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Faith rally over gay rights bill Faith rally over gay rights bill
(about 2 hours later)
Religious groups are to stage a protest calling for a halt to laws banning discrimination against gay people in the provision of goods and services.Religious groups are to stage a protest calling for a halt to laws banning discrimination against gay people in the provision of goods and services.
Organisers say the Sexual Orientation Regulations would limit their right to live according to religious beliefs. Christians, Jews and Muslims will take part in the rally at Parliament.
The Parliament rally will come as Lords debate whether to annul the regulations - already in force in Northern Ireland - in England and Wales. The Sexual Orientation Regulations, they say, limits their right to live according to beliefs. Gay rights groups called it "scaremongering".
But gay rights group OutRage! accused religious leaders of "scaremongering". The rally will happen as Lords debate a call to scrap the law, which is already in force in Northern Ireland.
The torch-lit rally, due to be attended by Christians, Jews and Muslims, is to be held in Old Palace Yard, opposite the St Stephen's entrance to the House of Lords, from 1730 GMT to 2000 GMT. The current government plan is for the regulations to also come into force in England and Wales.
It is due to start when the Lords debate the motion. It is a fundamental matter of freedom of conscience Thomas CordreyLawyers' Christian Fellowship
Senior lawyers have expressed the view that unless these regulations are amended, they will outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, only to replace it with discrimination on the grounds of religion Rally organiser Ade Omooba The ban on discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexuality would mean hotels could be prosecuted for refusing to provide rooms for gay couples.
Organisers believe several thousand people could take part. Religious groups would be obliged to rent out halls for gay wedding receptions. Equally, gay bars would not be able to ban straight couples.
The legislation being debated would ban discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexuality. Barrister Thomas Cordrey, of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship, said the regulations did not "strike the correct balance" between two competing rights.
Hotels could be prosecuted for refusing to provide rooms for gay couples and parishes obliged to rent out halls for gay wedding receptions. He said: "Christians have no desire to discriminate unjustly on the grounds of sexual orientation, but they cannot and must not be forced to actively condone and promote sexual practices which the Bible teaches are wrong.
Equally, gay bars would not be able to ban straight couples. We're not curtailing religious freedom, people can argue against the practice of homosexuality if they must Labour MP Angela Eagle
Thomas Cordrey, barrister and public policy analyst with the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship, said: "The debate in the Lords is a signal to the government of the need to acknowledge these regulations do not currently strike the correct balance between two competing rights.
"Christians have no desire to discriminate unjustly on the grounds of sexual orientation, but they cannot and must not be forced to actively condone and promote sexual practices which the Bible teaches are wrong.
All it does is extend to lesbian and gay people the same protection against discrimination as is already existing to protect women, black people and Christians, Jews, Muslims and other people of faith Peter Tatchell, OutRage!
"It is a fundamental matter of freedom of conscience.""It is a fundamental matter of freedom of conscience."
Rally organiser Ade Omooba said: "Senior lawyers have expressed the view that unless these regulations are amended, they will outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, only to replace it with discrimination on the grounds of religion." And rally organiser Ade Omooba said unless changes are made the law could replace discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation with discrimination on religious grounds.
Under the new regulations, protesters say the right to religious belief could be discriminated against in the following examples: Critics say the regulations could mean a Christian, Jewish or Muslim printer being legally forced to print a flyer for a gay night club or a teacher breaking the law if he or she promotes heterosexual marriage over homosexual civil partnership.
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  • A Christian, Jewish or Muslim printer could be legally forced to print a flyer for a gay night club or gay pride march and would be denied the right to refuse carry out the work as a matter of religious conscience.
 But Peter Tatchell, spokesman for gay rights group OutRage!, told BBC News: "People are still free to hold their beliefs, to live their lives according to their own morality and... their own religious beliefs. The law proposed does not change that one iota.
  • A Christian, Jewish or Muslim teacher could be breaking the law if they seek to promote heterosexual marriage instead of homosexual civil partnership - even if homosexuality is at odds with the teacher's faith
  • A Christian, Jewish or Muslim IT consultant could be forced to build a website promoting gay rights.
    • Peter Tatchell, spokesman for gay rights group OutRage!, told BBC News: "These regulations do not legalise, or illegalise, people's beliefs.
    "They do not impinge on what people believe, on opinions they express, on attitudes or values.
    "People are still free to hold their beliefs, to live their lives according to their own morality and... their own religious beliefs. The law proposed does not change that one iota.
    "All it does is extend to lesbian and gay people the same protection against discrimination as is already existing to protect women, black people and Christians, Jews, Muslims and other people of faith.""All it does is extend to lesbian and gay people the same protection against discrimination as is already existing to protect women, black people and Christians, Jews, Muslims and other people of faith."
    Equality Act campaigner Angela Eagle MP told the Today programme: "We're not curtailing religious freedom, people can argue against the practice of homosexuality if they must.
    "What this law does is say it's wrong to put a sign outside a pub or a hotel saying 'no gays'. Actually it's also wrong and it's been illegal since the 1970s to put a sign outside a pub or a hotel saying 'no blacks', or in fact 'no Catholics' or 'no Protestants. That is right, proper and moderate."