Stout (2010) observes that the journey to equal treatment for the gay community is quite different from other groups as although discrimination has been longstanding in terms of race and gender, it has never actually been illegal to be black or a woman. In considering sexual orientation in terms of the legislative framework, Chakraborti and Garland (2009) point out that unlike many other aspects of discrimination, the gay community’s private and sexual lives have been subjected to police scrutiny as well as legislative and parliamentary intervention. Whilst there remain some outstanding issues regarding equality, for example, couples of the same sex are not entitled to inherit their partner’s pension it is not an insignificant step in the process for both the community and individuals. Thus an opportune time to consider the road to equality as experienced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community (LGBT). In March 2014 it became lawful for same-sex couples to enter into a partnership of marriage (this does not apply in Northern Ireland). Have the latest developments in legislation brought genuine equality and choice within a traditionally patriarchal society or will the LGBT community become just another consumer group with the ‘pink pound’, now to be sold ‘gay weddings’? At the same time the changing of attitudes, relationships of power and inequality take more to shift than legislation alone can achieve.įinally, I will consider if the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 is a step in the right direction on the road to LGBT equality. It can signal the move from state homophobia to state recognition.
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I will consider why lesbians have been almost invisible before the law and how their behaviour was policed.Ī theme of the work is that legislation not only defines legality but it also seems to be important in terms of setting out a state’s attitude to equality and particular groups. Lesbians have not been subject to the law in the same way as gay men although it is clear that the impact of legislation against men has had consequences for women in terms of for example, inheritance, marriage and indeed the way they lived their lives. The major focus is the exploration of key legislation that has been in place and the impact this has had on the LGBT community, particularly gay men a history that is sometimes forgotten. In this piece I want to consider the legislative journey toward equality which in March 2014 saw the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 giving lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT) almost parity with heterosexuals before the law.