Lesbians Not Sure On UK Equality Act

TOPICS: Diva magazine. Lesbian media. Gay PR. Gay and lesbian media. Equality Act. Discrimination. Laws. Legal protection against discrimination. Gay business may soon discover there is a potential bad PR surprise for gay business lurking behind the new UK Equality Act laws. The laws' intentions are good but sloppy drafting means that the very laws supposed to protect gay and lesbian Britons may soon discriminate against gay business in the UK.

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The latest issue of Diva magazine in Europe has an article that discusses some topics about the UK Equality Act which Gay Market News raised last month.

Out Now sees the new laws' good intentions - in that the workings of the Equality Act and related laws and regulations are meant to protect gay and lesbian people from discrimination.

However the laws seem to be poorly drafted in that they protect against discrimination on the basis of "sexuality" rather than "homosexuality" or "homosexuality and bisexuality".

This has given rise to the consequence that gay and lesbian business that caters to an exclusively gay or lesbian customer base, and whose product offering relies on that as a fundamental aspect of their business, may soon find that they are required by law to modify their product to provide for heterosexual customers.

A good thing, right?

Well we are not so sure.

Take the example of lesbian-run guest houses - these places exist because many women do not feel that comfortable around men anyway, and particularly when trying to relax and enjoy a hard earned vacation break. Under the new Equality Act laws, women running such a business who tried to limit their customer base to exclude men could soon discover themselves running a business that falls foul of the new laws.

We believe that these laws were not meant to have this effect but that the people responsible for drafting the various clauses have failed to appreciate that whilst the intent of the laws was clearly meant to provide better protection against discrimination for lesbians and gay men, their impact can open up a potential source of damage to that class of exclusively gay-run and gay-targeted business in the UK.

It is not really an answer to say that it is unlikely a heterosexual man will try to stay in a lesbian guest house. We think it may well prove tempting to homophobic people to force such business to allow them to access goods and services originally intended only for lesbians and gay men.

And that hardly seems to be what these new laws should be about.

The April 2007 Diva article quotes Out Now on some of these issues. Here is an extract:

Shrinking Horizons

Lesbians are chilling the bubbly: it should soon be illegal for hotels, B&Bs and campsites to discriminate against us, but, asks PATRICIA CURMI, will that spell the end for the exclusively gay travel industry?

When the new Goods and Services Act was passed in Northern Ireland - as it is due to be passed in England - outraged protestors from the Religious Right took to the streets outside the Houses of Parliament, and church ministers from various denominations spoke of being 'forced' to do business with gays and lesbians, against their conscience.

Less audible, however, were the whimpers of protest against the Act from within the LGBT community itself. Owners of gay hotels, B&Bs and holiday tour companies were left uncertain about the future of the gay travel market after months of confusion as to where they stand in relation to the law, and concern about a potential dent in profits if the demand for a gay-only market declines [as a result].

The 2005 Out Now Diva and GT Readers' Survey found that 5% of gay men and women (around 135,000 individuals) had been refused goods and services because of their sexual orientation, so it's unsurprising that the number of holiday accommodation and travel companies catering exclusively to the gay and lesbian community has proliferated. The gay travel industry is worth [£3.5 billion annually in the UK], and savvy tour operators and hoteliers are keen to lure pink punters their way.

But while the Goods and Services regulations due to come into force this month are intended to quash homophobia in the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises, they will also mean that gay bars will no longer be able to deny access to heterosexual people. Some [such as UK gay rights group Stonewall] are questioning the need for exclusively gay hotels and guesthouses at all. Isn't it just another form of self-exclusion, out of the mainstream and into the margins?

Stephen Coote [of] the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) [seems less certain]. "In theory, no-one is being refused entry or made to feel embarrassed. In practice, this isn't always the case: however "gay-friendly" a place claims to be, the person sitting in Reception sets the tone, so why would you go where you're not wanted?"

And it appears there are still significant numbers of us who prefer being in a gay environment when we're on holiday. In a recent Diva poll, just under a quarter of you claimed that you'd always stay in lesbian-run accommodation, even if it means shelling out more of your hard earned cash.

Ian Johnson, managing director of Out Now Consulting, sees another potential issue facing the gay travel industry: the law forcing hotels and holiday tours currently catering to lesbians and gay men to open their doors to heterosexuals.

"Many [gay] women find the thought of staying in a women-only space tremendously reassuring," argues Johnson, "but if we demand equality, we can't turn around and refuse to abide by the principle of equal treatment for all (including heterosexuals) when it suits us."

Coote [of IGLTA], himself a B&B owner, would be reluctant to accommodate a straight person. "I have some sympathy for those evangelical Christians who own guesthouses - I have a room in Vauxhall that I advertise as a gay B&B, and I don't want straight people in it, to be honest."

Peter Tatchell of queer human rights group OutRage! responded to the doubters in January by saying that he thought it was highly unlikely that heterosexuals would be 'banging on the doors' of gay B&Bs. Johnson, however, believes this kind of rhetoric belittles hundreds of gay and lesbian businesses struggling to make it in the UK.

"At Out Now, we disagree that Tatchell [or Stonewall] is able to speak for all members of lesbian and gay communities in assessing the implications of these new laws for gay businesses. People could actually be put out of business as a result of them, and many lesbians will find their available [holiday] options significantly diminished as a result. We hope this won't be the case, and we still have to wait and see what the impact of the law will be in practice. It's early days."
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