Welcome to ‘The week that was’ – today we bring you news about ban on age discrimination in services, posters of ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ considered offensive, California bans teenage gay conversion therapy, the No Homophobes guide to language on Twitter and more.

A ban on age discrimination in the provision of services has come into force, with effect from 1 October. This implies that it will now be unlawful for service providers to discriminate on the basis of age. Exceptions will be made under certain circumstances – for example, if it is designed to address disadvantage experienced by a particular age group, or if good reason can be shown for the differential treatment.

Interestingly, in a recent interview with the Guardian, the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper said ‘a toxic combination of sexism and ageism’ is affecting a whole generation of women in the UK.

Meanwhile, complaints about two billboard adverts for Channel 4 show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The posters featured images of a young boy looking aggressively at the camera and teenage girls wearing low-cut tops. The ASA ruled that they were likely to cause ‘serious offence’ to some members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities.

In a controversial move, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a ban on therapy aimed at making gay teenagers straight. The bill was backed by mental health groups, and gay rights activists say reparative or ‘conversion therapy’ can increase risk of depression or suicide. Two Christian groups, the California-based Pacific Justice Institute and the Florida-based Liberty Counsel are planning to challenge the law.

Finally, some infographics fun – to monitor the use of homophobic language on Twitter, NoHomophobes.com have created a live counter of Twitter language, complete with analysis of word use over the last week and all time. 

Did you come across something interesting? Let us know – Equality.and.Diversity@lse.ac.uk.