Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May’s conversion on gay rights

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

Theresa May says sorry: http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/05/protesters-unimpressed-by-theresa-mays-conversion-on-gay-rights/

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

I’m very strongly pro-gay rights, but there are a couple of perfectly valid reasons why someone might not have voted for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which I should say I’m not familiar with.

Firstly, there may very well be other provisions within the Bill which she did not agree with and which outweighed the ‘positives’. One could argue that to overthrow the Iranian government is done with the aim of preventing the persecution of homosexuals. But if we see other problems with the approach, we could reject it anyway.

Secondly, just because something “aims” to achieve a certain result, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to. An aim of criminalising cannabis might be to limit its use by teenagers. Doesn’t always work out that way, and where government is concerned, let’s beware the unintended consequence.

Who cares what these “protesters” say? Who are they?

The fact they are not prepared to accept that someone has changed their mind and opinion speaks volumes. Let me guess; they describe themselves as “progressives” I bet.

The fact is, against the odds it seems, this coalition just keeps getting better and better. To get rid of hips and id cards so quickly and the repeal of “hundreds of unnecessary” pieces of legislation put into law by those control freaks who were in charge last time is a breath of fresh air.

Seems to me any protester with a closed mind like they clearly have should find something else to do….

Anon- This has nothing to do with progressives, or any party or even how convincing or not people found May’s conversion. No one is asking her to be sacked from her role as Home Secretary. All that has happened is that people have questioned the choice of appointment for the Minister for Equality.

Regardless of her conversion, for which I admire her, May has hardly been a champion for equality.

@anon

wanker students i imagine.

Clearly these protesters are intolerant of anyone whose opinion differs even marginally from their own. As regards equality, why do we even need a Minister for Equality? You can only offer equality of opportunity, but you cannot make people equal as they are inherently different. If we just saw each individual as a person, rather than labelling them as some sort of minority with special requirements then far fewer equality issues would arise.

“this coalition just keeps getting better and better.”

Well you’re entitled to your opinion, Mr Mouse.

And I’d be concerned about her appointment as Home Secretary; she will be the custodian of the laws concerning B and Bs, which is what caused all the furore with Mr Grayling.

I am not necesarily saying she holds those views, but if she does she can’t really act as Home Secretary.

It would be lovely if Theresa May had suddenly seem the light, but you hardly have to be a *total* cynic to suggest that her change of heart on this issue is just a little bit convenient, given the circumstances. For my money, she looked like she was professionally trotting out the party line on QT last night, rather than speaking with any conviction. And that’s clearly what a number of people in the audience thought too.

That said, I have better things to do than wonder about what’s precisely going on in Mrs May’s head – there are plenty of anti-gay prejudices and injustices going on at the moment. I hope those on here who are so good at sneering about gay rights protesters are as sedulous in objecting to these.

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What Tom White said.

Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights … http://bit.ly/a2cLlZ

I was pretty shell shocked by Douglas Murray’s attack on the Tories’ long tradition of homophobia and nasty legislation such as Clause 28 etc. He even went on to praise Labour (rightly so) for being the progressives when it came to equality legislation and setting the agenda…

Yes Theresa May’s conversion (10 years a bit late) is welcome but does seem rather convenient & opportunistic.

Labour really needs to give this one up. Look at stuff like Alan Duncan’s comment piece today on Malawi, as well as the coalition agreement text on LGBT issues. Yes, actions speak louder than words but the direction of travel so far is positive.

It took years before Labour enacted the laws which they’re now so proud of – I pushed Outrage to run a float in Pride in 2000 which had Blair as Pinocchio precisely because nothing had happened by three years in. Actually it was worse, Labour was opposing the case on discrimination in the military in the Court of Human Rights. It took a decade to end discrimination legally in the workplace.

It would be easy for people to find holes to pick in Labour’s record – as I did over Iraqis and asylum to Michael Cashman’s outrage during the election – because nobody’s ‘perfect’ on LGBT issues.

Those actually trying to achieve change cannot afford to be partisan. Supporting these pointless attacks on Theresa May and Labour pretending to be something other or more than it actually is just does nothing of any practical consequence for LGBT people. You may not see this but non-partisan activists and probably a lot of ordinary LGBT do.

A far more useful line for somewhere like Left Foot Forward is a ‘coalition watch’ on what they say versus what they do – not rehashing past voting records like Labour’s record is some sort of perfection we should all be be grateful for.

how can it be right for homosexual couples to adopt a child? is that really in the child’s best interests? and why stop at homosexuals? what about necrophiliacs or peeping toms? and what about those people that put on women’s stockings and then wank/hang themselves. what sort of a impression is that going to make on a child?

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

RT @SackTheresa: RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

LOL@tomtiddler: yes it is because a) the alternative is ‘Care’, b) because being gay is perfectly normal c) lots of the people (including dads) ‘wearing stockings and wanking themselves’ are straight etc. Stop wasting our time with this rubbish.

@Paul Canning: you certainly have a point in suggesting that Labour’s record is not perfect, and that the EU played an important role in helping to stimulate Labour government action. But you’re in danger of going too far in the other direction: don’t start kidding yourself that because Alan Duncan writes a nice article, the culture of the Tory party has changed. It hasn’t. It may be *changing* but that’s not the same. People have every right to question (although not to obsess) about Tory ministers’ records. And indeed to be sceptical of David Cameron’s commitment to gay equality after his appalling interview with PinkNews. So: yup, of course nobody’s perfect here. But one party’s record on LGBT issues in power is much better than the others.

RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w

Theresa May remains unfit for the role of Minister for Women and Equalities.

Ian Tucker criticises the Facebook petition that continues to call for Theresa May to be removed from the role of Minister for Women and Equalities. (Cf. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/23/theresa-may-gay-rights-facebook) He claims that “its reaction perhaps helps illustrate how you often get little respect for changing your mind”. On the contrary, there are three reasons why this petition quite rightly continues, in spite of her professed change of mind.

First, she changed her mind on gay adoption, and her professed reasons for doing so had nothing to do with a belief in equal gay rights. They had to do with the welfare of children in care. (Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peAmygbh7CQ) Why should this particular change of mind, for this particular reason, give us any cause to think that Theresa May now believes in equal gay rights?

Second, while I welcome the fact that, in 2004, she voted freely for civil partnerships, this is not evidence that she had, at that time, changed her mind on equal gay rights more generally. For, only a year prior, in 2003, she didn’t bother to turn up to vote for the repeal of Section 28, and, earlier in 2004, she didn’t bother to turn up to vote for the Gender Recognition Bill. Moreover, as recently as 2007, she didn’t bother to turn up to support the Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations Bill. Furthermore, in 2008, when she was given a free vote by her leader, she voted against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, thereby denying, to those same couples she had previously agreed could be civilly partnered, any rights of access to fertility treatment.

Third, at a moment when gay Malawians face 14 years imprisonment, gay Ugandans face the death penalty, and a lesbian Iranian asylum-seeker is about to be deported from Britain to face torture, the public perception of the Minister for Equalities will make or break our ability to push for equal gay rights around the world. Indeed, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said as much to Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4′s PM last Thursday: “if we are going to win over other countries to our own values, we have to increasingly inspire them with how we represent those values ourselves”.

Theresa May does not represent those values. She does not inspire them. Whenever the gauntlet of equal gay rights has been thrown down, Theresa May has invariably either run into hiding or paraded her homophobia. We need an inspirational champion of equal gay rights, not someone who begrudingly concedes them. Theresa May remains unfit for the role of Minister for Women and Equalities.

She is clearly refusing to celebrate LGBT culture. How can such a person represent anyone in a progressive country. Surely, such a person should not be in public office.

Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May’s conversion on gay rights http://bit.ly/aWkFLR

if everyone celebrated LGBT then we wouldn’t have a very diverse society. society is a little bit more colourful with a few homophobes about.

does anyone know what the T stands for in LGBT by the way? my brother thinks it’s transvestite, but I’m not so sure.

[...] Many of you may excite in the application of such a description to other of Hunt’s colleagues on the new front benches of our Great Coalition. K would, in fact, counsel against such sweeping generalisations. There is, K suggests, something very specific in the make-up of a character for the Ministry of Culture and his attempts to be ‘one of the lads’. A buffoon who cannot manage his own expenses, for example, might be more suited to the Treasury. Or as with the protagonist of K’s short story ‘A Judgement’, being unable to fathom or accept the relations between two men would mean you would, perhaps, be better suited to the Home Office. [...]