Homosexuality in Britain: Legal but Accepted?

LONDON, June 2, 2009 — -- Britain is among the countries that are most tolerant of gays and lesbians and the U.K. scores highly on legal protection as attitudes shift on homosexuality and legislation varies widely across the globe.

But Lucy Horn, a student at St. Andrews University in Scotand, said she and her girlfriend know better than to lower their radar, even in an area she described as tolerant.

"Whenever we and another party are interested in a property, it's always the others who get it, despite both me and my girlfriend having really good references," she said. "This has happened about four times now. It might just be chance, but I read more into it than that."

And no matter how many anti-discrimination laws the country adopts, she said, some people, "whatever their reasons, seem to be increasingly scathing of gays being awarded equal or similar rights to heterosexual couples."

Still, when in comes to legal protections, gay Londoner Fabio Palmero, who works in advertising, said, "I'm grateful for the laws. They create a moral code. Even if you don't act on it, the fact that you have rights protects you and gives a message to other people."

It is a criminal offense in Britain to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation, or what may be perceived as their sexual orientation. The law covers workplace issues such as recruitment, terms and conditions, pay and benefits, training, promotion and transfers, as well as redundancy and dismissal.

The law also protects against harassment and victimization, which applies to intentional or unintentional bullying, and general disrespect, such as homophobic jokes. Such harassment is unacceptable in any work-related environment, including an office party or a work excursion, as well as in the office itself.

Legal protection against homophobia covers associations, too, which means a person can file a lawsuit against someone who makes a homophobic comment behind the back of a friend or colleague. It is also illegal to treat a person less favorably after he or she complains or is involved in a complaint.

The only exception to sexual-orientation discrimination is if the employer can show that a job has to be done by someone of a particular orientation. An organization promoting gay rights, for example, might require its company ambassador to be gay. One is not, however, legally required to disclose his or her sexual orientation to a British employer, either for monitoring purposes or for an equal opportunities questionnaire.

The British army once played a role in sexual-orientation discrimination. It was not until the European Court of Human Rights raised awareness in the year 2000 to what it called a "grave interference" into the private lives of individuals that the ban on gays and lesbians in the armed forces was lifted.

It took eight more years for the army to actively recruit gays and lesbians. In October 2008, Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt spoke at the army-sponsored Fourth Joint Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual Matters to publicly welcome them to serve in the army.

Such recognition was a long way from the time when the special investigation branch of the Royal Military Police tracked down gay and lesbian service personnel to either discipline them, or to discharge them for breach of military law.

The United States still abides by former President Clinton's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from speaking about their sexual orientation while serving in the United States armed forces.

Same Sex Marriage vs. Civil Partnerships

The real controversy in the U.K. boils down to marriage. Since December 2005, same-sex couples have been given the right to register a civil partnership.

The Civil Partnership Act includes "dissolution" in the place of divorce, and preregistration agreements instead of prenuptials. There are multiple financial advantages to entering into a civil partnership, especially when it comes taxes.

Same-sex couples who do not have a civil union certificate can suffer severe hardship because the tax code fails to recognize their relationships. For example, if one partner dies, leaving everything to his or her partner, the survivor may have to sell the couple's home in order to pay the inheritance tax bill. With the civil partnership law, however, couples avoid inheritance taxes and enjoy the same benefits as married couples.

In legal terms, a civil partnership is the same as marriage: It is the same package but with a different label.

The question is whether the name matters. Some people believe that denial of the matrimonial terminology undermines the union. After all, "marriage" is the traditional term, a title accepted by society. Some argue that people who're opposed to same-sex marriages, whether driven by religion, traditional values or prejudice, are placated by the law because it distances heterosexual and homosexual unions through terminology.

Six countries worldwide (Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Spain) and two U.S. states (Connecticut and Massachusetts) call same-sex marriage "marriage," while Britain opted to legalize "civil unions."

But Londoner Palmero said he bears no grudge. "I don't think this a need cross religious boundaries. In my eyes, marriage is a religious union," Palmero told ABC News. "Gay people shouldn't use the Christian terminology, but the state needs an equivalent, so we have civil unions. It is the same. I think people who fight the name are just stirring; we have the benefits."

Protected by the Law ... but What About Social Acceptance?

It is clear that the law protects gay and lesbian rights. But whether legislation brings acceptance is another matter. "It depends on the situation," Palmero said. "I have been raised in an educated, liberal environment in London, so, in my situation, yes, but I'm sure that large swathes of the country are not accepting."

Palmero said it is a different story for lesbians. "The fact that there are multiple gay icons in the media really helps people to identify and accept gay men, but lesbians don't have that," he said.

Student Horn cited a case that's consistent with Palmero's view. "Two female friends of mine were walking down the street at night in a town in Scotland, holding hands, and a group of young teenage boys started shouting at them, calling them 'dykes' and whatnot, and throwing stones at them."

But Horn stressed that the legal protections provide some sense of security. "I worked with two guys last summer, and I knew they were just itching to call me a dyke or something, but if they had, I would have had the police onto them so d--- fast."

There's evidence that Britian is serious about gay rights. An anti-gay U.S. cleric was recently banned from the country; and almost $90,000 was granted in compensation to a gay airport guard after a female colleague "wobbled" her breasts at him.

The Kansas pastor, Fred Phelps, who runs a Web site called God Hates Fags, was planning to bring his daughter to Britain to view the play "The Laramie Project," which depicts the murder of gay U.S. teenager Matthew Shepard. But he was was banned from entering the country for engaging in unacceptable behavior by inciting hatred against a number of communities. In retaliation to the ban, he turned to his other Web site, God Hates the World, where he wrote: "God hates England. Your Queen is a whore. You're going to hell."

In the case of the airport guard, Allwyn Rondeau, an employment tribunal granted the $90,000 payout on the grounds that the traumatized Rondeau suffered discrimination because of his sexual orientation.

A Comparison between the U.K. and the U.S.

According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 71 percent of Britons say that homosexuality should be accepted by society, while 20 percent it should not be. The U.S. statistics are 49 percent and 41 percent, respectively.

"The fact that the law acknowledges equal rights and legal protection for homosexuals makes the U.K. streets ahead of the U.S., where many states have introduced special laws to ban gay marriage completely and maintain discriminating laws to perpetuate institutional bigotry," a British architect living in New York told ABC News.

There are, however, groups like the Human Rights Campaign, which is fighting the proposal to divorce all same-sex couples who legally married in California between April and November last year.

"How accepting the general population is of gay marriage in either country is probably the same," the gay architect said, "but at least in the U.K. homosexuals are sanctioned and protected under the law."