GAY people still fear discrimination despite legislation to promote equality, according to a comprehensive poll.

The survey carried out by YouGov for charity Stonewall, which promotes gay rights, found many of Britain's 3.6 million gay people fear discrimination and don't expect to receive fair treatment.

The survey found nine out of 10 gay, lesbian and bisexual respondents expected to be discriminated against when becoming a foster parent, a quarter expected to be treated worse than heterosexuals if they were the victim of a hate crime and nearly one in five said they had been bullied at work because of their sexuality.

Despite a raft of legislation including the introduction of civil partnerships, rules making it easier for gay people to adopt and the repeal of Section 28, the law against the promotion of homosexuality, Stonewall says more needs to be done to promote equality.

In the survey, which questioned more than 1,600 people, eight in 10 said they would face barriers in becoming a school governor and around a third thought they could have problems enrolling their children in primary schools.

It also reported a rise in homophobic bullying in schools.

More than six in 10 school-age respondents said they had been bullied at school and eight out of 10 felt they were not able to come out in school.

Joe Finch, 24, who works for Hampshire Police, said although he is openly gay now he was not able to come out at school.

He said: "There was a negative attitude towards gay people and some people who were openly gay were getting bullied all the time."

Mr Finch thinks attitudes have changed greatly in the last 20 years but there is still progress to be made. He plays for a gay football team, GFC Bourne-mouth, but said: "Particularly in football there is a problem there are very few openly gay footballers. I think that the word gay' has negative connotations and this needs to be changed."

The survey also found that nine out of 10 gay people thought they would face barriers to running as a Parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives.

Conservative openly gay prospective Parliamentary candidate for Mid Dorset Nick King disagrees. He said: "I have always been open about my sexuality and I have never had any kind of discrimination.

"People have been curious - some old dears are curious to the point of embarrassment.

"I think a lot of it comes down to how you behave, if you are open and don't make a big thing about it.

"I am many things, a Tory, a businessman, bald, an only child and just one of these happens to be gay."

He did say he had spoken to other gay people who were thinking about putting themselves forward as Parliamentary candidates and were worried about the possibility of discrimination.

Mr King said that in the early 90s when travelling with his partner he found they were automatically given hotel rooms with twin beds and they felt it would be awkward to ask for a double room.

He said: "Once when I just got fed up and asked the hotel to change the room and they were embarrassed that they had not noticed we were gay."

He has also on occasion when coming out of gay bars in Brighton been shouted at by people.

He said: "I have also heard about people who have suffered inappropriate behaviour from colleagues."

But Mr King believes that attitudes towards homosexuality have changed dramatically in the last 10 years and he is hopeful they will continue to change over the next 10 years.

He believes that successful openly gay people are positive role models and will help in changing attitudes. But he would never force anyone to come out against their will.

He said: "I think it is a positive thing for people to come out but everyone's situation is different. I have been lucky - my family is very supportive. I completely understand the need to protect some parts of your private life. It is something you have to be aware of for your partner's sake."