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London: Gay couple threatened with death in violent late night homophobic assault
141
Government considers watered down same-sex marriage bill to minimise Tory rebellion
133
Tory MP Gerald Howarth: 'There are plenty in the aggressive homosexual community who want more than just same-sex marriage'
94
France: Far right activist commits suicide in Notre Dame following legalisation of equal marriage
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Philip Hammond: 'No great demand for gay marriage and it's upsetting vast numbers of people'
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Norman Tebbit: David Cameron has 'f**** things up' with his equal marriage bill
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Tory MP Sir Gerald Howarth defends 'aggressive homosexual community' equal marriage slur
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David Cameron: Gay teenagers will stand that bit taller following equal marriage vote
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US church blames Woolwich suspected terror killing on UK acceptance of gay people
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US church blames Oklahoma tornado on gay basketball player Jason Collins
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Robert in S. Kensington 722
GulliverUK 357
Jock S. Trap 347
Mark Y 333
Iris 328
Midnighter 315
That There Other David 301
Rehan 300
Tim 296
D.McCabe 281
this is the most misleading peace of crap i have ever heard!..it could only come from a member of the tory party. to say that the tories are more gay friendly than labor is an out and out joke. i grew up in the era of section 28 and the unequal age of consent to name but a few. all sanction by the torries. and to imply that labor doesn’t support equal marriage for gay people is an out and out lie! when ( and i may be wrong here) labor want to extend marriage to religious institutions if they so wish. and i cant believe the audacity of this guy to come out with that labor mp’s quote about marriage being a priority when at his party conference there was a campain lead by anne widdicombe against gay marriage. as well as litterally loads of the old torry faithful still condeming gay marriage.
and lastly look at all the strides that we have made over the last 15 years most of which were fort tooth and nail for by labor with the torries resisting every step of the way….!
Hear, Hear!
As usual Ben you talk so much sense which is why as a diversity consultant I am a proud member of the progressive modern conservative party who are helping to deliver a sustainable and successful future for everyone in the UK.
Untill recently I was a Tory Cllr. I resigned the whip. There attitude towards LGBT issues here in Margate Kent is not a progressive one. The MP Roger Gale branded those of us that support Equal Marriage as “Millitant Homosexuals” . Shorty after voting in favour of Equal Marriage I received a voice mail from Cllr Ken Gegory saying ” With a bit of luck you’ll get Aids” He has NOT apologised and they are letting him back in the party. Tory HQ at MILL BANK have stood by and done nothing.. and you tell me that you are a proud member of the modern party? What an insult to injury!
That sounds too much like a spoon fed political broadcast.
@TaraHewitt…What a load of bollocks
‘Diversity’ my arse…
The Conservative Party wouldn’t recognise diversity if it came knocking on their door with a name badge!
They’re the biggest bunch of one dimensional elitists left in the country…
Nasty nasty nasty
If the Conservatives are so LGBT friendly why is Margate Conservative Councillor Ken Gregory is being allowed back in to Thanet Conervatives dispite that fact that he has NOT apologised to me for saying “WITH A BIT OF LUCK YOU’LL GET AIDS”?
Because the Tories remain the party of hatred, despite its PR nonsense.
Gosh, this is a bit disingenuous. So are you actually trying to say the Tories are more gay-friendly than Labour, because Labour introduced civil partnerships in 2004 instead of same-sex marriages (up against Tory opposition under Michael Howard that didn’t want either).
Stonewall is no more representative of the views of the Labour Party than they are of the Tories so I’m afraid you can hardly blame Labour for Ben Bradshaw’s comments and I certainly distance myself from him.
As for Ken Livingstone, it’s interesting you accuse him of pitting one minority against another, since that was the whole strategy of the Evening Standard’s pro-Boris campaign, suggesting (without evidence) Ken’s sympathies with the muslim community put him at odds with the gay community. All despite the fact Boris had nothing to offer to the latter (and didn’t even bother to fund World Pride’s security) while Ken dedicated a whole manifesto to LGBT rights on London.
Are you perhaps mistaking Stonewall’s Ben Summerskill for Labour MP Ben Bradshaw? To be fair, both have spoken against equal marriage.
“[Conservative Future] believe that … it is not the responsibility of government to deny someone their right to love another and segregate that group into another unequal category.”
So does Conservative Future support full equalisation of marriage, with identical wedding arrangements, i.e. including the right to a religious wedding if the faith group is willing?
Or do you support creating a “separate category” for same-sex couples, allowing us civil weddings only, while different-sex couples can choose?
Ben Bradshaw made an ass of himself. But so have several senior Tories.
So why aren’t you quoting the Labour leader, I wonder?
Could it be because in a recent video, Ed Miliband said “We will be pushing the government to get on with the process for legislating for equal marriage, and we’ll also be saying to them, where faith groups want to provide that opportunity for gay couples as well as straight couples, they should be able to do so.”
Sorry, @El Gabal – my comment was supposed to be in the main comment run.
Agree with what you said. Although of course @Dave Page is right about the Bens.
Section 28. We will never forget. We will never forgive.
That depends on your age.
And your conscience (or lack thereof). I’m sure the modern N__i party has a *marvellously* progressive diversity agenda, too…
I’m sorry, but the ‘fuggedabout it!’ mantra of terminally misguided gay men simply has no credibility when the parlimentary voting record of key members of the Tory party are scrutinised (not to mention its history).
There is no room for argument – none at all – when the party faithful themselves are out in force denouncing gay marriage at the annual conference, regardless of Cameron’s carrot-and-stick effort to bring us to the polls next General Election. (I guarantee that particular right-wing bugbear will be dragged out right up until 2014. No point playing your trump card early, is there?)
Also, I’ve really no time for any government that would penalise the poor, the sick, and the needy whilst their millionaire friends are awarded massive tax breaks and controlling stakes in the NHS.
There is no room for argument? Just admit that you are on the left and will grab any stick with which to beat the right? That, at least, would be honest.
There is no point-scoring here.
Ironic that the one inconvenient fact Conservatives fail to grasp is that the Left have the capacity to empathise with those that have, indeed, been beaten down and discriminated against – given that every liberal movement in existence was born as a reaction to suffering and oppression.
Forgive me if this sounds patronising, but as the direct beneficiary of the gay rights movement, you *should* appreciate this. Expecting the Right to favour gay people without extreme coersion is like waiting for a leopard to change its spots. Moreover, favouring the privileged over the less fortunate is the very definition of sociopathic.
well considering its only 9 years ago that the Tory party last voted in favour or keekping section 28 – and many have since talked of re-introducing it – you don’t have to be particularly old or have a particularly long memory to hold it against them. Most of the current tory front bench were mp’s at the time, and two of them (Hague and IDS were leaders when the party supported S28)
Well said!
Seriously?
Pink nNews are they paying you to schill this?
Pretty speeches are somehow better than how many ACTUAL laws Labour passed in the teeth of Tory opposition? Those voting records you prefer we not talk about?
And when Marriage Equality passes – IF it is ever introduced – which party do you think will produce the most “nos”?
Tara and Ben are grade A quislings, busy paiting over homophobia and protecting the bigots.
It’s almost funny how to be a Tory quisling:
Speeches made by Livingstone pitting muslims and gay people against each other = proof of Labour’s homophobia.
Voting against every gay righst position in vast numbers, spreading leaflets about us going after children, being the party with overwhelmingly the most votes against gay rights and putting those homophobes in high office? = totally gay friendly
It’s very bad to call gay people quislings given the number killed by Nzais. You can criticise people without being extreme and bitter.
@.DeVilliers….
….Quislings and Uncle Toms aare accepted names for those who sell out their own; trust you to invoke Godwins Law.
I suppose that is your only recourse as you simply don’t have a legitimate argument.
No doubt Racist is also on the tip of your self hating xtian tongue. If the cap fits wear it Well you know that both terms have been in constant use for the last fifty years or more and are considered neither racist or Naz1 nowadays but apt descriptions of those they are aimed at……….
Alright equal marriage is going ahead and historical convictions can be removed from a persons record(though they have to request this, why?) but I think to try make the claims this article is is frankly ridiculous
This is an appalling article and shows everything that is wrong with teenagers being members of political parties. It’s all spoon fed political lines and no independent thought.
No-one should criticise the left for the heavy lifting they did in pushing forward the liberalisation of society and, in particular, gay equality. Their most important achievement was to change attitudes and cultural values concerning the homosexuality.
The conservatives are more liberal today because of the prevailing cultural climate. That was achieved by the left and is something for which all gay persons who are on the centre-right, which includes me, should be appreciative.
– most important achievement in gay terms. It is in some ways more important than the actual legislation that they pushed.
Are we going to be subjected to Tory propaganda on this site every week now?
What a load of rubbish.
Ben, your party opposed equality for gay people every step of the way. You can’t claim credit for jumping on the bandwagon now that the hard work has already been achieved by others. It’s like watching builders erect a new house – they lay the foundations, the plumbing, the brickwork, the windows and the roof and then some little twerp comes along and claims credit for the whole house just because they stuck the aerial on the chimney!
The Tories will never be the party of equality, just the party of never-ending arrogance.
Yes equality for those with enough money to pay for it. The Tories remain the party of money grubbing self satisfied Barstools they have always been.
Disingenuous or idiot?
Or both.
or.. just idiot? it can happen!
Quite apart from the criticisms others have rightly made pf this “piece” I wanted to pick up on the ridiculous statement that Labour should ‘unite’ with the government on this.
It’s the government that’s holding up publishing a bill; Labour have pledged support and indicated they may even make it a whipped vote. Just publish the bill and get on with it.
The majority of votes for the Bill will come from Labour who have pledged support – the Tories will be badly split.
The real question is whether Tories will ‘unite’ with Labour proposals to allow ccess to religious bodies to provide same sex marriages when they widh to do so. I think that’s an open question.
Utterly delusional.
Why do we not have a specific timetable for marriage equality?
Why does the Tory Party regard equal civil rights for LGBT people as a ‘free vote’ issue?
Does Howlett accept that without Labour support there is not a chance in hell that the Tories will legalise equal marriage (because of the vast numbers of extremist bigots in teh Tory Party)
And I’ll repeat.
WHEN WILL EQUAL MARRIAGE BE LEGALISED??????
A SPECIFIC TIMETABLE IS REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY.
The greatest opposition to SSM is from the Tory party. Councils which try to raise a motion for SSM generally come across opposition from Tory councillors. Look at the C4EM support page and start reading it, read the comments from the Tory MPs.
I agree lab and libdems MPs are no angels when it comes to SSM equality. Lots of MPs from these parties are still sitting on the fence but it is the Tory part that I feel is delaying the bill for SSM and not the libdems or labour. What is the point of this article anyway?
Does this piece proving that a room full of monkeys, an unknown number of typewriters, and an infinite amount of time will yet produce nonsense? This man has been seriously misled if he thinks that the Tories are the party of the LGBTQ in the UK. I am old enough to remember la thatcher and her attempts to refuse my community our rights; attempting to keep us as 2nd Class citizens. Those were victories hard fought and I see nothing in the Tory party which would have me believe that their support for anything LGBTQ related was nothing more than political expediency. You need to have a more careful look at our community in relation to your party of choice.
If the Tories are the “true party of equality”, why is it that it took them a matter of weeks to turn the NHS on its arse, but there is STILL no date for marrage equality?
Actions speak louder than words and so far, that is all we have recieved
I’m confused, Ben said that he was straight when he attended his first Conservative Party Conference in 2007 but gay by this year’s. That’s dangerous talk it gives weight to those who say that a person can change. Was it a misquote?
I noticed that too, Zoon. He’s giving the impression that a person’s default sexuality is straight and they become gay. What he meant was that he wasn’t openly gay, but his use of “for obvious reasons” shows he himself knew he was gay. It’s probably just the writer expressing what he means very poorly, I hope.
I’m a Liberal Democrat but voted for Cameron in 2010.
I’ve no doubt equal could pass in Parliament provided there are sufficient numbers of Tories. If it does, it will face the biggest obstacle of all in the House of Lords. If it fails there which could well happen, I suspect that will be as a result of Tory resistance. From what I can deduce, not even half of the Tory party are currently on board, compared to Labour and Liberal Democrats. Having more openly gay MPs than them combined doesn’t necessarily make the Tory party the most gay friendly and supportive. I want to see a lot more of them support equal marriage to prove otherwise.
….equal marriage, I meant.
Um… didn’t see what the Conservative party have done for the “T” element in that article. No mention whatsoever so to claim that the Conservative Party is the ‘true party of equality’ is something of a misnomer.
Can anyone think of _anything_ that the Conservative Party have done for trans people?
Lets do a quick comparison (to keep it relevant I’ll just deal with the last 15 years)
Labour legislated FOR
* repeal of section 28
* equal age of consent
* lgbt people allowed in military
* tackling hate crimes and bullying
* anti-discrimination in workplace
* anti-discrimination in goods and services
* LGBT adoption rights
* Civil Partnerships
Conservatives voted AGAINST all of those things but for ….
a consultation on a cosmetic change to civil partnerships (i.e. renaming them ‘marriage’) and now claim that they are most LGBT friendly. What a joke!
Although I largely agree marriage equality is more than a cosmetic change. A UK CP isn’t recognised in the increasing number of countries that have extended their own marriage laws to include same-sex couples. That’s reason enough to change our own laws, whatever the Jesus Cult think.
Nail on the head!
Why is it that when the Homophobic Tories are getting a hammering on these threads, Pink News always consigns the story to the basement and leaves non stories like the one on Derrin Bown (whoever he?) up for days and weeks. It seems that this site is biased and slanted toward the Homophobes….
I would not go as far as to claim that. I think “politically motivated” is a better term.
A man who can pull cards out his teeth has less court appeal than say a man who says nay to everthing that hurts his world, and his duck mote!
I have not read so much cack in a very long time; utterly immature drivel that gives the writer no credibility. Today’s Tory Party may have started to change but I truly wonder how deep the change goes while bigots such as Tebbit or Widdecombe have some Tories flocking to their every word. Mr Howlett needs to grow up rapidly, learn a little humility – and better understand just how the party he espouses came to hurt so many gay men and women in Britain during the last 25 years.
Well the thing is, call me Cameron is playing a rather clever (dislike hiim or not, you cannot deny this) game.
He is claiming he (and party) is all in favor of equal marrage. However, he is putting himself in a win/win situation.
If by some long shot it fails (not bloody likely), he is at the stance of saying “I held back due to concerns of party concerns, which concerned the concerns of these peoples concerns!”
However, if it gets pushed through (it flipping will!!!!!!), and let’s face it, by the other parties…..
He has set himself for the postion of “I was behind this all along……….”
the trouble with young gay guys today they think everything is so acceptable….gay bars…gay rights….etc..they haven’t a clue what the Tories are like…they grew up under Labour’s wing that gave every the chance to have wealth greed….overpriced housing etc…
Bless him, I’m not sure how he could honestly come to that conclusion all the while the main stay of party members are basically Norman Tebbit!
I think he’s deluding himself simply because he thinks his sexuality had been accepted by them…
Very silly article. First, there appear to be many Tory MP’s who certainly don’t support equality – and even more of the activists. And exactly where were these calls for full equal marriage by the Tories when civil partnerships were introduced? They know perfectly well that Stonewall advised the Government that civil partnerships based on a marriage template, for easy conversion later on, were seen to be the way to make some progress.
In any case, no matter what the view of the Tory party on gay rights wouldn’t persuade me to support them given their other policies
thats funny cos i thought tories thought being gay was “a bit weird” thats what dominic grieve thinks
Silly gazelle playing with the lions. His “fellow2 tories will toss him aside when they bore of his token homo status.