Well have been back a few days now from the TUC LGBT Conference and the UNISON Labour Link Forum.
The TUC LGBT Conference is a two day event where each affiliated union can send a delegation to debate LGBT issues (would be surprising if they debated anything else).
Big issues this year included:
Census 2011 - the inclusion of sexual orientation. In my view the Conference passing a motion asking for gender identity as well when the main Trans organisation (Press for Change) is not supporting this may well lead to difficulties in the campaign i.e. ONS saying well it's all too difficult and complicated to deal with ahead of 2011.
Framework for Fairness - This was an emergency motion submitted by UNISON and UCU. Its focus was on guidance given on the impact of sexual orientation regulations, which states that it is perfectly legal for teachers to tell a student that same sex activity is sinful, as well as relating some of the concerns about the Discrimination Law Review Green Paper - A Framework for Fairness. This motion was selected to go to Congress.
The UNISON Labour Link Forum debated a number of motions including 'LGBT Equality - Finishing the Job'. I also managed to ask a question to the MEP Panel, explicitly about Poland and LGBT rights actross Eastern and Central Europe.
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Teachers being lawfully able to tell a student that their sexual orientation is sin full? Forgive me for finding this unbeleivable. I double-checked on the TeacherNet website and there it is
ReplyDelete"However, the concerns expressed are that faith schools will no longer be able to teach according to an aspect of their belief or faith — which is the importance of traditional family values and that single-sex relationships are sinfull. There are similar concerns about the possibility that individual teachers expressing their views in this area, whether based on their religion or not, might be the subject of legal action.
The regulations will not prevent any of this. So for example, if a faith school (or indeed any school) teaches that the Christian and Muslim faiths decree that single-sex sexual activity is a sin then the school will not be acting unlawfully. Similarly, if a pupil asks a teacher his views on homosexuality and the teacher gives his view, then again, that teacher will not be acting unlawfully."
How can the law assume that the Christian and Muslim faiths are monolithic instead of the fractured, fissured assortments of argumentative men [I do mean that these religions are male-driven] which we all know them to be? Many of the separate churches within Christianity do not hold that same-sex sex is sinful. How can the law pick and chose which parts of the Christian faith are right or wrong?