Equality Bill [HL]

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord   Lester of Herne Hill, on the courteous and gently probing way in which the noble Baroness, Lady   Greengross, spoke to her amendments to find out what the Government think. It was done most graciously. I hope that the noble Baroness will be careful before going too far down the track of agreement, for the very reasons that my noble friend Lady O’Cathain has given. On the face of it, anything that is discriminatory appears wrong, but here we are dealing with cases of   religious conviction, what people think, what Churches think and what is the cause of their doctrine. There are occasions when people have been deeply wounded and hurt by having things forced upon them by Acts of Parliament. We must be careful. I give the simple example of people who have changed sex and then wish to use ladies’ lavatories and go to women’s-only meetings. There may be excellent reasons why the individuals concerned should do that but one must also take into account the feelings of others who might find it harder to accept it and would be greatly offended if the law now forced something of that nature upon them. I do not wish to go into what is right or wrong, but I hope that the noble Baroness will bear that in mind before she goes too far down the road of compliance.