On Friday 1st October, much of the Equality Act 2010 came into force.
The Act is intended to consolidate the many existing strands of discrimination law into one single Act. The government has repeatedly insisted that the new Act will not change the law, however it remains to be seen how the differently worded sections will be interpreted by the courts.
During the passing of the Bill, the government attempted to weaken the position of churches and religious organisations with regard to their employment practices. However, after campaigning by CCFON and many other Christian organisations, the government were dramatically beaten in the House of Lords on 25th January 2010.
Whilst the government’s amendments were defeated, a controversial amendment was successfully added to the Bill in February 2010, which would allow civil partnership ceremonies to take place on religious premises and/or with religious language. The provisions are still being consulted upon and have not yet come into force. Activists have made it clear that a change in the law would only be a step towards forcing churches to perform civil partnerships. For example, Ben Summerskill, head of Stonewall, said at the time: “Right now, faiths shouldn’t be forced to hold civil partnerships, although in ten or 20 years, that may change.”
Many believe that the equality legislation has created a ‘clash of rights’ within the law between Christians who wish to act on the biblical belief that sex is reserved for marriage between a man and a woman, and those who say that such a stance discriminates against their sexual orientation.
Many examples suggest that rather than the ‘rights’ of different groups being balanced, Christians are being routinely penalised. For example:
Catholic adoption agencies threatened with closure
Couple prevented from fostering
Furthermore, when Christians have tried to rely on the equality legislation that protects “religion or belief”, the courts have consistently found against them:
Nurse forced to removed cross at work
Council officer sacked for mentioning God
Therefore, the equality legislation has so far limited the freedom of churches and other Christian organisations and failed to balance the rights and freedoms of Christian individuals against others in society. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the Equality Act 2010 will alter that situation.
The Act’s provision for an ‘equality duty’ – which could threaten the religious liberty of Christians – will not come into force until April 2011. It will force public bodies – like schools and the police – to promote homosexual and transsexual issues.