Equality Act: a battle won, but no triumph

Good News! Tony Blair has reiterated the UK Government’s commitment to outlawing all forms of discrimination in British society, and therefore there can be no exemptions from the Sexual Orientation Regulations. This is another hurdle crossed until the Regulations come into force in April. Still to come: the debate and vote in Parliament, probably this month, and challenges to them in court in March.

So far, so good. Ben Summerskill, Stonewall's chief executive, said, 'This is a triumph for 21st century tolerance over 19th century prejudice.'

However, I would say that it is too soon to talk of triumphs and victories, only battles won. The proposed transition period (till the end of 2008) for RC adoption agencies to comply with the Equality Act is unnecessarily long. Education Secretary Alan Johnson's opinion is that six months is long enough. Twenty months could be long enough, though, for the Catholic agencies to come up with devices allowing them to avoid placing children with same-sex couples.

In other words, they may yet succeed in staying in business, and individual Catholics working in adoption agencies may yet be allowed to discriminate without breaking the law. Whose victory would that be, then?

Further reading:
my previous post, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and the right to discriminate
Guardian
Times
Stonewall