There are 32 openly gay, lbian and bisexual MPs, which dwarfs the 12 and ten the parliaments of both Swen and the Netherlands. Pictured is lbian Conservative MP Margot Jam.
Contents:
- WTMSTER NOW HAS 32 OPENLY GAY, LBIAN AND BISEXUAL MPS
- THE QUIET REVOLUTN: WHY BRA HAS MORE GAY MPS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
- THE SNP CLAIMS WH EXUBERANT PRI TO REPRENT STLAND AT WTMSTER WH THE WORLD’S LARGT NTGENT OF GAY MP’S AND THEIR GAY STAFF.
- GAY MPS: THE PHOTOGRAPH THAT SHOWS WTMSTER'S ATTU TOWARDS LGBT POLICIANS IS CHANGG
- GAY CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS APPROVED FOR PARLIAMENT
- SNP CHIEF ANG ROBERTSON ‘PROUD’ HIS PARTY IS THE ‘GAYT’ WTMSTER AS HAS MOST GAY AND LBIAN MPS
WTMSTER NOW HAS 32 OPENLY GAY, LBIAN AND BISEXUAL MPS
* gay mps in westminster *
Wtmster be the world's gayt Parliament wh 32 openly gay, lbian and bisexual MPs There are 12 Conservative, 13 Labour and six SNP MPs who are openly gayIn the last Parliament there were 26 gay, lbian and bisexual members Study also nclud there were 155 electn ndidat who were gay Published: 23:14 BST, 13 May 2015 | Updated: 13:14 BST, 14 May 2015. Bra now has 32 openly gay, lbian and bisexual MPs ParliamentBra now has the gayt Parliament the world after last week’s are 32 openly gay, lbian and bisexual MPs – jt unr 5 per cent of the total number the Commons. This dwarfs the 12 and ten the parliaments of Swen and the Netherlands rpectively, both untri that pri themselv on their liberal attu to gay rights.
Acrdg to analysis by the New Statman magaze, 13 are Labour MPs, 12 are Conservativ and six reprent the the last Parliament there were 26 gay, lbian and bisexual Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative year the Conservativ put up more openly gay ndidat than any other party – 39 men and three women. Out of their 13 gay, lbian and bisexual MPs om the prev Parliament, 12 stood for re-electn and only one – Eric Ollerenshaw – was feated.
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 mps in westminster *
His loss was ma up for by the electn of Ben Howlett of the ten seats Labour took om the Tori, three were won by gay ndidat – W Streetg, Peter Kyle and Cathere Smh. The ne cumbent Labour gay MPs held on fortably and the SNP returned seven gay and lbian MPs, cludg 20-year-old Mhairi Black, the youngt MP to be elected sce SNP parliamentary party is now 12. 5 per cent gay, lbian and bisexual – the hight proportn of any party the Cathere Smh, left and W Streetg, right, who are openly homosexual won seats for Labour prevly held by the Conservativ The SNP returned seven gay and lbian MPs cludg 20-year-old Mhairi Black, pictured, the youngt MP to be elected sce 1667 The New Statman lculated that there were 155 out gay ndidat May 2015.
THE SNP CLAIMS WH EXUBERANT PRI TO REPRENT STLAND AT WTMSTER WH THE WORLD’S LARGT NTGENT OF GAY MP’S AND THEIR GAY STAFF.
The attractn of Wtmster for aspirg Sttish LGBTQQIAAP policians? Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer, Qutng, Intersex, Alli, Asexual, Pansexual members, their staff and supporters make up around 60% of the SNP Parliamentary ntgent. The SNP has a duty of re to s MP’s and their staff and stori of the abhorrent behavur of signifint numbers… * gay mps in westminster *
Their report also nclud that Tory gay, lbian and bisexual ndidat tend to perform nsirably better than their straight lleagu. Openly gay Labour MP Peter Kyle celebrat beg elected to reprent Hove at the recent electn Ben Howlett, is the openly gay Conservative MP, reprentg Bath, wng the seat om the Liberal DemocratsHowever all four gay and bisexual Liberal Democrat MPs were oted om their Reynolds, om the LGBT [Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr] Reprentatn and Rights Rearch Iniative, said: ‘In some plac, beg out seems to have helped the ndidate’s vote. 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. 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.
GAY MPS: THE PHOTOGRAPH THAT SHOWS WTMSTER'S ATTU TOWARDS LGBT POLICIANS IS CHANGG
The Ho of Parliament will be opened for civil partnerships and marriag for both MPs and members of the public. Wtmster uncil has approved two rooms for e for the non-relig ceremoni after Speaker John Berw began lookg to the possibily of holdg ceremoni for gay MPs on parliament's grounds last year. * gay mps in westminster *
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? How did a untry raised on tabloid sndal end up so at ease wh gay public figur?
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.
GAY CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS APPROVED FOR PARLIAMENT
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.
SNP CHIEF ANG ROBERTSON ‘PROUD’ HIS PARTY IS THE ‘GAYT’ WTMSTER AS HAS MOST GAY AND LBIAN MPS
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.
’”Gay MPs were tolerated, so long as discretn led.
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. “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.