U.K. INCREASES MINORITY REPRESENTATION BUT EXCLUDES GAYS

In the U.K, the government wants to increase the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people to the boards of public bodies. However, when looked closely at this new plan, sexual orientation was not included.

Uh Oh... Definately going to have some upset Gays in the house:

Harriet Harman, Secretary of State for Equality, said:
"Our ultimate aim is to have fair representation of women, black and Asian, and disabled people at every level of our democracy, including in public bodies.

"I'm going to keep a sharp eye on appointments made by each government department."

In response to the Harman's words Derek Munn, head of public affairs for gay equality organisation Stonewall, said:

"Given the government's aim of extend equal protect to sexual orientation, Stonewall expects this to apply in every area of the government's work and public appointments are no different." [SOURCE]

FIGHT.. FIGHT... FIGHT.. Just jokin.. but still I wonder why gays were left out??

SCOTLAND: SELF-HARMING HIGH AMONGST LESBIANS

This piece is quite alarming. In Scotland, a survey was conducted and some disturbing results were found. The survey was conducted with a total of 500 Scottish women by the charity Stonewall . It seems that 20 per cent of lesbian and bisexual women in Scotland had deliberately harmed themselves in the last year, compared to 0.4 per cent of the general population.

THE first major survey conducted into lesbian and bisexual women's health in Scotland has found high levels of self-harm, discrimination and exclusion from routine testing for cervical cancer.

The study also found that five per cent of lesbian and bisexual women have attempted to take their own life in the last year.

Those polled are also still not accessing vital cancer screening services, the charity said.

Calum Irving, director of Stonewall Scotland, said: "This report is a wake-up call for all those concerned with health in Scotland.

"For lesbian and bisexual women the experiences of prejudice, misunderstanding and at times hostility can damage long-term health and wellbeing." [SOURCE]

That is definately not cool. I hope this brings light to the issue and that the governement will start to pour some funding into the community to bring more awareness to these concerns.