..KNOW YOUR
Equality
Solicitor Daniel
Williamson talks
to PWM about the
legal rights of
same-sex
couples
W
e have come a long
way since it was
acceptable to display
signs outside a
premises stating ‘no Irish, no blacks,
no dogs’, and I have direct experience
from the bad old days where clients of
mine had been refused legal advice
from solicitors because they were gay.
The Equality Act 2010 makes it
illegal to discriminate against a person
based on a number of characteristics,
including race, sexual orientation and
gender reassignment. Nevertheless,
certain businesses – including some
religious owners of hotels, bed and
breakfast accommodation and bakeries
– would seemingly like very much to be
able to exclude same-sex couples from
availing themselves of at least some of
their services, whether this is a double
bed or a wedding cake.
The honest approach for such
businesses would be to display a sign
saying ‘heterosexuals only’– but they
are not allowed to.
Among other things, the Equality
Act 2006 set up the Equality and
Human Rights Commission to give
advice and guidance about one’s
rights and responsibilities under
discrimination law. The Equality Act
2010 consolidated existing equality
legislation, which had originated
during the last century to deal with
race and sex discrimination. It also
absorbed EU legislation, which had led
to the UK introducing a regulation
that prohibited businesses from
discriminating against customers
based in their sexual orientation.
In 2009, a case was brought by the
Equality and Human Rights
Commission against Mr and Mrs Bull,
the hoteliers who refused to allow a
same-sex couple, Steven Preddy
and Martyn Hall – who
were in a civil
partnership – from
8 » pink weddings magazine
