# Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007

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Timeline 342 MSM activity made illegal 1533 Death penalty introduced for MSM activity 1543 Buggery Act extended to Wales 1828 Offences Against the Person Act 1828 1835 James Pratt and John Smith executed 1861 Death penalty for buggery abolished 1885 Labouchere Amendment introduced 1889 Cleveland Street scandal 1895 Oscar Wilde found guilty of gross indecency 1912 The Cave of the Golden Calf opens 1921 Plans to make lesbian activity illegal defeated 1936 Mark Weston transitions 1952 John Nott-Bower begins crackdown 1954 Pitt-Rivers, Montagu, Wildeblood imprisoned 1954 Alan Turing commits suicide 1957 Wolfenden report released 1967 MSM activity made legal (England & Wales) 1972 First British Gay Pride Rally 1976 Jeremy Thorpe resigns as Liberal leader 1981 MSM activity made legal (Scotland) 1981 First case of AIDS reported in the UK 1982 MSM activity made legal (NI) 1983 Gay men barred from donating blood 1984 Chris Smith elected as first openly gay MP 1987 Operation Spanner begins 1988 Section 28 comes into force 1989 Stonewall UK forms 1994 Age of consent for MSM becomes 18 1997 Angela Eagle becomes first openly lesbian MP 1998 Bolton 7 found guilty 1998 Lord Alli becomes first openly gay Lord 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing 2000 Gay men allowed in HM Armed Forces 2001 Age of consent equalised to 16 2001 MSM activity involving multiple men legal 2002 Same sex couples granted equal rights to adopt 2003 Section 28 repealed 2004 Civil partnerships introduced 2004 Gender Recognition Act 2004 2006 Discrimination made illegal 2008 Equalised access to IVF for lesbian couples 2008 Incitement to homophobic hatred made a crime 2009 Public apology to Alan Turing 2010 Equality Act 2010 2011 Gay men allowed to donate blood (1 yr deferral) 2013 Nikki Sinclaire becomes first openly trans MEP 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 2014 First same-sex marriages take place 2016 MSM activity not grounds for military discharge 2017 Turing law implemented 2017 Blood donation deferral 3 months (excl. NI) 2019 MPs legislate for gay marriage in NI 2020 Gay marriage legal across UK, incl. NI 2020 Blood donation deferral 3 months (incl. NI) 2021 Blood donation deferral equalised :
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The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 was secondary legislation in the United Kingdom, outlawing discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions on the grounds of sexual orientation.
In 2010, these Regulations were written into the Equality Act 2010, meaning that they are no longer in force as a standalone piece of legislation.

## Background

Provisions to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief were already enshrined in the primary Equality Act 2006. However, the Labour Party had not originally wanted to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians. The original Equality Bill, therefore, contained no clauses dealing with homophobic discrimination.
The legislation was made under powers granted by the Equality Act 2006. Sections 81 and 82 of the Equality Act gave the power to make regulations to the Secretary of State and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, respectively. Regulations made under section 81 cover Great Britain (i.e., England and Wales and Scotland) whereas regulations made under section 82 extend to Northern Ireland.
As the Bill progressed through the House of Lords, amendments by the Lord Alli succeeded in forcing a Government concession; the Labour MP Desmond Turner led a similar revolt in the Commons.
However, it was by then too late to allow the new measures to be added substantively to the Bill. Instead, MPs and Peers agreed to delegate the drafting of regulations to a Government minister, which paved the way for a lengthy public consultation followed by months of Cabinet wrangling.

## Regulations relating to Great Britain

The text of the proposed regulations was first laid before Parliament on 7 March 2007. Some faith-based adoption agencies had stated that they would need to close if they were not given an opt-out from having to place children with homosexual couples, as that would be against their religious beliefs. In a statement released from 10 Downing Street on 29 January 2007, Tony Blair said he had considered their objections carefully, but in his view there was no place for discrimination. However, for existing adoption agencies there would be a transitional period, before the regulations come fully into force at the end of 2008.
In the House of Commons, the regulations were adopted by 309 votes to 99. The votes against came mostly Conservatives, plus ten Labour Members (Joe Benton, Tom Clarke, Frank Cook, Jim Dobbin, David Drew, Peter Kilfoyle, Jim McGovern, Alan Meale, Geraldine Smith, and David Taylor), together with four Liberal Democrats (Alan Beith, Colin Breed, Tim Farron, and Bob Russell).
Twenty-nine Conservatives voted for the regulations (Desmond Swayne, James Duddridge, David Cameron, George Osborne, Crispin Blunt, Andrew Tyrie, Andrew Mackay, Nick Herbert, Hugo Swire, Francis Maude, Oliver Letwin, Patrick McLoughlin, Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Andrew Mitchell, Alan Duncan, Michael Fabricant, Theresa Villiers, Graham Stuart, Andrew Lansley, Bill Wiggin, Peter Ainsworth, Robert Key, Tony Baldry, David Willetts, Nigel Evans, Jeremy Hunt, John Bercow and Eleanor Laing).
In the House of Lords, Peers approved the regulations by a majority of 46, and the regulations came into force on 30 April 2007.
Guidance on the regulations was also issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham declared his opposition to the regulations, saying that they contradicted the Catholic Church's moral values. He supported efforts to have Catholic adoption agencies exempted from sexual orientation regulations, which were ultimately unsuccessful in a judgement given on 21 July 2010. Further to this, the House of Lords was still considering an exemption to the legislation that would let religious agencies abide by their belief-based proscriptions regarding the employment of active homosexuals.

## Regulations relating to Northern Ireland

The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 were made on 8 November 2006 and laid before Parliament under paragraph 7(3) of the Schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000 since the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended. The regulations came into force on 1 January 2007.
Later in January 2007 there was an attempt to pass a motion to pray for an annulment of the regulations in the House of Lords. The resolution failed to pass by a margin of 199 to 68.
In 2007, the Christian Institute (CI) and others sought a judicial review to overturn the Sexual Orientation Regulations in Northern Ireland. Mr Justice Weatherup rejected the CI's complaint, ruling that while a clause relating to harassment (a clause unique to the Northern Irish version of the Regulations) should be set aside, the remainder of the Regulations were to remain in force.