It is important to know what legal rights you have in order to avoid discrimination based on your sexual orientation.

Some of the relevant legislatures are:

• The Employment Equality Sexual Orientation Regulations 2003 which makes it unlawful to be discriminated against or harassed based on sexual orientation at work, vocational training and university.
• The Civil Partnership Act 2004 which legalised same sex unions that gave same sex couples the same rights as opposite sex couples in a marriage.
• The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 gave same sex couples outside a civil partnership the same rights as opposite sex couples outside a marriage.
• The Adoption & Children (Scotland) Act 2007 allows for same sex couple to jointly apply for adoption and become legal parents.
• The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 which prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation in being provided goods, facilities and services (such as in being provided retail, health care, education, leisure centres, hotels and public transport).
• The Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009 which provides further protection from any crime where homophobia was also a part.
• The Equality Act 2010 which extends the protections of previous legislature. It also allows civil partnerships to be held in religious premises in England and Wales and bans discrimination based on sexual orientation by private member’s clubs. It also includes protection from discrimination for those who are HIV+.