ENHANCING THE RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL PEOPLE IN NORTHERN IRELAND Published August 2001 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Temple Court 39 North Street Belfast BT1 1NA Tel: 028 9024 3987 Fax: 028 9024 7844 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.nihrc.org FOREWORD This report is the product of four months of research conducted for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission by researchers at the University of Ulster with the assistance of two practising barristers. It was commissioned because the Human Rights Commission identified the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people as one of the priority areas for work in its first three years of existence. The researchers also looked at the rights of transgendered people and this part of their work will be published by the Commission later in 2001. The primary aim of the research was to evaluate relevant law, policy and practice in Northern Ireland against the standards established under international human rights law. This is in line with the Commission’s overall Mission Statement, which indicates that we will measure law, policy and practice against internationally accepted rules and principles for the protection of human rights and seek to ensure that those rules and principles are promoted, adopted and applied throughout Northern Ireland. The Commission feels that the researchers performed their task admirably and is pleased to be able to put the outcome of their work into the public domain. We very much hope that their findings and recommendations will be given close attention by law and policy- makers both in Belfast and in London.