LONDON (CWNews.com) - Britain's House of Lords last night voted to retain Section 28, the so-called "anti-gay" law which forbids the promotion of homosexuality in schools.

    The Tony Blair's government will be unable to overturn the decision as the move began in the House of Lords. Instead, they have announced plans to hold fresh talks with Church leaders as a removal of the Section was part of the Labour Party's election manifesto.

    Local Government Minister Hilary Armstrong told the BBC that the government was "very disappointed" at the Lords' decision but she added: "The government remains committed to the repeal of Section 28, which has caused confusion in schools and local councils, and has been a barrier to building a supportive and tolerant society."

    During the six-hour debate, Baroness Young, who led the campaign to keep the legislation, said: "The center of this debate is children, children in schools, children who in my opinion ought not to be treated as if they were adults and in a position to make an informed choice about alternative lifestyles, about which they cannot possibly have the experience to judge."

    Lord Alli, the homosexual Labour peer, compared the "hate" engendered by Section 28 with last year's nail bomb attacks in black and Asian areas of London and a homosexual pub in Soho. "This is indeed a debate about morality. For me it is about the morality of hate. I believe that that hate exists because we teach our children to hate," he said.

    A spokesman for the Keep the Clause campaign in Scotland, which was instigated by Cardinal Thomas Winning, said: "Let this be a warning to those who would put the moral education of our children at risk."

    But there was dissent from Catholic peer Lord St John of Fawsley who criticized the stand taken by Cardinal Winning. "Cardinal Winning has spoken out in an unappetizing way, which I as a Catholic do not agree with," he said.

    The debate is likely to be reignited on Thursday when the House of Commons begins the debate on lowering the age of consent for homosexual sex from 18 to 16.