugnant.”
Terry Sanderson, author of How to be a Happy Homosexual, said: “I imagine there are hundreds, if not thousands, of gay people already working in church schools and welfare organisations. If the Christian Institute gets its way, many of these people may have their livelihoods threatened. Bigotry will be legalised if this directive is amended in the way being proposed.”
George Broadhead, secretary of GALHA, said: “The Department for Education and Employment has told us that the Government is determined that church schools will still have the right to ‘give preference to teachers of the same faith’ and that it will allow religious organisations ‘the freedom they need to maintain their distinctive religious identities’. We take this to mean that religious organisations will be free to refuse jobs to gay people because they are not ‘theologically pure’. This is bad news for all those gay people who already work in schools, hospitals, welfare organisations, hospices and old people’s homes that are controlled by religious bodies. The Department did not mention the Government’s intention to downgrade protection for gay people to merely a voluntary code of practice – which would be widely disregarded, particularly by religious groups. We must urgently step up our efforts to change the Government’s mind and ensure that we get the full legal protection that this directive originally promised. Write a letter of protest to your MP and MEP today. Write also to Ms Anna Diamantopoulou, Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner, European Commission, Rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.”