The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by a local council registrar who had been disciplined for refusing to perform civil partnership ceremonies on the grounds that they went against her strong Christian beliefs.
Source: Ladele v London Borough of Islington, Court of Appeal 15 December 2009
Links: Text of judgement | Liberty press release | TUC press release | BHA press release | People Management report | Ekklesia report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government published an action plan on hate crime, including new measures to support victims of hate crime, bring more perpetrators to justice, and increase reporting of the crimes concerned.
Source: Hate Crime: The Cross-Government Action Plan, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Action plan | Equality impact assessment | ACPO press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Sep
An article examined the recent treatment of same-sex couples in England and the Republic of Ireland, including the impact of the European Convention and of civil partnership legislation.
Source: Brian Tobin, 'Same-sex couples and the law: recent developments in the British Isles', International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Volume 23 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Sep
A new book examined key conceptual and operational issues surrounding hate crime. It considered whether hate crimes were motivated exclusively by hate; whether they were intended as 'message' crimes, designed to intimidate fellow members of the victim's minority group; and which types of people were responsible for committing hate crimes.
Source: Neil Chakraborti and Jon Garland, Hate Crime: Impact, causes and responses, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Summary | Leicester University press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A report examined the way in which same-sex couples had reacted to recent legislative changes in relation to civil partnerships, employment discrimination against gays, and rights to adoption.
Source: Martin Mitchell, Sarah Dickens and William O'Connor, Same-Sex Couples and the Impact of Legislative Changes, National Centre for Social Research (020 7250 1866)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report examined the perceptions and experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people towards homophobic hate crime and policing in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland police service had made substantial progress in gaining the co-operation of the LGB community: but there were still high levels of homophobic hate crime throughout Northern Ireland, and low levels of reporting.
Source: John O'Doherty, Perceptions and Experiences of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People Towards Homophobic Hate Crime and Policing in Northern Ireland, Rainbow Project (028 9031 9030)
Links: Report | Rainbow press release | NIPB press release
Date: 2009-Jun
The Scottish Parliament approved a Bill to extend hate crime laws to cover disabled people and those from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual communities.
Source: Patrick Harvie MSP, Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill, TSO, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283) | Scottish Parliament Official Report, Debate 3 June 2009, columns 18098-18126, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | MSP debate | SG press release | SAMH press release | Capability Scotland press release
Date: 2009-Jun
An article examined progress in the policing of hate crime. Some of the more problematic aspects of policing hate crime still presented major challenges, and it was difficult to say with certainty whether the strategic prioritization of hate crime had fundamentally transformed the quality of operational responses.
Source: Neil Chakraborti, 'A glass half full? Assessing progress in the policing of hate crime', Policing, Volume 3 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-May
A literature review examined the experiences of children of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents.
Source: The Experiences of Children with Lesbian and Gay Parents: An initial scoping review of evidence, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Literature review | Christian Institute press release
Date: 2009-Apr
An article said that health and social care organizations should seek to engage with the social networks of lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered people, through monitoring and other measures, in order to meet their needs more effectively.
Source: Bob Cant, 'Legal outcomes: reflections on the implications of LGBT legal reforms in the UK for health and social care providers', Diversity in Health and Social Care, Volume 6 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Mar
An article said that a significant minority of psychiatrists and therapists still attempted to help lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients became heterosexual, despite a lack of evidence that such treatment was effective or even safe.
Source: Annie Bartlett, Glenn Smith and Michael King, 'The response of mental health professionals to clients seeking help to change or redirect same-sex sexual orientation', BMC Psychiatry, Volume 9
Links: Article | Abstract | UCL press release | BHA press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
A committee of MSPs said that it supported proposals for strengthened legislation to protect victims of hate crime. The Bill concerned was subsequently approved in principle by the Scottish Parliament.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill, 6th Report 2009, SP Paper 225, Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283) | Scottish Parliament Official Report March 2009, columns 15871-15908, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Official Report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
The government published the first annual report on hate crime, bringing together information on the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service in prosecuting racist and religious hate crime, transphobic and homophobic crime, disability incidents, and domestic violence.
Source: Hate Crime Report 2007-2008, Crown Prosecution Service (020 7796 8000)
Links: Report | Pink News report | Womensgrid report
Date: 2009-Feb
A report described the findings of a qualitative and quantitative study of alcohol and drug use among gay and bisexual men, and among other men who had sex with men, in England. For those men in the study who could identify a 'cause' of their problematic alcohol or drug use, it was usually associated with social factors or incidents related to their intimate relationships.
Source: Peter Keogh et al., Wasted Opportunities: Problematic alcohol and drug use among gay men and bisexual men, Sigma Research (020 7737 6223)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Feb