Protesters last night stepped up the pressure on Theresa May by calling for a full explanation of her past record and an apology "in the form of an affadavit".
The protesters whose online campaign forced equalities minister Theresa May to say she had “changed my mind” about gay adoption on Question Time last night have stepped up the pressure by calling for a full explanation of her past record and an apology “in the form of an affadavit”. The campaigners have also called for more awareness to be raised of her voting record, which included opposing the repeal of Section 28 and lowering the homosexual age of consent to 16.
The “Sack Theresa” website says:
“Tonight we witnessed quite an extraordinary event on national television: a Facebook campaign caused a senior government minister to annouce she had “changed her mind” concerning gay couples adopting. I am of course refering to Theresa May’s comments when confronted by a teenager on Question Time regarding her gay rights record…
“This doesn’t stop us questioning her record however and we will continue to do so… Furthermore her argument that is was ”some years ago” seems intriguing. Whilst we accept that she may have recently changed her mind, we question why she still voted against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in 2008, containing clauses which would stop discrimination against lesbian couples receiving fertility treatment.
“This was a free vote; she did not have to follow her party. Therefore, the fact that she voted against it shows that to a certain extent she genuinely holds these beliefs independently of any pressure from the party. More importantly; this was 17 months ago. This was not the Theresa May under party obligations of 1997, this was the Theresa May, free agent, of 2008…
“We are calling for a full explanation of her views and an apology for her previous voting record in the form of an affidavit. We still regret her appointment, since she is not a very symbolically positive candidate whom we could trust to continue the progress made over the last few years. We will continue to raise awareness and to call for her resignation. We will give her a call tommorrow to present our proposal.”
Still very much calling for the equalities minister to be removed from her post, one of the main campaigners Jane Cahill told Left Foot Forward:
“I don’t think its ok for her to be Equalities Minister. I think our campaign is showing that many people have been angered by her appointment and dismayed by her voting record- a few words on a Question Time where the one person you’d expect to grill her (Shami Chakrabarti) didn’t seem to know a thing about it? I don’t think this answers our more compelling concerns.
“I don’t question her sincerity on gay adoption, but nor do I view it as the ultimate test of someone’s views on LGBT equality. That she voted against Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill as late as 2008, which was aiming to stop discrimination against lesbian couples receiving fertility treatment, indicates to me that she isn’t committed to LGBT rights. I should also point out that the vote on that bill was a free one.
“I wholeheartedly welcome her comments, but we are now looking for something more substantial to reassure us that this isn’t just some words said on Question Time to avoid a difficult issue. We will be phoning her today to request a sworn apology for her previous voting record, in the form of an affidavit. Until that point we shall be pushing for her resignation.”
The “Sack New Homophobic Equality Minister” Facebook group now has nearly 70,000 members while an online petition “Requesting Theresa May’s Resignation from the Post of Equalities Minister” has received nearly 30,000 signatures.
28 Responses to “Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May’s conversion on gay rights”
GLBT World News
Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights … http://bit.ly/a2cLlZ
Liz McShane
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.
paul canning
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.
tomtiddler
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?
Shaun
RT @leftfootfwd: Protesters unimpressed by Theresa May's conversion on gay rights: http://bit.ly/bZ7g0w