‘It’s part of who I am’: the gay Liberal MPs for whom the polil is more than personal | Coaln | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘IT’S PART OF WHO I AM’: THE GAY LIBERAL MPS FOR WHOM THE POLIL IS MORE THAN PERSONAL
• THE QUIET REVOLUTN: WHY BRA HAS MORE GAY MPS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
• THE TE STORY OF ‘A VERY ENGLISH SNDAL’ AND THE TRIALS OF A CLOSETED GAY POLICIAN
• LIBERAL MPS UNR PRSURE OM PENNTS OVER PROTECTNS FOR GAY STUNTS AND TEACHERS
• GAY LIBERAL MP TELLS WHY HE CROSSED THE FLOOR: I ULDN’T LIVE WH MYSELF IF I DIDN’T ACT
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

‘IT’S PART OF WHO I AM’: THE GAY LIBERAL MPS FOR WHOM THE POLIL IS MORE THAN PERSONAL

When Trent Zimmerman won the North Sydney byelectn December, was the first time an openly gay man or woman had won a Hoe of Reprentativ the July electn, there are now three gay Liberal lower-hoe MPs: the former “eedom missner” Tim Wilson, a former head of the Natnal Retail Associatn, Trevor Evans, and speakg wh all three, is clear they are proud of this achievement.

”Wilson c the crimalisatn of homosexual acts as an example of the evils of “public llective moraly” speaks wh equal passn when he says his grandmother would not be able to make sandwich her home kchen for Country Fire Authory volunteers bee of food safety laws – the nanny state terferg wh is a ls faiar face, g om the retailers’ peak body. He ced Atralia’s law nyg gay people accs to marriage and higher rat of prsn and suici among LGBTI his speech, some people had advised him that his sexualy was not an issue he need to reflect upon, he why his lleagu might have told him that, Zimmerman repli: “their msage was that I shouldn’t allow myself to be fed by my sexualy”.

THE QUIET REVOLUTN: WHY BRA HAS MORE GAY MPS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE

I am not parliament as a gay activist but is part of who I am. I thought the fact I got there as an openly gay person was worth celebratg. ”Zimmerman says sexualy “don’t fe me terms of my approach to polics – but you have a heightened sense of equaly and fairns, particularly growg up at a time that change is happeng but is still hard to e out and intify as gay” says that to avoid beg stereotyped, gay policians have to show they are “there for a whole broad range of polici, cludg enomic ernance and other social issu” did this tr arrive polics general and the Liberal party particular?

Wilson was attracted to the Liberal party at the age of 18 bee of the Kent ernment’s efforts to “liberalise the state away om the power of burecratic ntrol and the unn movement” Zimmerman is seen durg the 38th annual Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras para Sydney March.

A fg issue for all members of the Turnbull ernment – gay or straight – will be the marriage equaly plebisce, expected late 2016 or early says the plebisce was “not my first preference but ’s the only way to get done and alt wh this parliament”. I ask whether the tr’s new nstuents are aware of their small part sendg a rerd number of gay MPs to says he n unt on one hand the number of tim sexualy has been raised on the mpaign trail.

THE TE STORY OF ‘A VERY ENGLISH SNDAL’ AND THE TRIALS OF A CLOSETED GAY POLICIAN

That is spe his opponent, Labor’s Pat O’Neill, also beg gay, a fact noted profil of the ntt for says some voters unted his sexualy as a posive, some as a negative. “Before my electn, there was a perceptn would be difficult for a gay MP to stand for a lower-hoe seat, bee there uld be backlash, ” he says. Terms of personal attacks or appropriate language” says he is willg to pch as well, but he’ll first take unsel om the y mpaign about whether that will be is proud of havg advoted gay marriage for some time, before Bill Shorten was favour of and while Penny Wong was bound to Labor’s, gog forward, he is eager not to be pigeonholed as a gay MP.

“I am terted the whole of society, cludg issu that affect gay and lbian people. “I’m not keen on fosterg that image of exclive tert gay issu, bee then journalists only ever want to talk to me about those issu, and after a while the public thks that’s the only thg you’re terted .

”Zimmerman noted his first parliamentary speech that g out remaed hard for many is the double standard faced by LGBTI youth, that they have to ci and clare their inty, where their heterosexual peers do gay policians, seems the standard they mt meet is to show they are terted the issu of more than one sectn of the muny. Stephen Twigg was gay – a “practisg homosexual”, to e a formula still popular at the time – and though mours about Michael Portillo’s sexualy had been swirlg for years, he was most fely not. The day after Twigg’s victory, Chris Smh, an MP sce 1983 and out sce 1984, beme the first openly gay secretary of state – culture, naturally.

LIBERAL MPS UNR PRSURE OM PENNTS OVER PROTECTNS FOR GAY STUNTS AND TEACHERS

The years rolled by and anti-gay legislatn was rolled back. Now Bra fds self wh the queert legislature the world: 32 of the Uned Kgdom’s 650 MPs llg themselv gay, lbian or bisexual. And two nstuenci last week – Lanster & Fleetwood and Milton Keyn South – both the Tory and Labour ndidat were gay, lbian or bisexual.

GAY LIBERAL MP TELLS WHY HE CROSSED THE FLOOR: I ULDN’T LIVE WH MYSELF IF I DIDN’T ACT

Proportnally, though, the SNP is now by far the gayt party Wtmster, wh 12% of s MPs chalkg themselv up as sexual may scratch our heads as to the meang of the numbers: is a surprise that there are so many out Tori? How did a untry raised on tabloid sndal end up so at ease wh gay public figur?

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

Homosexualy was crimalised England and Wal 1967 by reformg home secretary Roy Jenks (Stland had to wa until 1980, and Northern Ireland until 1982), but prosecutns for sexual offenc ntued to snare many gay men to the 90s. In addn, a vic prs culture of blackmail and exposure ma life difficult for gay people who wanted to participate ernment and Tatchell, who stood as the Labour ndidate for Bermondsey 1983, was the subject of a notorly homophobic mpaign by his Liberal opponents. It was impossible for any ndidate or MP to be openly gay whout the fear of beg monised by the tabloids.

“There were lots of gay MPs, ” he says, “but they were all the closet, eher bee they were secure about their own sexualy, or bee they feared vilifitn the papers and selectn by their party. ” So wasn’t jt the prs, but the party mach that failed to treat gay and lbian people wh rpect, wed by Fleet Street’s ferocy. Constuents and rival parti said: ‘Not only is he gay and wants gay rights, he’s open and brazen about .

’”Peter Tatchell ( red shirt) jos the celebratns after MPs voted to cut the homosexual age of nsent to 16 1998. Photograph: Tony Harris/PAStill, Tatchell says there was “public revulsn” agast the homophobia he experienced, which he believ ma the tabloids more reluctant to nduct anti-gay wch-hunts, for a time, at least.