Damming evidence to the Human Rights Inquiry
23 June 2011 08:56The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced on 6th March 2008 that it was proposing to launch an inquiry to find out how public authorities are responding to the Human Rights Act.
Dame Nuala O'Loan Chair of the Human Rights Inquiry said; "Our inquiry is about establishing how public authorities, such as hospitals, schools or local and national government offices, make sure they treat people well and in line with the requirements of the Human Rights Act."
But QWN has found evidence that County Councils in the South West have been discriminating towards the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community since before and after the new law was introduced.
County Councils throughout the South West have employee and community group/individual reconnection awards for outstanding contributions to the community and members of the gay community were concerned that gay people were not being awarded in the same way as there heterosexual counterparts were being awarded.
So on behalf of the gay community QWN asked the County Councils throughout the South West to provide evidence via The Freedom of Information Act 2000 of gay people receiving awards for outstanding contributions to the community.
Out of the 4 County Councils asked so far "none" of them have any evidence of anyone from the gay community ever receiving an award!
Wiltshire and Somerset County Council's refused to give QWN the specific information and Devon &Cornwall County Council also refused to supply QWN with the information and said that: "Please note the information provided is for your personal use only and may not be re-used without the Council's permission." None of the other Councils had this statement in there replies and the information that this council did give is available on Devon &Cornwall County Council's website anyway.
But the most shocking of all was the reply from South Gloucestershire County Council. Out of 211 winners none of them were gay or connected with, working for, or with the gay community and furthermore none of them were black or Bangladeshi, Indian or from a Pakistani' origin!
Queer West News then contacted the MP's that cover the South Gloucestershire County Council area and some of there comments were;
"I am totally against discrimination on grounds of race or sexuality." (Doug Naysmith MP)
"It would indeed be outrageous if there has been discrimination against black or gay people in making these awards." (Roger Berry MP)
"If South Gloucestershire Council is discriminating against gay or black people (or anyone else) it is appalling." (Steve Webb MP)
Queer West News originally contacted South Gloucestershire County Council just before this year's awards and dubiously the Council has given awards this year to 1 black and 2 Muslim individual's from the mainstream community. Queer West News cannot determine if a gay person has been given an award this year, but no awards have been given to any of the groups that support the gay community working in partnership with the council.
Queer West News is in no dought that if we had not of intervened then South Gloucestershire County Council would of continued it's intentional discrimination of the Gay and Black communities in the County.
Editors Comment: I was once told by a former leader of a County Council that the reason Councils discriminate in this way was because they do not want to encourage the BNP to become stronger.
This is a lame excuse in my experience because there are far more Gay councilors than BNP councilors and in the 17 months I've been editor of QWN I have not seen the numbers of BNP Supporters this councilor claims to exist and therefore the Councils are using the BNP as an excuse to discriminate towards the Black and Gay Communities
