The Human Rights Campaign complete Out In Scripture collection is available on their website, www.hrc.org/Scripture.

For the past three years, week-by-week, the HRC Religion & Faith programme has provided conversations on Bible passages from more than 100 scholars and pastors representing 11 denominations.

“Over the years my spiritual life and preaching has been transformed by Out In Scripture,” said Harry Knox, Director of HRC’s Religion and Faith Programme.

“This is one of our signature projects.

“As editor Sidney Fowler said, ‘The Bible is not about beating you up, but lifting us all up. It includes the seeds of liberation and justice.’

“Be prepared to be transformed as well.”

The collection includes 175 conversations that span Bible readings organised according to the Revised Common Lectionary, which is used by many Christian denominations to guide worship and preaching.

“This unique collection showcases the extraordinary momentum we’re seeing by people of faith committed to LGBT equality,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

“Through this resource we are helping to assure that no one will again have to choose between who they are and what they believe.”

“The nation has lost its greatest champion and strongest voice for justice, fairness, and compassion,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

“The loss to our community is immeasurable.

“There was no greater hero for advocates of LGBT equality than Senator Ted Kennedy.

“From the early days of the AIDS epidemic, to our current struggle for marriage equality he has been our protector, our leader, our friend.

“He has been the core of the unfinished quest for civil rights in this country and there is now a very painful void.

“Our hearts go out to the Kennedy family.”

Senator Kennedy was the last of one of the most famous sets of brothers in US history.

Two were assassinated: President John F Kennedy in 1963 and former Attorney-General and Presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy in 1968. His oldest brother Joe was killed in action in World War Two.

Edward Kennedy had represented Massachusetts in the US Senate since 1962 and was a strong supporter of gay rights, most recently he had been calling for an end to the ban on gays in the military.

He also introduced legislation to expand federal hate crime laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability.

Senator Kennedy, who ran for President in 1980, is also remembered for his unrelenting fight for funding into AIDS research, at a time when conservatives were painting it as a “gay plague.”

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group that works to increase the number of LGBT people in elected office, mourned his death.

“Good men serve others but great men take care to serve the least fortunate,” Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe said.

“Senator Kennedy was a great man.

“He made a career of fighting for the poor, for women, for racial minorities, and for basic human rights for LGBT Americans.

“Senator Kennedy’s life was marked by generosity and a legendary tenacity that earned him the respect of his colleagues and the affection of the public he served.

“But he will always occupy a special place in the hearts of LGBT Americans, who saw in him a fierce champion for their full equality.”

It was painted as a new dawn for gay rights in Britain, a sign that the Conservatives had emerged as the party of equal rights and equal treatment.

“Just think if ten years ago a Conservative candidate had suggested holding a fundraiser as part of Gay Pride week,” Mr Cameron said.

“I’m not sure they’d have got many Conservatives to attend… and I’m not sure there would have been many gay people there either.

“But here we are this evening, standing side by side.

“It is a sign of how our society is changing. It’s a sign of how much the Conservative Party has changed.”
One Tory politician was not standing by his side.

MEP Roger Helmer does not share his leader’s approval of the legislative protections granted to gay people by the Labour government.

Mr Helmer wrote a blogpost on July 19th defending the leader of the new group in the European Parliament, a Polish MEP called Michal Kaminski.

Mr Kaminski is a member of the comically homophobic Law and Justice party, the Tories’ new partners in the European Conservatives and Reformists group.

We could spend some time amusing ourselves with the Poles’ gay bashing antics, but let us consider three short examples.

This year, Law and Justice party local councillor Michal Grzes criticised a zoo for acquiring an elephant that he thought might be gay. The zoo pointed out elephant in question had not reached sexual maturity and so it was too early to tell.

The country was widely mocked when it was revealed that Ewa Sowinska, a party member and government-appointed children rights watchdog, said she would ask psychologists to advise if the Teletubbies’ camp antics could affect children.

“I noticed [Tinky Winky] has a lady’s purse, but I didn’t realise he’s a boy,” she said.

“At first I thought the purse would be a burden for this Teletubby. Later I learned that this may have a homosexual undertone.”

On a state visit to Ireland in 2007 President Lech Kaczynski, a member of the Law and Justice party, said that the “promotion” of homosexuality would lead to the eventual destruction of the human race.

Let us be clear; these are the sort of people the Conservatives have chosen to ally themselves with in the European Parliament.

Claims that Law and Justice have changed and now support gay rights ring as hollow as protestations that David Cameron has transformed the Tories into a party whose members are all fully committed to equality.

Mr Helmer is proof that is not the case.

It took more than a fortnight for anyone to notice his deeply offensive blog post, in defence of his Polish colleagues.

In a delightful twist, he thinks himself a liberal.

“Now I regard myself as liberal and tolerant on the question of homosexuality,” he wrote.

Yes, the words “behind closed doors” are imminent.

“I have no interest in telling consenting adults what they may or may not do behind closed doors.

“I have a number of colleagues whom I believe to be homosexual, and that causes me no problems at all.

“Indeed there may be more people that I work with, who may be homosexual without my knowing it, since (as a friend once remarked) my ‘Gay-dar’ is poorly developed.

“I am content to treat people as people, regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation.

“But I am, nevertheless, opposed to the concept of homosexual ‘marriage’, on both semantic and social policy grounds.”

He goes on to assert that homophobia “is merely a propaganda device designed to denigrate and stigmatise those holding conventional opinions, which have been held by most people through most of recorded history.”

Mr Helmer, just for clarity, was recently re-elected as a Cameron Conservative.

He becomes more exercised in the comments section of his blog when asked to explain why he supports discrimination.

“You ask ‘Why homosexuals should be discriminated against compared to heterosexuals’, which suggests you have not read my piece, in which I answer exactly that question,” he wrote.

“Although I deny that it constitutes discrimination.

“It is just that same-sex couples have chosen to enter into a relationship in which marriage is not relevant, or appropriate, or indeed possible.

“You might as well ask why we discriminate against scuba divers by not giving them parachutes like we give to test pilots.

“It’s because parachutes are irrelevant to what scuba divers have chosen to do.”

Mr Helmer is under the impression gay and lesbian couples cannot have children and therefore they should be denied marriage.

“Marriage means the union of a man and a woman, usually with the implicit potential of procreation,” he wrote.

“I have no problem with a same-sex couple setting up home together, but it devalues language — and the real institution of marriage — to call such an arrangement “marriage”.

“Wherever the institution of marriage exists, it is a public contract between three parties — a man, a woman and society.

“Society recognises that marriage, and the nuclear family which may result, is fundamental to the stability and the future of the society itself.

“And society therefore recognises marriage, both in local and informal terms, and more formally and generally through the fiscal, legal and welfare systems.

“There is no comparable societal reason to recognise same-sex relationships.”

When the discussion moves on to anti-Semitism, Mr Helmer displays a touching sensibility for religion.

“I am just waiting for someone to accuse ME of anti-Semitism, and I shall be delighted to point out that in July I had a young student from UCL doing work experience in my office,” he wrote.

“She just happened to be a strict Orthodox Jewess.

“I had her scour the internet for a Kosher restaurant in Brussels (there seem only to be one or two), and I took her and my other staff to dinner there.”

Jewess is a word seldom seen these days.

For those of you too young to have ever heard it, FreeDictionary.com defines it as “a Jewish woman or girl” but cautions, “Like many other English nouns in which the suffix -ess is added to a gender-neutral word to indicate femaleness, the terms Jewess and Negress are now widely regarded as offensive.”

So will David Cameron back Mr Helmer?

Should the MEP be reprimanded for having a different view on gay marriage, or the place of gay people in society?

As he points out, he is merely defending “conventional opinions, which have been held by most people through most of recorded history.”

Isn’t that what Conservatives do?

The problem for Mr Cameron is that he appears to lack the will or the power to remove homophobes from his own party. For this reason his appeals to the gay community fall short.

Imagine a party leader attending events in the black community, and apologising for his party’s racist past, while a small number of his parliamentary colleagues continued to make public attacks on ethnic minorities.

That is the situation David Cameron is in.

However sincere his views on equality, he has done nothing to remove the noxious influence of a small group of MPs, MEPs, peers and councillors who steadfastly oppose gay rights.

Mr Helmer may think himself a liberal with a poorly-developed sense of “Gay-dar” and a nice turn of phrase, but his blindness to the most basic tenets of equality mark him out as the sort of Tory that Cameron should dump.

Tony Grew is editor of ispystrangers.org, a new website that reports on proceedings in parliament.

Yesterday the US Senate voted 68-31, with 9 Republicans voting in favour of her confirmation.

Lambda Legal brings cases on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and people with HIV who have faced discrimination.

Executive Director Kevin Cathcart said:

“Lambda Legal applauds the confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States, and congratulates her on an historic appointment.

“Justice Sotomayor has excellent credentials and a proven record of understanding the law and Constitution, all of which have been recognised and highlighted throughout her confirmation process.

“When she takes her seat in September, Justice Sotomayor will become the third woman, and first Latina, appointed to the Court.”

The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, had endorsed Judge Sotomayor for Associate Justice.

“We commend the Senate for swiftly confirming Judge Sotomayor,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

“Judge Sotomayor has proven that she is eminently qualified to sit on the United States Supreme Court.

“We are confident that she has demonstrated her understanding of the need for equality for all Americans.

“She is clearly committed to ensuring our Constitution lives up to its promise of equal justice for all.”

The confirmation is President Obama’s first appointment to the nine-member Supreme Court.

Speaking shortly after the confirmation, the President said he was grateful for the Senate’s confirmation, and gave special thanks the Senate Judiciary Committee for their hard work.

“The members of our Supreme Court are granted life tenure and are charged with the vital and difficult task of applying principles set forth at our founding to the questions and controversies of our time,” he said.

“Over the past 10 weeks, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate have assessed Judge Sotomayor’s fitness for this work.

“They’ve scrutinised her record as a prosecutor, as a litigator, and as a judge.

“They’ve gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of our government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand, and her determination to protect our core constitutional rights and freedoms.

“And with this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court.

“This is a role that the Senate has played for more than two centuries, helping to ensure that “equal justice under the law” is not merely a phrase inscribed above our courthouse door, but a description of what happens every single day inside the courtroom.

“It’s a promise that, whether you’re a mighty corporation or an ordinary American, you will receive a full and fair hearing.

“And in the end, the outcome of your case will be determined by nothing more or less than the strength of your argument and the dictates of the law.

“Like so many other aspects of this nation, I’m filled with pride in this achievement and great confidence that Judge Sotomayor will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice.

“This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it’s a wonderful day for America.”

Fundamentalist Christians picketed the event and were met with a counter-demo by Amnesty International.

A lecture hall at the gallery was packed to capacity for the ‘town hall meeting’ organised by Jake, a social network community for gay men.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of gay rights organisation Stonewall, chaired proceedings.

Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw and Foreign Office minister Chris Byrant spoke on behalf of Labour. They set out the government’s achievements on gay rights over the past 12 years.

Mr Bradshaw attacked the voting record of Tory leader David Cameron and the party’s formation of a new group in the European Parliament. He said the Conservatives would dump the campaign against homophobic bullying in schools if elected and claimed there is still a strong streak of homophobia in the party.

Mr Bryant said it was in the interests of everyone to vote Labour at the next election and he said the Equality Bill currently before Parliament is yet another example of his party’s committment to gay rights.

He said that under Labour the Foreign Office has taken the lead promoting gay rights abroad.

Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert and prospective parliamentary candidate Nick Boles spoke for the Tory party. Mr Herbert claimed the Conservatives have changed and “I am exhibit A.” He said he was chosen for the safe seat of Arundel and South Downs with his partner present, proof that the grassroots of the party have shifted attitudes.

Mr Herbert said party leader had taken a “courageous” stand and apologised for Section 28 and admitted the Tories had made mistakes in their attitudes to gay rights. He congratuled the Labour government’s record on the issue under Tony Blair.

Mr Boles said the Conservatives had “made it impossible for gay people to vote for them” in the past, and some may have lingering suspicions. He said it was wrong that this government is “piling on debt” that will have to be paid back by future generations.

Lib Dem frontbench spokesman Stephen Williams said that his party, in a “special act of bravery,” had called for equality for gay people as far back as the 1979 election.

He cited his party’s “ahead of the curve” policies on climate change, civil liberties and the economy as reasons for gay people to vote Lib Dem.

Mr Williams also praised Labour for “12 years fundamental change” in the rights of homosexuals and highlighted his own work on homophobic bullying in schools.

After the debate, guests were joined by Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for a viewing of the Gay Icons exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

Mr Bradshaw, the first Cabinet minister in a civil partnership, told PinkNews.co.uk that he had enjoyed the debate.

“Gay people must not be complacent about our rights, they are not irreversible.” He praised John Bercow, the new Speaker of the House of Commons, and claimed he was hated by Tory MPs because he was an early supporter of gay rights.

At the event Jake produced the results of a poll of 600 of its members. It found that 44.8 per cent think Labour is the most gay-friendly party, 44 per cent said Lib Dems and 5.7 per cent said Tories.

Tony Grew is editor of ispystrangers.org, a new website that reports on proceedings in Parliament.

Boris Johnson spoke to PinkNews.co.uk at a reception for Pride at City Hall yesterday evening.

He said he was sorry that he would not be able to repeat his well-received appearance at the country’s biggest gay event last year, explaining that it clashes with his son’s birthday.

Mr Johnson also said he was delighted at the news reported by PinkNews.co.uk yesterday that Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will be marching in the Pride parade, adding that her presence would help to keep Pride London as high-profile as possible.

He also recalled his own Pride debut last year, and said he was gratified by the warm reception he received when he led the parade.

In a speech to around 100 guests, the Mayor recalled the famous pink stetson he wore last year, and showcased his classical education with a lenghty oration on the ancient Greek poet Sappho.

Mr Johnson was introduced by comedian Stephen K Amos, who spoke movingly about the lack of gay, black role models during his adolescence and his pride in filling that role for so many young people today.

Deputy Mayors Richard Barnes, Sir Simon Milton and Kit Malthouse attended the reception, which was picketed by a small number of fundamentalist Christian protestors.

Gay rights activist and Green party parliamentary candidate Peter Tatchell was not invited; he spoke to reporters outside City Hall.

More than 100,000 people are expected to march in the Pride London parade on Saturday.

Last year an estimated 825,000 people watched the parade snake through the streets of the capital.

On Saturday morning Gordon and Sarah Brown will host a small reception at 10 Downing St for Pride organisers, gay rights campaigners and representatives of the pink press.

A Downing St spokesman told PinkNews.co.uk:

“Because of security considerations, the Prime Minister will not be able to march himself, but Sarah wanted to show her continued solidarity for the gay community by taking part.

“The Prime Minister will be showing his support at the reception on the morning of Pride.”

It is thought to be the first time a Prime Minister’s spouse has taken part in Pride but it is not the first time Gordon and Sarah Brown have demonstrated their support for gay equality.

On the morning of Pride London 2008 the Prime Minister met members of Stonewall and pledged his backing for their campaign against homophobic bullying.

Earlier this year Mr Brown spoke at a Downing St reception marking LGBT History Month. Mrs Brown also attended.

In October a leading American LGBT rights advocate was the guest of honour at a private lunch at Downing St.

Mrs Brown hosted the event for David Mixner, a veteran American civil rights campaigner, author and political strategist.

It was the first time a gay activist had been honoured in this way at No 10.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in Pride London this Saturday, the country’s biggest LGBT event. Last year 825,000 people watched the parade.

Rama Yade has been made minister of sport.

The human rights post was created for her in 2007 when President Sarkozy took office.

“This is a political signal that the government has given up on promoting human rights as a top priority,” said Jean-Marie Fardeau, director of Human Rights Watch in France.

Ms Yade, 32, had been outspoken in her support of gay rights.

She took the lead at the United Nations calling for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.

France submitted a draft declaration at the UN General Assembly in December. 66 countries supported it.

President Sarkozy also appointed a gay man, TV presenter Frédéric Mitterrand, as culture minister.

The 61-year-old is a nephew of the late President François Mitterrand.

The men were arrested in Riyadh on June 13, 2009, reportedly for wearing women’s clothing.

Human Rights Watch called on Saudi authorities to drop charges against the men, most of them from other countries, and release any they are still holding.

“If the police in Saudi Arabia can arrest people simply because they don’t like their clothes, no one is safe,” said Rasha Moumneh, researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.

The episode was reported by the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh on June 16 and corroborated by independent sources contacted by Human Rights Watch who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisal. The newspaper reported that several men outside a private party, held in an east Riyadh neighborhood to celebrate the Philippines’ Independence Day, were arrested for what the police told them was “suspicious behavior” because they were wearing women’s clothing.

The police questioned the men, then raided the party, arresting 67 men in all, including one Yemeni and numerous Filipinos, Al-Riyadh reported. The police said they found more women’s clothing, cosmetics, and alcohol. While Saudi law prohibits possession of alcohol, the reports indicated that it was the men’s dress that prompted the police to conduct the raid and make the arrests.

Roussel Reyes, the vice consul of the Philippine embassy in Riyadh, told Human Rights Watch that the men face charges of “imitating women” and possession of alcohol. The Filipino men were released after their respective work sponsors posted bail. Human Rights Watch could not discover the whereabouts of the Yemeni national.

Shari’a law, as interpreted and enforced in Saudi Arabia, remains uncodified; no written and accessible legal standards exist that criminalize the wearing of women’s clothing by men. Nevertheless, Saudi judges have in the past imposed sentences, ranging from imprisonment to flogging, on men accused of behaving like women.

“Arresting and charging people simply because the police decide that their appearance is unacceptable strikes at the heart of human freedom,” said Moumneh.

The legislation (the text of the bill) lists the public bodies to which the Equality Duty applies.

This will include central government departments, local authorities, education bodies, NHS bodies and the police service, plus a wide range of other public bodies with whom we are holding further discussions over the summer. In addition the duty will apply to private bodies that deliver a public function, for example, a private firm running a prison.

The government will publish details of the full list of public bodies “as soon as possible to allow them to prepare in time for the duty to come into force.”

The bill will introduce a Equality Duty on public bodies, which means they need to think about the needs of everyone who uses their services or works for them. For example, a residential care home would have to consider the needs of same-sex couples.

Public services will also use the procurement process “to improve equality.” Suppliers will be expected to demonstrate they have a diverse workforce.

The new Equality Duty will require public authorities to advance equality of opportunity for transsexual people. For example, if a local authority notices that there are no support groups for people undergoing gender reassignment in their area it can fund a charity to help reach out to the transsexual community.

The legislation will widen the definition of ‘gender reassignment’ to make it clear that a person does not have to be under medical supervision to be protected from discrimination and protect people who face discrimination because of their association with transsexual people, for example, as their partner.

The bill also extends into the workplace. Employers can choose to make their workforce more diverse when selecting between two job candidates who are equally suitable. In other words, they can pick an LGBT candidate because of their sexual orientation or gender identity on diversity grounds.

The Equality bill will allow political parties to “do more to increase diversity on their electoral shortlists.” For example, this could include organising mentoring schemes for lesbian, gay and bisexual candidates. The use of all-woman shortlists in the selection of parliamentary candidates will be extended to 2030.

Employment tribunals will in future make recommendations that benefit the whole workforce and not just the individual who brought the claim, who often ends up leaving the company. For example, if a lesbian is bullied at work because of her sexual orientation the tribunal could recommend her employer conducts some awareness training to help prevent similar claims being brought in the future.

The new legislation aims to force private members’ clubs not to discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation. For example, a working men’s club could not refuse to serve a drink to a man because he was gay.

Similarly a woman cannot be refused entry to a golf club’s bar or be prevented from playing when others are allowed to because she has undergone gender reassignment.

All of these new rules will also apply to people who face discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, religious belief, ethnic minority or disability. There are also targeted parts of the bill.

For example, The Equality bill will make it clear that it is unlawful to force breastfeeding mothers and their babies out of places like coffee shops, public galleries and restaurants.

The government expects the bill to become law next spring, just before the general election, which must be called by June 2010.

It is expected to come into force in Autum 2010.

Certain parts of the bill, such as the socio-economic duty on public bodies, and the public sector Equality Duty are likely to come into force in 2011.

The new legislation will generally apply in Scotland and Wales as well as in England. The Socio-economic Duty applies to England and Wales only. In a number of areas the Bill provides powers to Scottish and Welsh Ministers.

One of these is the power for Scottish Ministers to impose specific public sector equality duties on Scottish bodies and for Welsh Ministers to do likewise for Welsh bodies.

Tony Grew is editor of ispystrangers.org, a new website that reports on proceedings in Parliament.

Chatty, amiable and refreshingly straightforward, Ms Begg can often be spotted in the chamber, in her chair at the side of the Labour benches.

Born with a rare genetic condition, Gauchers disease, she has used a wheelchair since 1984, the year after she joined the Labour Party.

Ms Begg, 53, has described her chair as a “liberator,” and her presence in the House is undoubtedly an inspiration to thousands of disabled people across the country.

The MP for Aberdeen South since 1997, she has been active as a member of the House of Commons Chairmen’s Panel, where she deputises for the Speaker in Westminster Hall debates and on Public Bill committees.

She also serves on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, is secretary of the All Party Parliamentary BBC Group, and chairs several other All Party Groups.

In November Ms Begg was appointed vice-chair of a Speaker’s Commission looking at ways to improve the numbers of women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities in Parliament.

Speaker’s Conferences are rare. The last one took place in 1977 and there were only five Conferences in the 20th century.
Gay and lesbian representation was not part of the Conference’s remit.

When its formation was announced, Commons leader Harriet Harman told MPs she “hoped” it would include at least one gay Member of Parliament.

There was understandable disappointment when not only was no openly gay member appointed to the Conference, but one of the most homophobic politicians in the House was asked to serve.

Rev William McCrea, the MP for South Antrim, is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party and a minister in the Free Presbyterian church. Both organisations are outspoken in their homophobia.

He became notorious in Northern Ireland for sharing platforms with Protestant terrorists.

The Free Presbyterian church mounts a yearly counter-protest at Belfast Pride, which it regards as a celebration of sodomy, and his party colleagues have repeatedly attacked gay people as an abomination.
It is expected that gay equality organisation Stonewall will be called to give evidence to the Conference, which must report and make recommendations before the end of this Parliament.

Junior minister Angela Eagle is the only out lesbian either the Commons or the Lords. There are around a dozen out gay MPs and three openly gay peers.

The Treasury estimates that 6% of the UK population is gay, lesbian or bisexual.

That means there should be at least 39 LGB MPs and 42 peers.
In an interview in her Commons office, Ms Begg told PinkNews.co.uk that the Conference “will gather cross-party support” for “a thorny electoral issue.”

“The 1916 Conference came up with votes for women and the 1965 one came up with votes for 18-year-olds – big ideas.”

Ms Begg said the purpose of the current Conference, which is currently hearing evidence, is to “open the door” to groups who may not feel Parliament is for them.

“You can’t do big electoral change unless you have an all-party consensus.

“If one party wants something but none of the others do, if they are in government and try to force it through, they could find it reversed the next time around.

“You can’t tinker with electoral reform every couple of years, it takes time to bed in.”

The Conference was not originally going to consider disabled people – that was quickly changed.

The idea of asking why gay and lesbian people are so under-represented reportedly caused friction at Westminster, with some MPs considering sexual orientation a personal matter, or even a lifestyle choice.

Ms Begg told PinkNews.co.uk that at a “private meeting” of the MPs chosen to serve on the Conference, “we decided that under additional matters sexual orientation was a legitimate thing for the conference to look at. We could have decided “no it isn’t.”

“It is not in the remit but we took the principled decision that it is something we can look at. What comes out the other end of the sausage machine, I cannot say.”

She denies gay representation has been downgraded.

“If anything it has been upgraded – the original motion was for women and ethnic minorities. It was to try and broaden the scope in a way that brings people on board.

“There are a range of views. I can appreciate that some communities are impatient for change, of course they are, but change has to be sustainable and get wider acceptance.”

Rev McCrea was included because the DUP, as the largest party in Northern Ireland, was invited to take part.

While many gay people were horrified that such a reactionary voice should be there at all, Ms Begg sees an advantage.

“Remember, what we come up with, he will have to sign up to it.

“What we hope to achieve in the end is a unanimous report. I do not know if we will manage that, but the potential is there.

“They (the DUP) could have chosen not to put anybody on the committee at all, but they did.”

Ms Begg praises the progress made in Northern Ireland despite the outlandish views of some of its more colourful elected representatives.

“The interesting thing is the way the Equality Commission has worked in Northern Ireland.

“It has been a model, they did not have individual commissions and they have the model of how to deal with equality. If you are discriminated against, you are covered. You do not have to pigeonhole. All the political parties in Northern Ireland are signed up to it.

“Some of the problems we have with the disability legislation is that you have to say to people “what part of the legislation do you fall under?”

“Somebody with a birth mark, who is clearly discriminated against or stigmatised because of that birth mark, can’t get redress under the law as it is at present, because they do not fulfil the definition of a disabled person under the Disability Discrimination Act.”

Earlier this year the Conference heard evidence from Operation Black Vote. The idea of all-ethnic minority shortlists in some constituencies was discussed.

The Labour party policy of all-women shortlists was highly controversial when it was introduced before the 1997 election. It was intended to alter the gender balance in the Commons, but they were ruled illegal in 1996.

In 2002 the government introduced the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act, which exempts the selection of candidates in parliamentary elections from sex discrimination legislation.

Can all-ethnic minority shortlists really be the way forward? Ms Begg is cautious.

“That is something for the conference to decide.

“We know there is a big debate within the ethnic minority communities as to whether this is the best way forward. There are very strong arguments on both sides and bearing in mind we have to come up with a consensual position, it would be wrong not to consider it.”

However, she rejects the idea of a disabled-only shortlist.

“I wouldn’t support it, but I did come from an all-women shortlist.

“So I do support the concept of positive action, because I would not be here today if it was not for the all-women shortlist.

“Not because I could not have competed with the men, but it never even occurred to me to be an MP. We want to get people interested in being an MP who had never thought about it.

“I can use my own example. I had no intention of being an MP. I was involved in politics, I was active in my trade union, was an elected member of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, so I was quite well-known in teaching circles as a Labour party member and activist.

“I was approached by people from the constituency who said “it is an all-women shortlist, we have been looking around for good women, would you be interested in putting your name forward.”

“I decided to go for it.

“The all-women shortlist activated a mechanism for people to go out and look for candidates. That may be slightly different for other minority groups.

“I suspect there may be lots of others that desperately want to be an MP but face different barriers.

“The shortlist brought me as a disabled women in, but it could just have easily been a woman from an ethnic minority or a lesbian woman. That mechanism opens out the whole process.”

Ms Begg points to “inherent barriers” in how the selection process works, not just within Labour but in all parties.

She claims these barriers can impact not just on gays, ethnic minorities, the disabled and women, but also young men with a family.

“It can be a barrier to 90% of the population, if truth be told, because of the lifestyle.

“There is no shortage of white men desperate to become MPs, but there is a shortage of people from other groups. We have to ask the question why. Some will be because of the barriers and that puts them off, but others are not even on the first step, they are not even thinking it is something they would like to do. We have to tackle both.

“In terms of being gay and lesbian, the electorate will vote for an openly gay person, which we did not know until 1997. I understand, speaking to Ben Bradshaw and others, they had the most awful opponents, just dreadful, but the people still voted for them.”

Some have argued we are now beyond identity politics in this country. Ms Begg acknowledges progress has been made but disagrees.

“I would love to think that we are there but I do not think we are.

“If we are getting there it is because of the work of a Labour government – an equal age of consent, because we have allowed civil partnerships and gay people can adopt.

“What that legislation has done is normalise gay and lesbian people because they can do the things everyone else can. They are no longer out on the fringes. Once you get there, you start to divide along left-right politics rather than identity. But we have a long way to go, especially from a disabled person’s point of view.”

From a London perspective, Scotland can appear somewhat intolerant towards gay people. The Scottish Roman Catholic Church regularly indulges in what can only be described as queer-bashing.

Earlier this month Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, claimed that “less than two per cent of the population is homosexual and a minority of this group are in a stable relationship,” assertions with no factual basis.

In January a Church spokesman claimed: “There is an overwhelming body of evidence showing that same-sex relationships are inherently unstable and reduce the life expectancy of those involved.”

Ms Begg admits her homeland has problems.

“We pride ourselves on being egalitarian and left-wing, that is why we are traditionally Labour, but at the same time there is this odd, not even small-c conservatism, in some areas.

“A lot of it is in west central Scotland, where you have a large immigrant population from Ireland.

“There are all these contradictions going on in Scotland. There are Catholics I know who are horrified at what the Catholic Church is saying, as with the whole issue of stem cell research.

“At the same time we still like to pretend that we are this modern country, but there is something that keeps pulling us back. I think the majority of people in Scotland are on the right side, meaning they are not homophobic, they do genuinely believe the Robbie Burns poem “A man is a man for all that.”

“What the priesthood is saying is not what the people think.”

Ms Begg is reluctant to take the mantle of a role model for disabled people, as she is so often described. Instead she pays homage to Britain’s first blind Cabinet minister.

“David Blunkett was an inspiration. The fact that he was already elected made it easier for me. My first month down here (in 1997) he was Secretary of State for Education, and he invited me in to go through the sort of things I needed to look out for.

“Because his disability is so different to mine there was not a comparison of how to deal with a particular issue, but it made me feel that I was not alone. If it had not been for him and Jack Ashley, I would never have been here. It is not easy being first.”

Mr Ashley became profoundly deaf in 1967, the year after he was first elected, as a result of complications from an ear operation. He served as an MP until 1992 and now sits in the Lords.

“When I arrived on May 6th 1997, I got this wonderful office. I got spoiled. They had thought ahead that they may have a disabled person. There are plenty of folk in wheelchairs in the House of Lords. They had already been spending money and putting in ramps.

“I loved it – I came here from a working class background in the north east of Scotland, my greatest ambition was to become a teacher, which I had to fight to become, and I came down to this place and I felt at home.

“That’s the message I want to get out to people, that despite everything you see on TV, I had not one scintilla of doubt that I did the right thing in getting elected. It has been a huge privilege and if I can make it easier for others to follow in my footsteps then that is part of the job I want to do.”

The state’s Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments about the validity of Proposition 8, a ballot measure passed by voters in November that ended same-sex marriage.

Vigils were held across California yesterday by supporters of equality for gay and lesbian people.

The court may reveal today its stance on Prop 8 and the legal status of those married same-sex couples.

The hearing will be televised and can be seen here. It begins at 5pm GMT.

In May 2008 the California Supreme Court ruled against a previous Proposition approved in 2000 that defined marriage in the state as between a man and a woman.

The court ruled that laws that treat people differently based on their sexual orientation violate the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and that same-sex couples have the same fundamental right to marry as other Californians.

Proposition 8 challenged this ruling by explicitly denying gay people the right to marry.

Dozens of groups have filed amicus curiae or “friend of the court” briefs arguing that Proposition 8 drastically alters the equal protection guarantee in California’s Constitution, and that the rights of a minority cannot be eliminated by a simple majority vote.

If his appointment is approved by the Senate he will be the most powerful LGBT person in Barack Obama’s administration.

Mr Berry is the current director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington DC and was assistant Interior Secretary under President Clinton.

If confirmed, he will be “the first openly gay director of OPM and one of the highest-ranking openly gay presidential appointees in history,” according to the Lesbian and Gay Victory Fund, a group that gives financial assistance to LGBT candidates for public office.

OPM is an independent agency that manages the civil service of the United States federal government.

Gay newspaper Washington Blade noted that OPM “oversees the civilian federal workforce, which is about two million members strong, and helps enforce policies put in place under the Clinton administration that bar job discrimination against federal workers based on sexual orientation.”

“From turning around the National Zoo to fostering a more productive work environment at the Department of the Interior, John Berry has a tremendous record of effective management in key public service roles,” President Obama said yesterday.

“I’m confident that he will provide that same leadership at OPM to help ensure that government works for the American people the way it should.”

The White House issued a statement on Mr Berry’s previous experience.

“John began his Federal career as a Legislative Director for U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a major leader on all issues affecting the Civil Service. John was responsible for overseeing Hoyer’s work Federal employees, and was the primary craftsman behind the locality pay reform, among many other issues affecting pay and benefits of employees and retirees.

“John began his management career at the Department of Treasury, where he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and acting Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement.

“Later in the Clinton administration, John was appointed Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, where he focused on employee partnerships, worklife issues for employees and reversing years of decline by achieving one of the largest budgetary increases in the Department’s 150 year history.

“As Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, John worked with Interior Inspector General, Earl Devaney, to reconcile 20 years of financial records, establish sound management practices, while also conserving over 3 million acres of wildlife habitat through innovative public-private partnerships.

“Most recently, John was hired to turn around the National Zoo, which was labouring under continual reports of issues and problems. In its Accreditation approval last year it was noted that “It is good to see the National Zoo worthy of its name again.”

“John has completed a strategic plan, a mangement reorganisation, and a 20 year capital master plan.”

There will be personal appearances by Volker Beck and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Mr Beck was violently assaulted in Moscow in 2007 while trying to take part in a gay rights demonstration.

The Green member of the German parliament and veteran gay rights activist was attacked by 20 religious protesters and punched in the face while he was giving a television interview.

Mayor Newsom attracted worldwide attention in 2004 when he authorised granting marriage licences to same-sex couples – making San Francisco the first city in America to do so.

Also on the day of the rally the 5th Annual National Interfaith Service will be held in Christ Church Philadelphia, the sanctuary where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross worshiped.

The National Equality Rally will be held at Independence Hall.

Originally the Pennsylvania State House, the hall was the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783.

The United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were both signed at Independence Hall.

Equality Forum said that other LGBT groups and “people of colour, progressive religious institutions, high school and college gay/straight alliances and straight ally organisations” are invited to be co-organisers without cost or legal obligation.

The March for Equality on Independence Mall will pass by Benjamin Franklin’s burial site, the US Mint, National Constitution Centre, Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Office Building, the Gay Pioneers Historic Marker, Liberty Bell Centre and Independence Hall.

Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell are where the Gay Pioneers held the first organised gay and lesbian civil rights demonstrations, called Annual Reminders, each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969.

The Annual Reminders laid the groundwork for the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and the first New York Pride Parade in 1970.

“Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell are where the movement was launched,” said Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum.

“With a new Congress and a President who describes himself as a “fierce advocate” of our civil rights, it is the right moment for us to join hands at an iconic location to demand equality.”

Click here for more information.

Sean Penn, the Academy Award-winning star of Milk, will join State Senator Mark Leno and State Assemblymember Tom Ammiano at a press conference today to introduce the Harvey Milk Day Bill.

Sponsored by Equality California, the bill seeks to “educate Californians about the former San Francisco City Supervisor, civil rights activist and American hero whose work helped bring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people out of the closet and into civic life.”

The legislation calls on the Governor to proclaim May 22nd as Harvey Milk Day, designating it as a “day of special significance.”

The legislation was originally introduced last year by Senator Leno but the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, vetoed it on the grounds that Harvey Milk was unknown beyond San Francisco.

Known during his lifetime as “The Mayor of Castro Street,” Harvey Milk is a political icon among gay activists for his ability to build the LGBT community into a grassroots political force.

Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

In his 11 months in office he sponsored a gay rights bill and helped to defeat a proposition that would have seen openly gay and lesbian teachers sacked.

He was gunned down at City Hall by Dan White, a disgruntled former Supervisor, on November 27th 1978.

Milk was recently honoured with a bust on permanent display in San Francisco City Hall, a rare accolade for someone who never held the position of Mayor.

Barack Obama’s administration has begun the repeal process for the Department of Health and Human Services regulations regarding “provider conscience,” a last-ditch effort by his predecessor to “protect” medical professionals.

The regulations were rushed through the regulatory process by the previous administration and took effect just days before President Bush left office. They also applied to  institutional healthcare providers that receive certain federal funds.

They were supported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Protestant Evangelical groups.

The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, commended the Obama administration.

“The regulations purport to interpret federal law to allow a health care provider to refuse to provide any health care service or information for a religious or moral reason,” an HRC spokesperson said.

“These regulations could impair LGBT patients’ access to care services if interpreted to permit providers to choose patients based upon sexual orientation, gender identity or family structure.

“The regulations also threaten women’s access to comprehensive health care by permitting pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraception even when doing so significantly burdens the patient’s access, or to refuse to participate in an emergency abortion even when the woman’s health is at risk.

“The regulations override many state laws protecting patients’ access to medical services.

“We are encouraged that the Department of Health and Human Services will be conducting a thorough review of these regulations.”

It will be held in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on March 16th.

Keynote speakers include Baroness Royall, Leader of the House of Lords; Dr Nicola Brewer, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; Margot James, Vice Chair of the Conservative Party and Sarah Deaves, Chief Executive, Coutts UK, Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ms James is parliamentary prospective candidate for the party in the key marginal of Stourbridge. If elected she will be the first openly lesbian Tory MP.

Equality experts from leading UK organisations including The University of Cambridge, Lloyds TSB, The Royal Navy and Goldman Sachs will share best practice at workshops throughout the day.

The conference will deliver a series of breakout sessions including discussing how employers can get the most from their lesbian, gay and bisexual staff forums and why gay people perform better at work when they can be themselves.

For more information contact the workplace team at Stonewall on 020 7593 2291 or by email at workplace@stonewall.org.uk

Mr Penn won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay man elected to public office in the United States.

Mr Milk was assassinated less than a year after his election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

During his acceptance speech at last week’s ceremony Mr Penn spoke about gay marriage.

In November voters in California approved a ballot measure denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

Proposition 8 was in response to a court ruling that gay marriage was legal.

Between June and November 18,000 same-sex couples got married in California.

The validity of Prop 8 is being challenged in the state Supreme Court.

Mr Penn said he hoped Milk would change attitudes towards same-sex marriage.

Now he has revealed he wants to take his film to the country’s President.

“Eventually we are hoping for a White House screening,” he said.

“I think this film will be one of the steps forward … but I think things are going to go forward with or without it.

“I was once asked to tell the difference between luxury and necessity for a human being.

“The right to equality for all, including homosexuals, is of course a necessity.

“That’s why this right will become a reality and I think in its own way this film will be part of that.

“The need for tolerance, equality and so on is on the move, and will go on.”

President Obama supports civil unions but not same-sex marriage.

On Thursday the California Supreme Court will hear arguments about the validity of Prop 8.

It asks the Prime Minister to stop deporting gays and lesbians to countries where they may be imprisoned, tortured or executed because of their sexuality.

Among the signatories are actors Simon Callow and Cathy Tyson, playwright Jonathan Harvey, Labour MP Celia Barlow, Lib Dems Lorely Burt and Tom Brake and former Labour minister Stephen Twigg.

The deadline for signatures March 7th.

Green MEPs Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas, Conservative MEP John Bowis, Labour MEPs Eluned Morgan, Claude Moraes and Glenys Kinnock and LibDem MPs Lynne Featherstone and Jo Swinson have also signed up.

The petition was initiated by the Reverend Walter Attwood.

“Given that the numbers of cases are so small and the situations which people are fleeing from so well documented, their stance is completely untenable,” said gay asylum activist Paul Canning.

“It is also well-documented that homophobia exists in the Home Office so we simply do not believe their position that these cases are given ‘due and fair consideration.’

“The Canadian Immigration Minister has just announced that he will consider using the services of lesbian and gay immigration groups to help bring genuine asylum seekers from Iran to his country.

“We believe that the Home Office should consider doing the same here.

“These groups are best positioned to weed out the genuine cases – those people who should be welcomed here as their cases are formally assessed.

“For the government to do otherwise would, we believe, highlight its hypocrisy when it comes to the situation of lesbians and gays overseas.

“We believe that the British people do not support the policies and actions of the Home Office.

“We believe that they recognise lesbians and gays fleeing regimes such as Iran as genuine asylum seekers of the sort this country has historically made welcome here.

“Please urge everyone you know to sign the petition so as many people as possible can send this message to Gordon Brown.”

Lin Homer, chief executive of the Borders and Immigration Agency (BIA), has caused a furore amongst human rights groups last year when she said that judges should consider the “practical consequences” of sending gay asylum seekers back to their country of origin, and not that country’s social or legal views on homosexuality.

Ms Homer said that bans or conservative views on homosexuality in asylum seekers’ home countries are not reason enough to allow them to stay in Britain.

“What the court takes into account is the practical consequences for the individuals concerned,” she said.

“The simple presence of either a law or a culture that frowns upon homosexuality is not of itself a reason [to grant asylum].

“I think these decisions are made carefully and thoughtfully.”

Ms Homer insisted that the information used by the BIA when deciding whether to deport gay asylum seekers is thorough and accurate.

Last month the European Commission affirmed that persecution on grounds of sexual orientation is a legitimate justification for an asylum claim.

The question was prompted by an initial rejection in Cyprus of a claim by a gay Iranian asylum seeker, a rejection which was later overturned and the claim granted.

The Commission has confirmed that there is “an obligation on Member States to grant refugee status to persons who…. are found to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group, including a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation.”

The bill would have covered hospital visitation, the right to make a medical decision for an incapacitated partner, the right to file a joint state tax return, and inheritance in the event that a partner dies without leaving a will.

Republicans argued that domestic partnerships were an attempt to impose same-sex marriage in the state.

“If this bill would have passed, New Mexico would have been ripe for a court challenge as other states have experienced with gay marriage court rulings,” said House Republican Whip Bill Payne.

Five other US states – California, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont – and the District of Columbia have enacted domestic partner or civil unions laws.

Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The Human Rights Campaign, the America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, said it was disappointed that state Senators in New Mexico rejected the Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act by 25 votes to 17.

Ten Democrats helped to defeat it.

“I share the sadness of everyone in New Mexico who hoped this vote would go differently and the state would take a step toward recognising equality for all New Mexicans.” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

“Yesterday’s vote helps no one in the state of New Mexico.

“It protects no one’s marriage. It grants dignity to no couple’s relationship. It does nothing to ensure that all families receive the equal rights and responsibilities they deserve. But no one is giving up.

“It has been a long, hard struggle for couples and families in New Mexico who simply want equal rights, and this effort continues, as it does across the nation.”

New Mexico’s legislature considered similar legislation in each of the last two years, and the bill has, in the past, come within a single vote of passing.

Catholic bishops had encouraged their congregations, who make up about a quarter of the state’s population, to lobby their Senators to oppose the bill.

“The Roman Catholic Church remained silent on domestic partnerships in New Mexico in past debates and some are saying this change in position came on direction straight from the Vatican and The Pope himself,” reports lesbian website Lez Get Real.

“For the past five weeks the bishops have been having parishioners call New Mexico lawmakers and pressure them to vote against the domestic partnership law.

“Supporters of the bill said they had tried to hammer out a compromise during the 24 hours leading up to the vote and changed some of the original language and taking out words like spouse, marriage and references to either word in an effort to placate the bishops and Republican opposition.”

The New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops says on its website that it opposes the domestic partnerships bill because “any legal instrument that grants spousal rights is interperted by the courts as marriage.”

New Mexico’s Governor, former Democratic party Presidential candidate Bill Richardson, said:

“I’m disappointed by the Senate’s actions today in defeating what is fundamentally an issue of civil rights and equality.”