Results 1-20 of 90 for gay speaker:Evan Harris

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Evan Harris: ...or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred." Does that mean that if some extremist group, probably political rather than religious, says, "These gays should keep their dirty practices away from our children or they will get what is coming to them," that would be covered by the clause? They might think, rightly or wrongly, that because they...

Bill Presented: Clause 61 — Hatred against persons on grounds of sexual orientation (9 Nov 2009) has video

Evan Harris: What if I say to the hon. and learned Gentleman that the wording was, "These gays had better keep their dirty practices away from our children"? There is a threat in that wording, but is the hon. and learned Gentleman saying that that of itself should not be taken to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred? This is the difficulty, and I note that the hon. and learned Gentleman is not...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 23 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: ...hope that they will put their opinion on the record, which the Solicitor-General attempted to do in the oral evidence part of our proceedings— “A church refuses to let out its hall for a Gay Pride celebration as it considers that it would conflict with the strongly held  religious convictions of a significant number of its followers. This would not be unlawful sexual...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 23 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: ...right, there would be a disincentive for the church to delegate the renting operation. We should come to first principles. Is it right that a hall can be let to all sorts of organisations, except gay organisations? That is wrong. Therefore this provision ought to be tightened up to make that clear, because we are considering the ends; it should not be about organisational matters.

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 23 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: The same argument was used in respect of gay adoption, when people said, “If we’re not allowed to discriminate, we won’t play and we’ll take our ball home.” Those terms were used in the debate about Catholic adoption—not by me, but by Labour and some Conservative hon. Members when describing that attitude. It is blackmail, essentially—I do not mean that in a...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 23 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: ...organisations do a good job and that their main aim is to look after the welfare of children. The case was made and voted for in this House—many Conservative Members voted for it—that gay parents are decent parents and can be good parents, and there is no basis for discrimination against them by people placing children, which is a public function.

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 23 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: ...be a problem. The problem is that if one says that organisations should be allowed to discriminate on the ground of sexual orientation because of their doctrine, one gets into difficult territory. Gay people might feel that they should not be discriminated against simply on the basis of doctrine, because historically, some Churches—fortunately none of them exist in this...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 22 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: ...the ethos equals all the tenets of the faith, including ones that I know are held sincerely and are not designed to create a humiliating or degrading atmosphere. But if someone’s parents are gay, and they are told in the ethos of the school that that is sinful, objectively wrong, and that they will be punished in the after-life, that raises an issue—the hon. Gentleman must accept...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 22 (2 Jul 2009)

Evan Harris: Gay people can be Catholic. There may only be one primary school in their village—there are all sorts of reasons why the example might occur. Teachers may want to teach in a school where they live; should they have to go elsewhere? To that extent, I  believe that the intervention by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean was in order, as I think there is a real problem—it has an...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 143 (30 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...I have called balkanisation—ought to be met. The assertion that Opposition Members—whether me or the hon. Member for Glasgow, East—think that there is widespread conflict between gay people and religious people is misplaced and creates a straw man. However, it is true that the nexus between religion and sexual orientation is being tested in case law. Another issue is the...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 143 (30 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: Let us say that there was a registrar with British National party sympathies. Let us suppose that, because of their strongly held beliefs, they did not want to register gay couples. Would it be right for the council  to say, “All right, we’ll schedule you something else,” or would the council be right to say, “No. Whatever your views, you have to do your job”?

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 143 (30 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...to discriminate in line with their religions beliefs on the basis that they have that need. I do not doubt that many religious people genuinely feel that they have a need not to be forced to register gay partnerships. The Minister has been clear—perhaps not as clear as she could be if the measure was set out in statute—that it is unacceptable for an employee of a public authority...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 143 (30 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...that a local authority, for example, should have a positive duty to have regard for the need, inter alia, to “eliminate hatred and hostility towards members of different groups”. We know that gay people in schools might well be victims of that sort of hatred and hostility. Would it not be better for gay people in schools to be covered under clause 143(1), which states: “A...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 99 (25 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...having more women MPs. My party does not believe that MPs’ gender determines policy, which should be determined by what the party calls for democratically. For example, we have not had any out gay MPs since I was elected, but we have been consistently ahead of the game.

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 99 (25 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: The hon. Lady says “Shame”, but the shame is parties not introducing equality policies regardless of people’s sexual orientation. Individuals do not have to be gay to want gay equality or to be black to want to  fight racism. That connection should not be made as directly as the Solicitor-General makes it. It should not require women MPs for us to have pro-women policies....

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 84 (23 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...;. In other words, it must “ensure issues are taught in a way which does not subject pupils to discrimination.” However, I am worried that that is trumped by clause 84(2). For example, a gay pupil might feel that they were being taught that they were of less moral worth because of an inherent characteristic, but they might not be able to invoke any of the protections in the Bill...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 9 (23 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...”. I hope that I have clarified that, and I am not seeking to make the point that it was not a genuine requirement, and therefore central. I am saying that it is possible to be Christian and gay. To discriminate against someone—we have heard this before—on the basis of their sexual orientation by saying that they are somehow outwith the doctrines of the religion and...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 9 (23 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ...young people, which automatically involves teaching, would be caught. I hope that that is not the intention of the schedule. It must not be its intention, because otherwise we would just have a no gay teachers situation, which, with the connotations, is unacceptable. I accept that the hon. Gentleman does not need to make them, but they are sometimes made in that respect. I urge all of us...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Schedule 3 (18 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: The argument put by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean is one that was used a lot by the armed forces when resisting the end of the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers serving in the forces. They said it was a matter for commanders or that it was about combat effectiveness, but they never provided evidence of that. The argument was used that this should not be dealt with in the courts—that...

Public Bill Committee: Equality Bill: Clause 24 (18 Jun 2009)

Evan Harris: ..., which, in respect of homophobic staff, report that more than two in five secondary school teachers and three in 10 primary school teachers have heard homophobic language or negative remarks about gay people from other school staff. Also, half of gay pupils have heard homophobic remarks from teachers and/or other school staff and 30 per cent. report that adults have been responsible, for...