Monday, June 29, 2009
Gordon Brown sends a message to the gay community in London
The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has sent a message to the gay community in London in the lead up to London Pride on July 4.In a letter from Downing Street he said,
“I’m very proud of all that this Government has achieved on LGBT rights these last 12 years – often in the face of fierce opposition. From equalising the age of consent, lifting the ban on military service, introducing gay adoption and creating civil partnerships to scrapping section 28, introducing the Gender Recognition Act and banning discrimination at work and in the provision of goods and services, we’ve taken massive strides towards equality. More recently, we have taken action to tackle homophobic bullying in schools, made incitement to homophobic hate a crime, secured unprecedented lesbian fertility rights and introduced the Equality Bill.
“But I also know that we quite simply couldn’t have done it without the activism of our out and proud LGBT community, so I hope you’re very proud of what your campaigning has achieved: you’ve changed laws, you’ve changed lives, you’ve changed the world.
“Together we’ve done a lot – but we can never be complacent and must always be vigilant to see that progress isn’t reversed.
“This government is committed to standing at your shoulders in the fight for equality and we are guided by one very simple principle when it comes to LGBT rights: you can’t legislate love.”
