| I’m delighted to be speaking at Stonewall’s annual
conference. Stonewall has been at the forefront of campaigning for equal
rights for lesbian, gay and bisexual people for fifteen years now.
On the way here, I was thinking how far we’ve come since the 80s… I
worked for Age Concern, Liberty and the Labour Party then - alongside many
of you here today. Our belief in equal pay, equal opportunities and equal
rights meant we were marked as “subversives”.
Now, Stonewall, and other NGOs, are vital partners in policy making and
driving cultural change.
I’m the first Cabinet Minister to address a Stonewall conference. And
today has been co-sponsored by Barclays.
A demonstration I think of the growing recognition between Government,
business, unions and NGOs that the diversity of our nation is a huge
strength - to our society and our economy. And the way we ‘re all working
together in partnership to tackle discrimination.
A strong society is one where we value each individual as being of
equal worth, but we also value the uniqueness of each individual too.
So we value our common humanity and we value our differences. This was the
starting point of the Social Justice Commission.
But increasingly today, as well, the differences between us - our
diversity - makes our economy stronger too. Giving us competitive
advantage over other nations.
The modern economy is global - and the globe is full of people of
different colours, religions, genders, backgrounds and sexual orientation.
And the companies that succeed in this diverse global economy are the
companies that are comfortable with it.
That’s why diversity is rising to the top of the agenda for some of our
best businesses, like IBM and Barclays. They know that equality and
economic success go hand in hand. And we in Government know this too.
So we promote diversity because we know our economy suffers when
- Women are held back with a pay gap of 19%;
- African Caribbeans are four times as likely to be out of work than
white people;
- Older people denied the chance to carry on working - and I declare
an interest as a 55 year old…
But we would do so anyway, because it is right.
Last week, a boy came to see me in my constituency. He was being
bullied at school. Every day he woke in a sweat, got dressed in anxiety,
then walked to school in fear. He knew he could expect taunts in the
classroom, isolation at break-time and sometimes being beaten up on the
way home.
He was pilloried because the other pupils thought he was gay. But he
wasn’t even sure about his own sexuality or how he felt. Yet already he
was developing this feeling he wasn’t quite good enough. His mother and
school were worried about worsening results and rising absenteeism. He was
just 15: yet he was already on anti-depressants.
Too many people experience this sort of thing at school. And, for too
many people, the discrimination, harassment, victimization and violence
that they experience at school, is something they have to deal with
through their whole lives.
We must wipe this out - from the cradle to the grave. Tackling
discrimination and bullying wherever it occurs - at school, at work and in
people’s lives. And this needs the partnership I was talking about
earlier.
And, with this partnership, we’re making real progress.
Starting at school.
We know bullying leads to truancy, teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol
abuse, homelessness and suicide.
And homophobic bullying is one of the vicious kinds.
And its not just kids bullying kids, but teachers bullying kids, and kids
bullying teachers as well. Like Shirley Pearce, who left her job last year
following harassment by pupils.
We need to change the whole thinking in schools. We’ve repealed Section
28 and DFES have revised their guidance so teachers are better able to
deal with the issue of homophobia. My Ministerial colleague, lvan Lewis is
tackling wider bullying through the excellent “Don’t Suffer in Silence”
initiative.
But today I can announce a step change in the attack against homophobic
bullying in schools. Yesterday, I met with Ministers from all major
Whitehall Departments. We agreed to
- Get better evidence on what is happening, improving our evidence
base so we can develop new ways of tackling the problem;
- Communicate better from the centre so that all of our partners (in
schools and NGOs) are clear what their responsibilities are;
- Improve teaching around sexuality
We also agreed to examine our own policies with a view to tackling the
issue of homophobia in schools.
We also need to continue working closely with NGOs and others on
tackling these issues. Helping build on the outstanding work done by
groups like Stonewall, FFLAG and LGBT Youth Scotland do some outstanding
work tackling homophobia in schools, particularly with their “Education
for All” programme.
Second, too often playground behaviour continues into the workplace.
The best businesses don’t stand for it. Like IBM and Barclays - who
you’ll hear from later today. But many others too - even MI5! A poster of
a snowman recently appeared in MI5 corridors inviting staff to “come in
from the cold” and join a gay and lesbian support network.
Last December, we changed the law to make it illegal to deny lesbian,
gay and bisexual people jobs because of prejudice. The new regulations
enable individuals to take prompt and effective action to tackle
harassment, so everyone has an equal chance of training and promotion,
whatever their sexual orientation
This has been underpinned by new guidance - from ACAS, but also
Stonewall, with their employers guide and best practice toolkit.
Up to 5 million people in Britain feel “very” or “extremely” stressed
by their work. Thirteen and a half million working days are lost every
year because of stress, depression or anxiety - more than fifty times as
many as because of headaches or eyestrain.
Last Boxing Day, Hannah Kirkham, an 18 year old, died. She had taken an
overdose just a week before. She killed herself after being bullied by
colleagues at a fast food outlet. Her co-workers set her uniform alight,
squirted mayonnaise on her and stabbed her with corn on the cob sticks.
Much bullying is because of discrimination.
Recently, a 19 year old with a genetic dwarfism condition told a
tribunal how he had been put on shelf-stacking duties in the supermarket
where he worked. But his employer had not seen fit to provide him with a
ladder. He had to climb up the side of shelves and stand on top of
freezers to put goods on display, exposing him to humiliation in front of
the customers. Scott English, the complainant, won his case for
discrimination.
Bullying is a terrible issue with terrible consequences - whether it’s
because of people’s sexuality, race, size or anything else.
The way we will tackle this is by working in partnership. Last year
Amicus brought together partners such as the Work Foundation, in the first
ever Ban Bullying Day.
Today, I can announce we will be giving almost a million pounds to
Amicus, from the Partnership Fund, for them to take forward the biggest
anti bullying project ever, anywhere in the world.
The biggest and best companies are already on board for the project -
BT, Legal and General, British Aerospace - and, with our support, they’re
hoping to attract hundreds more.
This represents a change in gear from Government, business and the
union movement on the issue of bullying. We’re showing we won’t tolerate
it as people, as companies, as Government.
Bullying means potential down, stress up and tribunals up. We’re going
to turn these around.
So we’re taking steps to tackle discrimination and bullying at school
and at work. But of course, it’s in life as well that the law can
sometimes be found to be discriminatory.
We’re changing that.
We’ve equalized the age of consent for gay men; immigration rules; and
given same sex couples the same rights to adopt, request flexible working
and take paid paternity leave as heterosexual couples.
The Criminal Justice Bill now covers homophobic attacks; the Criminal
Injuries Compensation Scheme covers lesbian and gay partners.
It was of course the horrific Admiral Duncan bombing, five years ago,
which highlighted how same sex partners were not entitled to compensation
when their partners were killed. Of course, a lot of the time, it is only
when things go wrong that these loopholes are exposed. .
Too many same sex couples have found out that
- When a partner falls in, they’ve been denied a hospital visit
- When they die, they have been denied the right to register their
partner’s death
- When you’re struggling afterwards to pay the bills, and your
partners hasn’t made a will, you are denied any share in their estate.
With the Civil Partnership Bill, we’re putting this right. This will be
a major step in helping people in same sex relationships gain greater
social recognition and acceptance of their partnership.
As announced in the Queens Speech last November, we will introduce
civil partnership legislation in this session of Parliament.
In closing, we’ve come a long way in tackling discrimination and
promoting equality in Britain since the 80s.
Together, I have no doubt we can go much further - creating a society
where diversity is valued, discrimination is NOT tolerated, and where
everyone can reach their full potential, dreams and aspirations in life -
free of harassment, discrimination or victimization.
It’s a great cause. Thank you.
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