Liberal Democrats and Islington Council lead on gay equality (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Liberal Democrats and Islington Council lead on gay equality

February 10, 2010 2:56 PM

Liberal Democrat banners at Pride London 2009

Liberal Democrats marching at London Pride last year.

Islington's Liberal Democrat-run Council has been recognised as one of the most gay-friendly employers in the country, and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP has outlined his plan to achieve full gay equality in the UK.

Leading gay equality campaign group Stonewall put Islington Council in 11th place in its index of the top 100 Employers. Islington was the third best local authority in the national survey of private and public sector employers in Britain. This is a huge improvement over last year - the first year that Islington Council took part in the Index - when the borough entered the list at a respectable 77th place.

Stonewall commended Islington's community engagement programme, which included tackling homophobic bullying in schools, and getting the borough's young people involved in LGBT history month.

Islington is estimated to have the third highest population of LGBT residents of all the London boroughs, and Islington Town Hall is one of the favourite venues in London for civil partnerships.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg MP, in an interview with Attitude magazine, laid out a comprehensive package of measures to achieve full gay equality in the UK, which he called on other party leaders to back. The Liberal Democrats are campaigning to:

change the law to give gay people the same marriage rights as straight couples.
make all schools implement measures to stop homophobic bullying.
make sure all school staff teach that homosexuality is normal.
reverse the ban on gay men being allowed to give blood.
review Uganda's membership of the Commonwealth if its Government legislates against homosexuality.

Islington Council leader Terry Stacy said:

"Nick Clegg has made it totally clear that the Liberal Democrats are way out in front of the other two parties when it comes to fighting for full equality for gay people.

"With Liberal Democrats running councils across the country, we are in a position to make a real difference to gay people in our areas - by being model employers when it comes to equality in the workplace, by stamping out homophobic bullying in schools and the community, and by campaigning for full marriage rights."