Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

My Lords, I rise to support these regulations. I have to confess that I am somewhat puzzled by the arguments that have been advanced by the noble Lord and by many of the campaigners outside this House. It seems to me in my simplistic way that what they are arguing for is quite simply the right to discriminate and the right to harass. And those arguments are being made in name of Christianity? I find that very difficult to understand. Much of the material that has been put before us in relation to these regulations speaks of a balance of rights. Yes, of course, the whole business of politics and government and the discussions in this House are about balancing rights. I believe very strongly that people have a right to believe that homosexuality is in some way wrong. I believe very strongly that people have a right to hold views that may be bigoted and discriminatory. What I do not believe is that they have the right to put those beliefs into action in a way that affects adversely the life and livelihood of other human beings. These regulations very simply seek to prevent that. This is not just about freedom of conscience. It is about freedom of action and where the limits to that freedom of action have to rest in order to ensure that other people in our society can be properly protected. These regulations are very simply putting non-discrimination into practice. If in much of the material that has been written about these matters we had simply substituted the word ““black”” for the word ““homosexual””, I wonder whether we would be giving house room to some of these arguments. I speak as someone who happens to be a gay man. I also happen to be a Christian. My Christianity is about being inclusive, not about being exclusive. It is about being accepting of others. It is about celebrating the differences between all the wonderful people that God created in this crazy world of ours. There is an old story about a black man in the deep south of the United States who climbs up the steps of a church in order to go in and worship. He climbs up the steps on a very hot, sunny, summer afternoon. He gets to the door of the church and the burly man at the doors says, ““I’m sorry. You can’t come in here. It’s not for the likes of you””. Very sorrowfully, the black man turns round and walks back down the steps. Halfway down, God speaks to him and says, ““Why are you so sad?””. He says, ““Well, Lord, I wanted to go into the church to worship you, and they won’t let me in””. ““It’s all right””, says God, ““I’ve been trying to get in there for years, and they won’t let me in either””. It seems to me that perhaps some of those who are arguing against these regulations should reflect just a little on that story and on the lessons from it.