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2004 to Equality Act 2010

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  • EQUALITY ACT 2010



    Parliament of the United Kingdom
    Statute book chapter: 2010 c 15
    Territorial extent: England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
    Dates
    Date of Royal Assent: 8 April 2010
    Status: Current legislation


    Main article: UK employment discrimination law

    The Labour Party included a commitment to an Equality Bill in its 2005 election manifesto. The Discrimination Law Review was established in 2005 to develop the legislation and was led by the Government Equalities Office. The review considered the findings of the Equalities Review Panel, chaired by Trevor Phillips, which reported in February 2007.[2] The Bill is intended to simplify the law by bringing together existing anti-discrimination legislation. The Equality Act 2010, when in force, will therefore replace the Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003[3] and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

    The Act extends until 2030 the exemption from sex discrimination law allowing political parties to select all women or all men candidate short-lists. The existing exemption until 2015 was created by the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002.

    The Parliamentary process was completed following a debate, shortly after 11pm on April 6 2010, where amendments by the House of Lords were accepted in full.[4]



    Bishop opposition

    Although the Act was never going to change the law from its existing position, or binding European Union law which covers many more Catholics than in the UK, and this position was spelled out in the High Court in R (Amicus) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry[15] a small number of Roman Catholic Bishops of England and Wales made claims that they could be prosecuted under the Equality Act 2010 for refusing to allow married men, women, transsexual people and practising gay people into the priesthood.[16][17][18] The legislation has also attracted criticism from local Anglican clergy.[19] This claim has been rejected by the government. A spokesperson has said an exemption "covers ministers of religion such as Catholic priests"[20] and a "Myth Busting" document released by the Government Equalities Office states that "the Equality Bill will not change the existing legal position regarding churches and employment".


    *From my personal view point and the way I read the exclusion to the churches being required to comply with the GRA 2004/05/08 ammendments its still down to invidual clergy wether you can be married, buried take communion whatever, obviously the clergy will adopt a jobsworth attitude as to the local bishops views. as opposed to a Godsworth view.

    Erm choir boys as well? God forbid any transgendered person discovered digging graves.

    for the full review click the link


    http://en.wikipedia.org/w[...]ct_2010

    * Cristine J Shye
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      May 14, 2010 3:49 PM BST
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  • Cris, the same thing happens here with the religious bigots whenever any legislation is proposed. Every piece has specific wording that exempts the churches yet the churches will lie about what is in the legislation in order to build opposition towards it. It doesn't matter how much you point it out, they just keep on preaching the same b.s. Look how widespread the sexual abuse was with the priests, yet the Vatican continues to make it out as a small problem that they have under control. Yeah, right!
    Hugs,
    Marsha
      May 14, 2010 9:22 PM BST
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  • Marsha hugs

    It is worded and drafted maintaining the churches rights to be bigotted and exempt from just about every decency act going, yes think the clergy have an 11th commandment don't get caught and the 12th is if you do,. go on a sabatacle to another parish or be put in charge of an orphanage.


    Cristine
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      May 14, 2010 9:30 PM BST
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  • Hi Marsha,

    Incredible as it may seem, I totally agree with every word in your post. (Maybe you want to rethink your position...lol)

    Best,
    Melody
    <p><span style="color: #800080;">Girls will be boys and boys will be girls It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola</span> - Ray Davies, The Kinks</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">(S)he's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction</span> - Kris Kristofferson</p>
      May 14, 2010 9:32 PM BST
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  • Gender Recognition Act 2004


    Following extensive consultation and considerable objection from religious organisations, the Gender Recognition Act provided full legal recognition of a transperson’s new gender for ALL purposes, including marriage, new birth certificate, pension rights, social security benefits and privacy. In order to qualify for legal recognition, a trans person has to show that they have been diagnosed as having gender dysphoria, and that they have lived in their acquired gender role for 2 years, and that they intend to do so permanently, for the remainder of their life.
    Gender Recognition (Disclosure of Information) Order 2005
    Despite parliament refusing to grant exemption from the Gender Recognition Act to religious organisations, shortly after the act was passed, this statutory instrument was introduced quietly. It essentially exempted churches from all penalties, therefore enabling them to refuse a trans person any involvement in religious activities.

    Civil Partnership Act 2004

    This is an important piece of legislation for trans people because many trans women are already married to women, and would like to remain married. However, in order to be recognised in their acquired gender, all trans people must first divorce their partner, and then enter into a civil partnership once their gender is legally recognised. It is possible to do all this in one day, but it does create some legal issues. There are at least 150 trans women who face this difficulty, most of whom do not wish to get divorced. Most trans men, if in a relationship when they transition, tend to be in relationships with women – but if the couple have entered into a civil partnership, it will have to be dissolved before a Gender Recognition Certificate can be granted. The UK government is totally opposed to same sex marriage and civil partnerships are not permitted for opposite sex partners.

    Equality Act 2006

    The Equality Act 2006 is important in four particular ways.
    Firstly, it set up the creation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Prior to this Act there were three separate commissions dealing with Race, Disability and Gender. The commission dealing with Gender was the Equal Opportunities Commission. All three have now been merged to become the EHRC and four additional diversity strands or protected grounds have been added – Sexual Orientation, Age, Religion and Faith and Gender Reassignment (although this is often considered part of the Gender strand)
    Secondly, the Equalities Act introduced the Gender Equality Duty – which followed the format of the Race Equality and Disability Equality duties in requiring public sector organisations to take positive action to prevent discrimination.
    Thirdly, it set out the framework for new legislation to prevent discrimination against lesbian and gay people in the delivery of goods and services.
    Finally, the EHRC is also responsible for drafting the new Single Equalities Bill due to be presented to parliament later this year which will include a new Single equality Duty. This duty will extend the duties to the other strands – and remove anomalies that have developed in the treatment of discrimination in the different strands -- moving us towards a unified approach to discrimination, no matter what the cause. This will make it easier to deal with discrimination issues where there are multiple issues. E.g., if a 60 year old black disabled trans women is discriminated against, under current legislation, different rules would apply depending on the nature of the discrimination.

    Gender Equality Duty – April 2007

    The Gender Equality Duty is crucially important for Trans people because it totally changes the way discrimination is treated within the Public sector. The Gender Equality Duty requires Public sector organisations to take promote equal opportunities and take action to prevent discrimination and harassment on the ground of gender, including gender reassignment. The Duty came into force in April 2007, but many public sector organisations are still not effectively enforcing it. Each public sector organisation is required to undertake consultation to establish the primary issues in their area of responsibility and also to prepare and publish a Gender Equality Scheme detailing how they intend to prevent discrimination and harassment, and promote equality of opportunity
    .
    The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007

    This made it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian people in the delivery of goods and services. For example, prior to this, a guest house or hotel could refuse to provide a room to two man because they were gay. The legislation met with considerable resistance during its passage though parliament and, notably, trans people were not included in the Equalities Act, and so were not protected by this legislation. That said, a lot of trans people are often considered gay or lesbian at some stage in their lives, whether before or after transition.

    European Directive 2004/113/EC December 2007 – (December 21st 2007)

    One reason for trans people being excluded from the goods and services legislation related to sexual orientation was the prior existence of this European Directive, which required the UK government to extend the Sex Discrimination Act to include gender reassignment.

    Sex Discrimination (Amendment of Legislation) Regulations 2008

    This amendment provides protection for trans people, making it illegal to discriminate against us in the delivery of goods and services. The amendment was supposed to have been put in place by December 21st 2007 – but due to an objection by Ian Paisley, it was not passed until April 2008. Once again, the church was provided with comprehensive exemptions on the grounds of religious belief. this ammendment now supercedes ED2004/113/EC

    The 2010 act is the last comprehensive guide to rights, but with no real changes for Trans people.

    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      May 24, 2010 10:25 AM BST
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  • The Equality Act 2010
     
    The Equality Act 2010 provides a new cross-cutting legislative framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all; to update, simplify and strengthen the previous legislation; and to deliver a simple, modern and accessible framework of discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society
     
    The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) replaces the previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act. It simplifies the law, removing inconsistencies and making it easier for people to understand and comply with it. It also strengthens the law in important ways, to help tackle discrimination and inequality. The majority of the Act came into force on 1 October 2010.
     
    What has changed?
     
    The new Equality Duty replaces the three previous public sector equality duties –
    for race, disability and gender. The new Equality Duty covers the following
    protected characteristics:
     
    Age
    Disability
    Gender reasignment (ammended to specifically include)
    pregnancy and maternity
    race – this includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality
    religion or belief – this includes lack of belief
    Sex
    sexual orientation
     
    It also applies to marriage and civil partnership, but only in respect of the requirement to have due regard to the
    need to eliminate discrimination.

    The new Equality Duty is designed to reduce bureaucracy while ensuring public bodies play their part in making society fairer by tackling discrimination and providing equality of opportunity for all.
     

     

    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
    This post was edited by Cristine Jennifer Shye. BL at April 19, 2013 8:13 PM BST
      April 19, 2013 8:08 PM BST
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  • Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      April 19, 2013 8:23 PM BST
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