PM reshuffles his gay rights team
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has completed his government reshuffle, promoting the Junior Equalities Minister responsible for gay rights, Meg Munn to become Junior Minister at the Foreign Office.
Her replacement has not yet been chosen from the new ministerial team at the Department of Communities and Local Government.
Yesterday he moved Ruth Kelly, formerly the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Governments and Cabinet Equality Minister, to become Secretary of State for Transport.
She was replaced with former Labour Party Chairman, Hazel Blears.
Meg Hillier, formerly Ms Kelly’s Private Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of Communities and Local Government, with a particular emphasis on equality, has been awarded with a rapid promotion to become a Junior Minister at the Home Office.
Meg Munn was responsible for arguing the government’s case for civil partnerships, as well as securing gay and lesbian rights in the provision of goods and services in the Equality Act.
She addressed the first birthday event of PinkNews.co.uk at the Law Society last year.
PinkNews.co.uk was founded and was head quartered for it’s first year in Hackney South and Shoreditch, the constituency of Meg Hillier.
Ms Hillier has been supportive both of PinkNews.co.uk and ensured that the gay community’s views were heard in relation to the Equality Act and the associated Sexual Orientation regulations that governed among other things the rights of gay couples to adopt without discrimination.
Ruth Kelly was heavily criticised for delaying the implementation of the Sexual Orientation Regulations.
A devout Roman Catholic, Ms Kelly refused to say whether or not she personally regarded homosexuality as sinful, despite being minister for equality.
Research published last year by PinkNews.co.uk showed that she had never voted for gay rights whilst an before becoming Communities Secretary.
A major row broke out in Cabinet earlier this year over plans to give Roman Catholic adoption agencies an opt-out from the Sexual Orientation Regulations, which outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation when accessing goods and services.
