The government’s Equality Bill has received criticism in the pink press recently.

Unison, the public service trade union supports the bill – while looking for improvements – and is asking members to let their MP know they want to see its successful passage into law.

Existing laws are in desperate need of reform.

Unison argues this bill represents the best chance in a generation to win improvements. The Tories and some business leaders are saying it’s too bureaucratic and costly. Some Christian groups are running well-organised letter-writing campaigns against it because they oppose LGBT equality.

Don’t let concerns about a few of its clauses jeopardise the whole bill.

MPs need to know that there is strong support for the bill, not just opposition. The bill replaces nine major pieces of legislation and around 100 sets of regulations with a single act covering both employment and service provision for all equality groups.

There is a detailed briefing on the bill at:
www.unison.org.uk/equality

From an LGBT perspective, the main gain is that there will be a new duty on public bodies to promote equality in employment and service delivery across equality groups, including sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

Equality will also be a factor in public sector procurement. It widens gender reassignment protection: medical supervision will no longer be required under the definition of gender reassignment; people will be protected from discrimination because they are incorrectly perceived to be undergoing gender reassignment or associated with people who are; school students will also be covered for the first time.

Let your MP know about the improvements you want to see but make it clear that you want to see this bill passed into law.

You can email your MP from
www.writetothem.com

All you need is your postcode.