Our response continues:"We are pleased that the Parliament and Executive have now accepted a number of recommendations made by the EOC, including the establishment of an Equal Opportunities Committee, an Equality Unit and a commitment to mainstream equality in the work of the Parliament and Executive.All of this is consistent with Section L of Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act which empowers the Scottish Parliament to encourage equal opportunities on grounds not only of sex, but also, inter alia, of sexual orientation, and with the Programme for Government which commits the Executive to putting equal opportunity at the heart of all policy making.However, we believe that Section 2A of the Local Government Act 1986 raises issues of compatibility with Section L of Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act, and with the Executive' s support for equal opportunity as expressed in the Programme for Government, and we welcome the decision of the executive to address these issues in the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Bill.Following an extensive consultation throughout Britain in 1997, the EOC informed the UK Government of our view that there should be legal protection against discrimination for lesbians and gay men.