Pink Vote

This morning “Tory Bear” addresses the question of the gay vote.

He writes:

“Every so often TB gets contacted by various gay Tories who are sick to the back teeth of being told by Labour members that gay people have a moral duty to vote Labour. This sort of homophobic fear mongering by the left has to stop.”

Now I must declare an interest in this story, since about two years ago I bravely came out as a Tory voter…and on a stormy night, after a few glasses of Margaux, goodness knows what else I could get up to!

That aside, does TB’s indignation stack up?

I seem to recall it was the Conservatives who opposed the repeal of the hated “section 28”. And it was William Hague who sacked Shaun Woodward from the Tory front bench for taking a principled stand on the issue.

With just one exception that I can think of, (the “Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994”), all the gay rights legislation has been enacted by Labour governments: from the Sexual Offences Act 1967 that decriminalized certain aspects of homosexual behaviour, to the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations of 2007.

Furthermore, a quick look at the voting records show that when Labour brought forward various pieces of legislation dealing with for example, age of consent, civil partnerships, anti-discrimination and so forth, the Conservatives were lukewarm. Mostly they abstained, or in the case of the usual suspects, (Ann Widdecombe, Peter Bottomley, Nicholas Winterton et al.), voted against the motion.

I have to say, I despise the State when it seeks to interfere in people’s lives, and I can’t stand all the social engineering we’ve been subjected to in recent years, yet I do believe there are some basic requirements of a decent society, about which the Conservatives have made mistakes.

Slowly the old guard are disappearing from the ranks -- hopefully the Tories are changing in this important respect. Time will tell. Pip pip.