Our sexual orientation (also known as sexuality) is defined by whether we are sexually attracted towards:
- our own sex; which means we are gay or lesbian
- the opposite se; which means we are heterosexual
- both the same and the opposite sex; which means we are bisexual people
Discrimination because of sexual orientation is when someone is treated unfairly because of their sexual orientation. Discrimination because of sexual orientation discrimination is illegal if it takes place in any of the following situations:
- Employment and training
- Education
- The provision of goods and services, for example, banking, entertainment and transport
- Housing
- Any activities carried out by public authorities such as the NHS, government departments, local authorities, fire and rescue services, the police and prisons.
An on-line public survey carried out in 2012/13 across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin showed that 22% of lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience discrimination at work because of their sexual orientation, and 45% experience wider homophobic verbal abuse because of their sexual orientation, while only 33% of that abuse is reported to the authorities – mainly because of a mistrust of enforcement and criminal justice agencies.
Useful links
Stonewall is a UK lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity named after the 1989 Stonewall Riots in New York’s Greenwich Village, a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against an early morning police raid. They were probably the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement in the United States.
Stonewall is the largest gay equality organisation in Europe. It was formed in 1989 by political activists and others lobbying against Section 28 of the Local Government Act, which sought to prohibit schools from "the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". Stonewall is now a policy development, monitoring, educational and lobbying organisation for the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival
Website of the local LGBT annual film festival.
Local LGBT listings
