Women's rights activist and former Labour Member of Parliament, LSE alumna Mreen Colquhoun beme the first openly gay woman to serve Parliament.
Contents:
- THE QUIET REVOLUTN: WHY BRA HAS MORE GAY MPS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
- LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
- PRI AND PARLIAMENT: WHAT DO PRI MONTH MEAN FOR MEMBERS OF THE GAYT PARLIAMENT THE WORLD?
- THE U.K. NOW HAS MORE GAY LAWMAKERS THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY
- US WHE SUPREMACISTS FOUND GUILTY OF GAY PRI RT PLOT
- JOHNSON HAS LGBT 'BLD SPOT', SAYS FIRST OPENLY GAY BET MISTER
- LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
- THE UK HAS ELECTED THE ‘GAYT PARLIAMENT THE WORLD’: 8% SAY THEY’RE GAY OR BISEXUAL
- STLAND EMBRAC GAY POLICIANS A PROFOUND CULTURAL SHIFT
- THE UK’S PARLIAMENT IS STILL THE GAYT THE WORLD AFTER 2019 ELECTN
- AN TERVIEW WH JAPANE LGBTQI HERO, TAIGA ISHIKAWA, FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN ELECTED TO JAPANE PARLIAMENT
- MREEN COLQUHOUN – FIRST OPENLY GAY WOMAN PARLIAMENT
THE QUIET REVOLUTN: WHY BRA HAS MORE GAY MPS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
Once gay ndidat were monised – or forced to hi the closet. Now Wtmster boasts 32 LGB MPs, more than any other untry. But, as gay policians past and prent nfirm, the battle is not over yet * gay parliament members *
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.
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.
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?
LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
As Edgars Rkēvičs be the first openly gay print Latvia’s history, here’s a glimpse at other openly gay heads of state om around the world. * gay parliament members *
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. “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. ’”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.
As a rult, Chris Smh had an easier ri when he me out Conservativ’ relatnship wh homosexualy was equally uneasy. “I told her I was gay when I went to say goodbye to her and she put an arm on my wrist and said: ‘Matthew, that mt have been very difficult for you to say. It was Edwa Currie who tabled an amendment to brg the age of nsent for gay men down om 21 to 16 – there was famoly no such law alg specifilly wh lbianism.
PRI AND PARLIAMENT: WHAT DO PRI MONTH MEAN FOR MEMBERS OF THE GAYT PARLIAMENT THE WORLD?
The UK's first openly gay bet mister, Lord Smh, urg the PM to diversify his top team. * gay parliament members *
“Major issued guidance sayg was OK for senr civil servants to be gay and that changed the atmosphere a b, ” says former Labour sp doctor Lance Price.
Tatchell remembers that “ the 80s, a lot of gay MPs voted agast equaly, and many straight on – Gav Strang, Jeremy Corbyn, Dawn Primarolo – voted favour. Now gay upl are able to marry and are protected om discrimatn, is parliament still the key battleground once was?
Gay rights group Stonewall’s current foc is on bullyg, which suggts that attus, rather than legal obstacl, are the fal ontier of LGBT rights. ” Given that Cameron has jt appoted Carole Denage, who voted agast gay marriage, as mister for equali, seems wise to be vigilant. Latvia swore the first openly gay print of a Baltic natn Rkēvičs, who sce 2011 was the untry’s foreign mister, was elected by Parliament May after Print Egils Levs did not seek re-electn.
THE U.K. NOW HAS MORE GAY LAWMAKERS THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY
Once known as a bastn of social nservatism, Stland has changed dramatilly a generatn, not least through the electn of gay ndidat. * gay parliament members *
”Rkēvičs “proudly” announced he is gay on Twter November 2014, though the untry, a former Soviet republic, is not pecially LGBTQ-clive. She is thought to be the first openly gay prime mister the was an active unnist her nearly 10 years workg as a flight attendant, acrdg to the Council of Women World Lears, a work of female heads of state. After the accatn, he said, he was chased down the street by reporters, one of whom yelled, “Yet they say you’re a homosexual!
US WHE SUPREMACISTS FOUND GUILTY OF GAY PRI RT PLOT
Levels of LGBT+ reprentatn the UK parliament - wh more gay Conservative MPs than out Labour MPs followg the general electn. * gay parliament members *
”Xavier Bettel Prime Mister of Luxembourg (2013-prent)Luxembourg Prime Mister Xavier Bettel at a news nference Belgra, Serbia, on July Vojovic / APBettel was first elected prime mister of Luxembourg 2013, and 2018 he beme the first openly gay prime mister the world to be re-elected for a send marriage beme legal Luxembourg 2015, and the same year Bettel beme the first servg European Unn lear to marry a same-sex partner, the BBC recently cricized a Hungarian law that bans school tnal materials and TV shows for people unr 18 that are emed to promote LGBTQ ntent, Rters reported.
JOHNSON HAS LGBT 'BLD SPOT', SAYS FIRST OPENLY GAY BET MISTER
A Fnish Christian mocrat MP and former mister of the terr went on trial on Monday for agatn agast gay people over ments which she scribed homosexualy as a velopmental disorr and a s. * gay parliament members *
“To be natnally blamed, to be nsired as not normal, to be nsired as a danger for young people — ’s not realizg that beg gay is not a choice, ” Bettel said, acrdg to Rters. “Hopefully this will blow over three or four days, and then I won’t be known as the gay mister, ” she told The Associated Prs at the Varadkar Prime Mister of Ireland (2017-20, 2022-prent)Irish Prime Mister Leo Varadkar Bssels on June 30. Ludovic Mar / AFP - Getty Imag fileVaradkar beme Ireland’s first openly gay Taoiseach, or prime mister, 2017 and served until 2020.
LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
Contributor:Midnight PoonkasetwattanaExecutive Director, APCOM APCOM ngratulat Taiga Ishikawa, one of Japan’s leadg advot for the health and rights of LGBTQI people, on beg elected to the upper hoe of the Japane parliament, the first openly gay man ever to hold this office. Mr. Ishikawa was elected on a platform llg for marriage equaly. In 2018, * gay parliament members *
Today, Pri is suts marchg six-ch heels (that serv a badge), lbian dmmers, bi bankers, gay gby players, trans teachers and people om around the world beltg out Born This Way. Before the lourful, joyo celebratns we know them as today, Pri march origated as protts predomantly by people of lour agast police and ernment opprsn of the gay and lbian muni.
In fact, there uld be more gay MPs another untry where people do not feel as ee to state their sexual preference public. In terms of reprentatn, the hort of gay, lbian and bisexual MPs are all whe (all but two of the 155 LGBT ndidat who ran for electn were whe too) and only six are women.
THE UK HAS ELECTED THE ‘GAYT PARLIAMENT THE WORLD’: 8% SAY THEY’RE GAY OR BISEXUAL
The northern Italian cy of Padua has started removg the nam of non-blogil gay mothers om their children’s birth certifit unr new legislatn passed by the “tradnal fay-first” ernment of Prime Mister Grgia Meloni. * gay parliament members *
And wh Cameron appotg a Mister for Equali who voted agast same-sex marriage, remas to be seen whether more gay MPs will actually mean more progrs for LGBT rights.
Image source, North Country Off Grid/Youtube/via RtersImage ptn, Photos shared on social at the time allegedly showed dozens of the hate group's members beg arrted near the pri eventFive members of a whe supremacist hate group nvicted of plottg to rt at a gay pri event will spend three days jail, a urt has men and dozens other members of the Patrt Front group were arrted last June after a rint spotted them wh masks and shields gettg to a were lled and found rt gear and a smoke grena the lorry was stopped near where the North Idaho Pri Alliance was holdg an event the cy of Cor d'Alene. Media ptn, Lord Chris Smh talks about the language he wnsed parliament the 1990sBoris Johnson has a "bld spot" when to appotg LGBT+ people to his top team, the UK's first openly gay bet mister has Chris Smh, who was a member of Tony Blair's first bet 1997, said was a "matter of great regret" that there were currently no out bet urged the PM to diversify his top team "the next year or two".
STLAND EMBRAC GAY POLICIANS A PROFOUND CULTURAL SHIFT
A ernment spokman said Mr Johnson was mted to improvg UK parliament now has s hight ever proportn of lbian, gay and bisexual MPs, cludg two non-bet misters, although there are no openly transgenr members of parliament. Lord Smh, who was also the first openly gay male MP after g out 1984, said electg a trans member of parliament was a "glass ceilg" yet to be broken. "In terms of lbians and gay men I thk the glass ceilg Parliament has well and tly been broken, " he said an terview to mark LGBT+ History month.
" Chris Smh's reerImage source, PA MediaImage ptn, Smh promot Brish film at Cann 1999A leadg figure New Labour, who beme an MP for a North London nstuency 1983The followg year, at a gay rights rally Rugby, Warwickshire, he said: "My name is Chris Smh. I'm the Labour MP for Islgton South and Fsbury, and I'm gay"Smh's unscripted announcement - which earned a standg ovatn - was the first time a gay MP had chosen to e outLabour's Mreen Colquhoun - a pneerg femist whose ath at the age of 92 was announced earlier this month - had been open about her sexualy the 1970s, after the Daily Mail revealed she was a relatnship wh another womanIn 1997, Smh was appoted culture secretary, wh rponsibily for the Millennium Dome, the creative dtri and troducg ee mm entryHe later served as head of the Environment Agency, after steppg down as an MP 2005 and enterg the Hoe of LordsJte Greeng who was the first and, as thgs stand, only out lbian bet mister thks 's more of a "pipele" issue - that not as many LGBT+ MPs have risen through the ranks as had been Greeng served Thera May's Conservative bet, as tn secretary and equali mister, alongsi Secretary of State for Stland, David Munll, who also me out while office. He urged Mr Johnson to "look to the greater talent that is out there and will clu some people who happen to be lbian or gay".
Image source, Getty ImagIn the latt sign of risg homophobia different Ain untri, a Kenyan opposn MP is leadg a mpaign for parliament to further crimalise the untry's small LGBTQ muny. Gee Peter Kaluma's move after neighbourg Uganda adopted a tough new anti-gay law, rejectg threats by US Print Joe Bin to impose sanctns and travel rtrictns on "anyone volved ser human rights ab". "We want to prohib everythg to do wh homosexualy, " Mr Kaluma tells me, addg that his bill will be much broar than the legislatn passed by Uganda's parliament and approved by Print Yoweri Meveni May.
THE UK’S PARLIAMENT IS STILL THE GAYT THE WORLD AFTER 2019 ELECTN
The Ugandan law is regard as one of the harsht anti-LGBTQ laws the propos life imprisonment for anyone nvicted of homosexualy, and the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated s, which clu havg gay sex wh someone below the age of 18 or where someone be fected wh a life-long illns such as the other si of the ntent, MPs Ghana earlier this month unanimoly voted favour of amendments to the untry's anti-gay legislatn, phg closer to beg enacted to law. Though ls harsh than Uganda's new law, the Promotn of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Fay Valu Bill propos a three-year prison sentence for anyone who intifi as LGBTQ and a 10-year sentence for anyone who promot homosexualy. "The bill will propose a total ban on what the Wt lls sex-reassignment prcriptns and procr, and prohib all activi that promote homosexualy, terms of...
Gay sex is already illegal Kenya, but the ernment n also be tolerant of gay people - for example, has given asylum to people om other Ain untri, cludg Uganda, who faced persecutn their home untri bee of their sexual orientatn. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Many Kenyans believe that gay rights are agast their relign - whether Christian or MlimAlthough the meetg Uganda was billed as an attempt to protect the "sovereignty" of Ain stat, was actually -sponsored by an Amerin Christian right-wg anisatn, Fay Watch Internatnal (FWI) Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian prit the Anglin Church and an amic at Boston Universy the US, says Ain untri are beg targeted by FWI and siar US-based anisatns, and that the impact of s lobbyg has been "horrible and humane" parts of Ai, fuellg what he lls "ant homophobia".
AN TERVIEW WH JAPANE LGBTQI HERO, TAIGA ISHIKAWA, FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN ELECTED TO JAPANE PARLIAMENT
"It is one thg to say: 'I don't agree wh you beg gay', but we didn't have the ant one, where policians now are sayg: 'You go to jail for life, you go to jail for talkg about beg gay, you go to jail bee you're livg wh your fellow woman', " Dr Kaoma says.
MREEN COLQUHOUN – FIRST OPENLY GAY WOMAN PARLIAMENT
She c a Uned Natns Populatn Fund (UNFPA) manual for out-of-school youths east and southern Ai, sayg promot homosexualy and is too explic. "It sensis children to sex, " she Slater also quot om the manual, cludg l which say that facilators of lsons should have "a ntral, acceptg attu towards homosexualy". LONDON, England, December 19, 2019 (LifeSeNews) – After last week’s general electn, the Uned Kgdom now has the “gayt parliament the world, ” acrdg to U.
’s new and returng members of parliament (MPs) – cludg members of the erng Conservative party – intify as homosexual or bisexual. ’s Office for Natnal Statistics released a study which suggted that homosexuals or bisexuals ma up jt two percent of the U. ” The Sunday Tim article noted that while Boris was mayor of London he led the cy’s homosexual “pri” march, wearg a pk diamante wboy hat.
When Ruth Davidson beme the first openly gay lear of the Sttish Conservative Party 2011, she was labeled the “kickboxg lbian. Homosexualy was illegal Stland until 1980 — England was crimalized 1967 — and as recently as 2000, billboards fanced by a Christian lnaire mpaigng to uphold a ban on schools’ talkg about homosexualy urged Sts to “Protect Our Children.