4th Feb 10
No new gay legislation under Tory government
by Paul Russell
David Cameron has insisted that no new gay rights legislation will introduced under a Tory government, he revealed in an interview discussing gay rights.
The Conservatives leader apologised for his party’s history of spearheading anti-gay legislation and went further than any previous Tory leader in mentioning his belief in equal rights for all regardless of sexual preference.
But he did not respond to statements by some of the Tories’ anti-gay allies in Europe as ‘homophobic’ and suggested that instead of new laws here to challenge homophobia, there needed simply to be a changing culture.
The leader of the Conservatives said how he had persuaded the party to embrace gay rights.
Taking a more profoundly liberal step than his predecessors, Cameron admitted the Tories had made a mistake by trying to keep Section 28, the Thatcher-era law that made it illegal for any public body to ‘promote homosexuality’ to children, repealed in 2000.
He went on to say that a Tory government would continue to support gay adoption, give asylum to anyone seeking persecution because of their sexual orientation, and consider revising the ban on gay men giving blood.
Under the leadership of Mr Cameron, the Conservatives have made a series of back flips on gay rights, which have helped shed the party’s homophobic reputation. However their newfound advocacy of gay equality has been undermined by the leader’s decision to ally with a new coalition of centre-right parties in Brussels, led by some politicians who had made profoundly homophobic statements.
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