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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/03/032207ukrts.htm

UK Gay Equality Law Passes Final Hurdle
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: March 22, 2007 - 11:00 am ET

(London) As of next month it will be illegal to discriminate against gays and lesbians in England and Wales in accommodation, employment and adoption.

The House of Lords voted 168 - 122 to pass the bill, already approved in the House of Commons.

The measure covers employment and the rendering of services. It would mean companies cannot refuse jobs on the basis of sexuality, nor could they refuse services to gay and lesbian customers, and adoption agencies would not be able to refuse a child to a same-sex couple.

As Catholics and evangelicals held a prayer vigil outside the Parliament buildings, Conservative party peers staged a last ditch effort to derail the measure.

What was to have been a 90-minute evening debate dragged on for three hours with Tory Baroness O'Cathain leading the attack, accusing the government of rushing "headlong into a clash between gay rights and religious freedom".

The Catholic Church had threatened to close its adoption services if the legislation passed. . (story)

When the bill first came before Parliament Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, demanded the government exempt the church and its organizations from the bill.

"We believe it would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics for the government to insist that if they wish to continue to work with local authorities, Catholic adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the church and their own consciences by being obliged in law to provide such a service," said Murphy-O'Connor in a letter to the Prime Minister in January.

Blair refused to back down but but offered a "grace period" to the Church if it carried out its threat so that it could transfer children in its care to other facilities.

Passage of the bill was welcomed by LGBT rights groups and the Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly, who will be responsible for overseeing the law.

Kelly, a devoute Catholic, called new law a "major step forward".

"These measures will help tackle the practical barriers and real, everyday problems faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people. It cannot be right in a decent, tolerant society that a shopkeeper or restaurant can refuse to serve a customer because they are gay," she said.

The law is already in effect in Northern Ireland.