All eyes will be on the House of Assembly today.

On the manicured lawns outside, the pro-democracy rally will be in full swing.

Inside, MPs will be debating whether to give themselves a pay rise.

This could mean Premier Alex Scott?s salary almost doubling to $200,000, with full-time Ministers picking up $100,000.

Today?s ?Lunch for Democracy? will start at 12.15 p.m. at the lawn of the House of Assembly in order to discuss leadership, democracy and human rights in Bermuda.

It follows last week?s decision to throw out Government backbencher Ren?e Webb?s bill to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The issue has become a big talking point in the country, with views divided.

Organisers said ever since the bill?s failure there had been an outpouring of disappointment and frustration. ?Judging from the responses we?ve had, I would not be at all surprised if we have several hundred people turn up for lunch on Friday,? Suzanne Mayall said last night. She added: ?I want to encourage everybody who comes out that this is a peaceful non-confrontational gathering.?

Despite last week?s virtual silence from Government ? only one other MP spoke to the bill ? the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) told the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC) last year that gay rights should be included in Bermuda?s Constitution.

The PLP submission to BIC said the Island?s Bill of Rights should be remodelled on Article 9 of the South African Constitution which includes protecting homosexuals from discrimination because of their sexual orientation.

?The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, language and birth,? the PLP BIC submission said.

PLP spokesman Scott Simmons said yesterday this only meant gay rights ? as well as the other grounds ? should be further discussed at a Constitutional Conference.

Mr. Simmons would not say whether the PLP was for gay rights or against but admitted that judging from last Friday?s fallout, it would generate a lot of discussion.

?Obviously it would be a significant point,? Mr. Simmons said.

?You can appreciate Bermuda will have an opportunity to take time out and really pick those characteristics that would benefit Bermuda in every way. Obviously from last Friday sexual orientation will be one of those that gets scrutiny.?

Mr. Simmons said anything enshrined in an independent Bermuda constitution would have to ?reflect what people want and feel?. However, Ms Webb said she knew of the PLPs submission to BIC, which was one of the reasons she put her Private Members Bill forward.

When told of Mr. Simmons? statements about a Constitutional Conference, she replied: ?So that?s how they want to deal with it!?

And in 2004 Finance Minister Paula Cox said at a 2004 annual PLP conference banquet that the PLP had a vision that ?embodies the ideal of what our country can be - a view that rests on the assumption that all human beings, regardless of their differences of name, language, culture, religion, gender or sexual orientation must find genuine opportunity.?

Ms Cox said yesterday she voted against gay rights on Friday because the amendment was too widely framed.

?My sticking point with the amendment as drafted was this - I would have had less misgivings with a more narrowly-framed amendment,? Ms Cox said. ?In my view the amendment was too widely framed. I would have been more receptive to an amendment that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the arena of employment, accommodation and the provision of services.?

And PLP Central Committee member LaVerne Furbert said yesterday it was folly of Ms Webb to expect that her bill would pass.

?I must remind those who think that the matter should have been debated last Friday, that slavery was abolished in Bermuda in 1834. However, it took over 100 years of debate, public demonstrations, and other forms of protest before blacks were legally considered equal to whites,? Ms Furbert said. ?And according to Ms Webb, many of us are still fighting to end discrimination based on race in Bermuda.?

Ms Furbert also said Ms Webb showed no regard for her constituents by raising the issue of gay rights.

MPs? salaries will also be under the spotlight today.

Premier Alex Scott has put forward a Draft Resolution ? stemming from the Report of the Ministers and Members of the Legislature Salaries Review Board ? that he get a proposed wage increase from $111,714 ? made up of the current MP?s salary of $39,428 and the Premier?s pay of $72,286 ? to $200,000.

The Review Board also recommended that Ministers should get $150,000 if they were judged to be full-time and $100,000 per year if they were part-time, up from $78,856 now.

And MPs would receive a pay hike from $39,428 to $50,000 ? a 26.8 percent pay rise.

It also said Minister of Finance Paula Cox ? who now earns $95,286 ? should get a salary of $170,000 per year as a full-time Minister ? or $120,000 as a part-timer.

The pay-cheque of Dr. Ewart Brown ? currently paid $88,713 as Deputy Premier ? should increase to $162,000 per year as a full-time Minister, or $112,000 as a part-timer.

The review board said the salaries could cost between $602,000 and $1,202,000 depending on how many Ministers were judged to be full-time.

Only two other pieces of legislation, the Medical Practitioners Amendment Act 2006 and the Golf Courses (Consolidation) Amendment Act 2006, will be debated today.