The BBC reports that the government is launching an Equality Data Programme to gather information on people's backgrounds, social mobility and inequality between regions. The government is promising to focus more on people's social class and individual "character", as it overhauls its equality policy.
Equalities minister Liz Truss said the discrimination debate should not focus solely on race, religion, sexual orientation and disability. Discussion had too often been dominated by "fashion" and not "facts", she said.
From Personnel Today: "Women and equalities minister Liz Truss has criticised the Equality Act 2010 and dismissed unconscious bias training as one of several ‘tools of the left’ that do nothing to ‘fix systems’. She stated that the state’s agenda had become too narrow, and the discrimination debate should not focus solely on race, religion, sexual orientation and disability."
A marked change from faith leaders who have been falling over themselves to sign up to plead forgiveness from the LGBT+ community.
The Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives is organised by a Christian activist, Jayne Ozanne.
From Religion Media Centre: "A coalition of faith leaders from across the globe have signed a declaration affirming their conviction that LGBTQ+ people are loved by God equally. The document, whose production was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, also calls for a ban on any efforts to change or suppress someone’s sexual or gender identity (often known as conversion therapy), and for countries that still criminalise LGBTQ+ people and their relationships to reform their laws urgently."
Allegations of persecution in the UK persist despite a marked shift in public opinion. Ozanne is a significant driving force in this movement. Of course LGBTQ+ people are loved by God equally and she is at liberty to campaign about conversion therapy but that does not justify attempts to re-interpret the Bible to accord with personal preference.
The declaration, Declaring the Sanctity of Life and the Dignity of All, has been signed by faith leaders from more than 30 countries.
The Welsh contingent on the original list of Signatories as of 16th December 2020 includes five of the six Church in Wales diocesan bishops, a retired bishop and two Methodist Synod Chairpersons.
Postscript [21.12.2020]
Parts of Liz Truss's speech previously reported in full on the gov.uk website were cut and replaced with a note saying that “political content” had been redacted. Officials say the political elements of the speech attacking “the failed ideas of the left” had been uploaded in error. Government resources are not supposed to be used for political campaigning and parts of speeches that cross into this territory are usually left off departmental websites. - Independent.
The woke battle continues:
I've been unfairly targeted, says academic at heart of National Trust 'woke' row. Professor warns of ‘political agenda’ to discredit researchers exploring slavery links. The academic at the centre of an escalating row over the National Trust’s efforts to explore links between its properties and colonialism has warned of a “political agenda” to “misrepresent, mischaracterise, malign and intimidate” those involved in the project. - Guardian.
At an online question and answer session in November, National Trust members accused the charity of “defaming” Winston Churchill’s memory with its “woke agenda". During a heated annual general meeting furious National Trust members criticised the organisation’s directors for pursuing “a witch hunt” in a new report linking more than 90 National Trust properties to slavery and colonialism. - Evening Standard.
