Tina Turner - out! northeast magazine

Cris McCurley, Partner,Ben Haore Bell SolicitorsOPINIONHurrah! There is all sorts of newLaw popping up at the momentto bring a smile to the face of anyoutlaw in the UK. Two such areworth a mention here.On 6 April 2009 we will havethe Human Fertilisation andEmbryology Act 2008 comingonto statute books. This updatesthe earlier Act of 1990 in severalimportant ways:This in many ways is a landmarkpiece of legislation. I can recall,as I am sure many others will, thatwhen the 1990 HFEA came in,clinics were at liberty to refuse totreat single women or same sexcouples, and indeed anecdotallyI am told that the Centre for Lifein Newcastle refused to treatsame sex couples. This will notbe permissible under the newlegislation.This may come as news toCaroline Harris and Julie McMillianwho threatened to sue Glasgowand Clyde NHS for its refusal togrant them fertility treatment. Theboard had stipulated that the twowomen did not “fit the definitionof an infertile couple” and thatIVF is only given when a couplecannot conceive because onepartner is infertile. Obviously thisconstitutes discrimination. In atypically sympathetic article inthe Daily Mail, Graham Grant(27/02/2009) mourned the fate of“many heterosexual couples (who)are languishing on lengthy waitinglists for the treatment.”What does that mean? Oh,he means that they are moreworthy….Homophobia out of Football couldseriously do with a boost, butnonetheless it is a huge step in theright direction.The Act is intended to addressthe very serious threat of real andthreatened violence to lesbiansand gay men for no other reasonthan their sexuality. The CrownProsecution Service, according toStonewall, have recently confirmedthat “prosecutions for homophobichate crimes increased by 168% inthe last 2 years.”What the laws will cover are anyincitement to violence, includingthose contained in song lyric form,meaning that it will be illegal topublish or sell the offensive kindof hardcore rap music that oftenfeatures horrifically anti-gay lyrics.This is indeed a start.Under the Act, a new legal role iscreated for the female partner ofa birth mother in circumstancesmaking her position the same asthe male husband or partner of amother who had undergone fertilitytreatment. As long as the mother’spartner be it man or woman,agrees to be named as parent,then their name will be added tothe birth certificate as the secondparent. The second parent, forobvious reasons, must give writtenconsent to this as it is a majorstep.The Act also makes provisionfor a child born after a surrogacyarrangement, be they same sex oropposite sex couples, they will bethe parents nonetheless.The Act is intended to address the very seriousthreat of real and threatened violence to lesbians andgay men for no other reason than their sexuality.“prosecutions for homophobic hate crimesincreased by 168% in the last 2 years.”A word of caution however,agreeing to be a parent meansjust that. I don’t suppose for onemoment that many couples willrush into it without thinking, butshould the relationship breakdown, the non-biological parentshould be aware that she will bejust as liable for child support asany birth parent.The second piece of legislationto mention is the Criminal Justiceand Immigration Act 2008. Thisintroduced the completely newcriminal offence of “incitement tohatred on the grounds of sexualorientation.” We all have a lot to begrateful to Stonewall for this. Theycampaigned long and hard for thisto be included in the Act. Any ofus who go to football matches ona regular basis will be familiar withthe revolting anti-gay chanting thatgoes on against some players.Sadly the Act is not intended tocover what it deemed “jokes”, or“playground banter.” That is a pity,because campaigns such as KickThe government also take theway in that the House of Lordswere able to push through anamendment to the Act later inthe day adding a defence of “agenuine religious conviction.” Thisreally is short sighted becauseit means that those who seekto misquote Islamic scripture/the Koran or the bible to theirown ends will be able to use thisdefence, even presumably to theextent that some extremist Muslimleaders promote Jihad or HolyWar against gays and lesbians.Obviously this is all to be testedout in the Court and hopefullygood sense will prevail and thedefence will not succeed.Hands up who is sick of hearing the phrase “its political correctnessgone mad.”? I personally think it should be banned. Frightened rightwingers of all colour and religious persuasion have been braying it like amantra following the government’s decision that it is ok to tell school kidsthat it is ok to be gay. I ask you! All we are talking about is a few booksabout alternative families and people are going crackers and pulling theirkids out of lessons. One man (interviewed in the Daily Mail) describinghimself as a 41 year old accountant said “Christians and Muslim parentsobjected.” and “we as parents did not receive any guidance that this wasgoing to happen…. I don’t want my children learning about this. I wrotea letter to the chairman of the governors explaining I would be taking mychildren out of school.” He went on to say that he is now faced with Courtaction, and rightly so. What are these people so afraid of? PersonallyI think intolerance and bigotry is far more frightening than the openportrayal of a loving family: but then that’s just me.And speaking of loving families, it seems that our favourite Palin, BristolsPalin and her fiancé, Levi, have separated. Frankly I’m devastated…andso shocked. I never saw that coming, what with them being the very modelof strong loving heterosexual parenthood, and all…..What will they teachin schools, now?Hands up who is sick of hearing the phrase“its political correctness gone mad.”?I personally think it should be banned.16 Out North East / Issue 15 / www.outnortheast.comOut North East / Issue 15 / www.outnortheast.com 17