Getting married more easy than getting a job, for LGB people in Scotland's public sector

Just when Scotland's chatterati had become puffed up into a grand conceit of themselves over the much-trumpeted passage of same-sex marriage legislation, along comes some cold hard facts which deflate that feel-good hot air surrounding the perceptions of Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual [LGB] equality in Scotland.

Last year, research into what Scotland's NHS and Universities were managing to do in making equality of employment opportunity happen for LGB people revealed some harsh realities.  In both sectors it is estimated that over 10,000 LGB people are missing from the payroll.

This year, research into the performance of Councils in the same area reveals yet more of that same old homophobia in employment.  Using a model for employment rates of LGB people cited by Stonewall and government, and comparing this to what Councils publish in their data on LGB employment, there are 14,779 LGB people missing from Council payrolls across Scotland.  Exceeding even the abysmal failures of Scotland's NHS and Universities combined.

It is not just that Councils are such poor employers when it comes to equality of employment opportunity for LGB people.  They also avoid gathering the evidence which would allow them to identify discrimination in their practices and cultures, change things, and employ more LGB people.  For almost 95% of the council workforce across Scotland we - and Councils as employers - don't know the sexual orientation of workers.  In most cases, this is because councils have not even been trying to gather the data.

There are any number of ways to look at the data published by councils and conclude that discrimination is rooted deep in the systems, cultures and practices of councils.  One of these is to imagine if all the LGB people missing from the payrolls of Scotland’s local authorities were to form a queue to speak to their MSP in Scotland’s parliament about the homophobia and discrimination evident in council employment.  That queue for equality of employment opportunity would reach 8.9 miles and take us all the way from Holyrood to the site of the Battle of Prestonpans and the Jacobite Rising in 1745.

If you are shocked by this and want to bring pressure to bear on politicians who must carry responsibility for this betrayal of LGB people, there are a number of simple things you can do.

Share the report with your friends and colleagues.  Giving oxygen to this betrayal of LGB people is vital if we are to secure real, measurable equality of opportunity.

Ask your councillor what she or he thinks of the performance of your council and what action they will take to employ more LGB people over the next 5 years.

Ask your MSP what she or he knows about the performance of councils and what they will do to do to eliminate the discrimination which clearly exists.

And finally, but no less importantly, John Swinney is the Scottish government minister with responsibility for local government.  Get on his case and demand real action leading to real change and real equality of employment opportunity for LGB people.

You can email John Swinney with your demands using this link.

You can also tweet him via Twitter, demanding that he and Scottish government take real and immediate action, and end this betrayal of LGB people.

Tweet to @JohnSwinney