Plans To Punish Discrimination Against Gay Customers

UNITED KINGDOM - A move to outlaw discrimination by pubs, hotels and restaurants against gay and lesbian customers was announced by the government yesterday.
A Department of Trade and Industry consultation is seeking views over the next few weeks on banning discrimination based on sexuality in the provision of services. If the proposals become law, offenders could be prosecuted and fined.
The proposal comes after a bed-and-breakfast owner from Wester Ross caused nationwide controversy in summer 2004 by refusing to let homosexuals sleep together on his premises, calling one of them a "poof" and the other a "creature".
The views of Tom Forrest, proprietor of the Cromasaig Guest House in Kinlochewe, featured on the BBC's Question Time and he was subsequently dropped from VisitScotland's quality assurance scheme and website.
Mr Forrest insisted yesterday he would not allow same-sex couples to share beds at his B&B under any circumstances and would rather go to prison than compromise his principles.
He said: "This is atrocious. I will never pay a fine and I will go to jail over this if I have to. I am a war pensioner and a cripple. I have started a petition against this and I will continue to campaign. It is my right to refuse to give someone a room.
"The only people who will benefit from this are those who want to run a male brothel, people with no moral standards or scruples."
Announcing the plans yesterday, Alan Johnson, trade and industry secretary, said: "It's easy to forget how far we have come in the past eight years. We have repealed clause 28, equalised the age of consent for gay men and introduced civil partnerships. Now we are going even further.
"Too often, gay and lesbian people can face discrimination in their everyday lives. I want to make sure that no-one gets refused a room at a hotel or a table in a restaurant because of their sexuality.
"We intend to make sure that gay men, lesbians and bisexual people can enjoy the same rights and freedoms as heterosexual people.
"We are committed to bringing in this legislation in October and this consultation seeks views on detailed questions about how it will apply."
Stonewall, the gay rights group, welcomed the proposals. "The government's moved quickly on this to bring forward the proposals especially in the area of goods and services. We have been contacted a lot with regards to issues such as people being refused rooms in hotels or access to GPs," a spokesman said.
George Broadhead, secretary of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, also praised the government, saying: "As far as I understand it, this arose after the hotel incident in Scotland. We've been campaigning for rights for 26 years, so the more areas we get cover in the better."
from The Herald