The-Scottish-LGBT-Equality-Report

INTRODUCTIONIn recent years Scotland has made considerable progress towardsachieving legal and social equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender (LGBT) people.The passage of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014, witha strong parliamentary majority and broad public support, was an historicmilestone that demonstrates just how far we have come in the thirty-fiveyears since Scotland decriminalised homosexuality in 1980.Laws have improved and attitudes have changed, but while it is importantto celebrate the advances we have made we should not lose sight of thefact that LGBT people in Scotland continue to face remaining inequalitiesin legislation and unacceptable levels of prejudice, discrimination anddisadvantage in society.The Scottish LGBT Equality Report is the most comprehensive researchto date into LGBT people’s experiences of inequality in Scotland,presenting the results of a survey of 1,052 people living across the lengthand breadth of the country.It reveals the extent to which LGBT people continue to face inequalityin their everyday lives and outlines recommendations for each of thekey areas in which progress needs to be made in order for Scotland tobecome the fairer and more equal society we all want to see.Tom FrenchEquality Network1