Lord Morrow: Regulations are repressive

Tuesday, 09, Jan 2007 12:00

Lord Morrow has called the sexual orientation regulations "repressive" and said they prevent people living according to their religious beliefs.

The regulations prohibit businesses from refusing service on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Lord Morrow, chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has put forward a motion to overturn the regulations, which came into force in Northern Ireland on January 1st and will be implemented in England and Wales in April.

He told Today: "I think it's…reasonable that those who want to run their guest house with a Christian ethos and in a way that they feel is proper and right, that they should be allowed to do it. This legislation will not allow them to do that and that is repressive."

Such protection would put gay people "in a privileged position", he said.

The peer also criticised the way the legislation had been introduced in the province under direct rule powers and said the consultation period had been shorter than expected.