The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 was secondary legislation in the United Kingdom, outlawing discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions on the grounds of sexual orientation. In 2010, these Regulations were written into the Equality Act 2010, meaning that they are no longer in force as a standalone piece of legislation. Background Provisions to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief were already enshrined in the primary Equality Act 2006. However, the Labour Party had not originally wanted to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians. The original Equality Bill, therefore, contained no clauses dealing with homophobic discrimination. The legislation was made under powers granted by the Equality Act 2006. Sections 81 and 82 of the Equality Act gave the power to make regulations to the Secretary of State and the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, respectively. Regulations made under section 81 cover Great Britain (i.e., England and Wales and Scotland) whereas regulations made under section 82 extend to Northern Ireland. As the Bill progressed through the House of Lords, amendments by the Lord Alli succeeded in forcing a Government concession; the Labour MP Desmond Turner led a similar revolt in the Commons. However, it was by then too late to allow the new measures to be added substantively to the Bill. Instead, MPs and Peers agreed to delegate the drafting of regulations to a Government minister, which paved the way for a lengthy public consultation followed by months of Cabinet wrangling. Regulations Relating to Great Britain The text of the proposed regulations was first laid before Parliament on 7 March 2007. Some faith-based adoption agencies had stated that they would need to close if they were not given an opt-out from having to place children with homosexual couples, as that would be against their religious beliefs. In a statement released from 10 Downing Street on 29 January 2007, Tony Blair said he had considered their objections carefully, but in his view there was no place for discrimination. However, for existing adoption agencies there would be a transitional period, before the regulations come fully into force at the end of 2008. In the House of Commons, the regulations were adopted by 309 votes to 99. The votes against came mostly Conservatives, plus ten Labour Members (Joe Benton, Tom Clarke, Frank Cook, Jim Dobbin, David Drew,