Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has said “a deep strain of homophobia still exists on the Conservative benches”, reports the BBC, at a time when surveys indicate that a large proportion of gay men and lesbians – many of whom worked and voted for a Tony Blair election success – have reverted to their traditional support for the Conservatives, the party so against ‘promoting homosexuality’ that they did a tremendous job of it for years, and a support I have never understood.
Other people think its Labour, the champions of gay rights and civil partnerships, who are the homophobic lot. Peter Tatchell is quoted and Politics.co.uk writes today: ‘Mr Brown supported various forms of discrimination against homosexuals, including the civil partnerships arrangement, which some gay activists say denigrates gay relationships (by) putting them on a lower footing than marriage. Activists are also upset the Home Office sometimes allows homophobic reggae singers to enter the country on a tour. There are also concerns at the absence of any protection for gays and lesbians against harassment in the upcoming equality bill. “Labour’s many commendable gay law reforms are no excuse for its stonewalling on the abolition of these remaining aspects of homophobic discrimination.’
Personally I think they are all as bad as each other – in other words they are merely a reflection of a society which is less homophobic than it was when I was growing up – considerably less – but still has work to do.
