A poll by JAKE, an online social and networking community for gay men, has revealed that seven in ten gay men still believe they’re not treated on an equal footing with heterosexuals. The result was announced at a national debate this month to pitch for British gay votes.
The debate was attended by Front Benchers Nick Herbert, Chris Bryant, Nick Boles, Ben Bradshaw and Stephen Williams from all three main parties at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The debate ran in conjunction with Gay Pride London on 2nd July.
There is an estimated three million gay people in the UK, so the gay vote certainly matters to all three parties hoping to gain seats in the upcoming elections. During the debate it was revealed that despite living in a supposedly open, tolerant and postmodern society, the gay community still has plenty of progress to make with regards to gay rights.
Labour MP Chris Bryant criticised Tory leader David Cameron’s voting record,
“He talks a good talk on gay issues but he voted against gay adoption and he campaigned openly against one of our appeals… I’m surprised we haven’t heard more criticisms against him.”
Bryant went on to say that gay rights should not be an issue when voting, “The greatest success we could have as a party of this campaign for lesbian and gay rights is if no gay man or lesbian in this country voted on the issue of gay rights, but voted as an ordinary human being.”
Conservative MP for Bristol West, Nick Herbert, responded to criticisms of the Conservative Party by stating that homophobic bullying still exists under a Labour government, particularly in Catholic schools. Herbert also reiterated some 2009 statistics which reveal that 20% of primary school teachers have seen children being subjected to homophobic bullying in their schools.
Openly gay Conservative MP Nick Boles said that in his view, society has not yet reached the stage of total openness to gay people, “As a society we haven’t yet arrived at the point where we can all be comfortable and proud to be what we are, and not have to worry about what other people think.”
He agreed with Bryant and said that, “We shouldn’t have to jockey with each other as to who is the coolest or most gay friendly party because this really ought to be irrelevant, but that day is someway off yet.”
Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams also discussed acceptance and equality of gay people in the UK. He said that although society has changed for the better in the last decade and it’s a much more comfortable place to be now if you’re a gay man or a lesbian, “…it’s still hard to be open about it in the public society - I don’t want to be tolerated as a gay man, I want to be accepted. And I think we haven’t crossed that threshold yet.”
He talked about homophobic bullying not just in the playground, but also in adult arenas too and said that, “we shouldn’t be the only people left in society where you can be insulted by a comedian or a Radio1 DJ and it doesn’t seem to matter.”
Williams believes that one key way to break down the barriers is for more gay people in the public eye to be more open about their sexual orientation. Only then, he thinks, will all prejudice evaporate. However, as a society, we still have plenty of stepping stones to cross before reaching a point where figures in the public eye feel able to be openly gay.
The debate was attended by Front Benchers Nick Herbert, Chris Bryant, Nick Boles, Ben Bradshaw and Stephen Williams from all three main parties at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The debate ran in conjunction with Gay Pride London on 2nd July.
There is an estimated three million gay people in the UK, so the gay vote certainly matters to all three parties hoping to gain seats in the upcoming elections. During the debate it was revealed that despite living in a supposedly open, tolerant and postmodern society, the gay community still has plenty of progress to make with regards to gay rights.
Labour MP Chris Bryant criticised Tory leader David Cameron’s voting record,
“He talks a good talk on gay issues but he voted against gay adoption and he campaigned openly against one of our appeals… I’m surprised we haven’t heard more criticisms against him.”
Bryant went on to say that gay rights should not be an issue when voting, “The greatest success we could have as a party of this campaign for lesbian and gay rights is if no gay man or lesbian in this country voted on the issue of gay rights, but voted as an ordinary human being.”
Conservative MP for Bristol West, Nick Herbert, responded to criticisms of the Conservative Party by stating that homophobic bullying still exists under a Labour government, particularly in Catholic schools. Herbert also reiterated some 2009 statistics which reveal that 20% of primary school teachers have seen children being subjected to homophobic bullying in their schools.
Openly gay Conservative MP Nick Boles said that in his view, society has not yet reached the stage of total openness to gay people, “As a society we haven’t yet arrived at the point where we can all be comfortable and proud to be what we are, and not have to worry about what other people think.”
He agreed with Bryant and said that, “We shouldn’t have to jockey with each other as to who is the coolest or most gay friendly party because this really ought to be irrelevant, but that day is someway off yet.”
Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams also discussed acceptance and equality of gay people in the UK. He said that although society has changed for the better in the last decade and it’s a much more comfortable place to be now if you’re a gay man or a lesbian, “…it’s still hard to be open about it in the public society - I don’t want to be tolerated as a gay man, I want to be accepted. And I think we haven’t crossed that threshold yet.”
He talked about homophobic bullying not just in the playground, but also in adult arenas too and said that, “we shouldn’t be the only people left in society where you can be insulted by a comedian or a Radio1 DJ and it doesn’t seem to matter.”
Williams believes that one key way to break down the barriers is for more gay people in the public eye to be more open about their sexual orientation. Only then, he thinks, will all prejudice evaporate. However, as a society, we still have plenty of stepping stones to cross before reaching a point where figures in the public eye feel able to be openly gay.
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