Ed leads David in poll of gay Labour Party members 42%:31%

Ed Miliband leads his brother in a poll of LGBT members of the Labour Party for the Pink News website; of the 680 sample, Ed polls 42 per cent, David 31 per cent, Diane Abbott 16 per cent, Andy Burnham 7 per cent and Ed Balls 4 per cent. Among the 236 Labour voters who are not party members, however, Diane Abbott leads with 36 per cent, followed by Ed Miliband (35 per cent), David Miliband (20 per cent), Mr Burnham (5 per cent) and Mr Balls (4 per cent).

In an article for Pink News last month, Ed wrote:

“I know that civil partnerships were a major step forward, but I also hear those who want the genuine equality of gay marriage… ‘Separate but equal’ is not good enough and PinkNews.co.uk’s own recent poll demonstrated the huge support in the LGBT community for a right to marry.

“The cruel consequence of the current compromise is trans people forced to divorce their partners before they could be legally recognised in their new gender. I want to see heterosexual and same-sex partnerships put on an equal basis and a Labour Party that I lead will campaign to make gay marriage happen.”

While in an interview with the website in July, David said:

“I’ve got the beliefs and capabilities to lead us back into government and build a more equal country… What still scares me the most is the amount of homophobic bullying going on. But we can’t just change that by bringing in new laws.

“The work to effect the best change is to tackle homophobic bullying in schools and to make sure there is no discrimination in law. For example, the law on inciting homophobic hatred is one area which is outstanding.”

Adding:

“I think people would say Labour did huge amounts but we can’t be complacent. That was done by small and large measures, by local and national leadership. And there is a recognition that you had all these years with Tories with their heads stuck in the ground…

“They [the Coalition] are not trying to roll anything back, as far as I can see. But they don’t have a good record and the Chris Grayling thing [where the shadow home secretary said B&B owners should be allowed to bar gays] was worrying.”

In an editorial, Pink News themselves say:

“Of the two candidates with a serious chance of wining, our readership have backed Ed Miliband, which will surprise many. Perhaps it’s because David’s popularity within the LGBT community was just skin deep.

“They have been impressed by his younger brother’s commitment to full marriage equality, a position supported by some 98 per cent of the UK LGBT community.”