Blair: Britain would accept a gay PM
Blair: Britain would accept a gay PM
(Filed: 19/03/2005)
Britain could one day have an openly gay Prime Minister, Tony Blair has suggested in an interview for the gay magazine Attitude.
The magazine's feature also carries an interview with Michael Howard, the Tory leader, who said he had changed his mind about the controversial and now repealed Section 28, which banned councils from promoting homosexuality.
And Charles Kennedy, Liberal Democrat leader, claimed that many gays are switching to his party because of their disenchantment about the "unfinished agenda" on gay rights.
Mr Blair, asked if he could foresee an openly gay Prime Minister, told the magazine: "Yes. Personally, I don't think people would reject a Prime Minister simply on the basis that he was gay."
Mr Blair - who noted that there are "plenty" of gay ministers just below Cabinet level - urged the Church of England to resolve its differences over homosexual bishops.
He said many people in the Church shared his view that the fundamental Christian principle is one of equality.
In his interview, Mr Howard was challenged on his track record on gay rights, and in particular why, when an environment minister in the Thatcher government, he brought in Section 28.
In the 1980s, he had suggested that it was wrong to teach homosexuality as a normal family relationship.
Mr Howard said: "I've changed on that. I've changed my mind on that. I was wrong."
He added: "I thought, rightly or wrongly, there was a problem in those days. That problem simply doesn't exist now.
"It's not a problem, so the law shouldn't be hanging around on the Statute Book."
But Mr Kennedy expressed scepticism about Mr Howard's change of heart.
He said: "Maybe he adopted this tough persona because that seemed the best way to make his way further up the career ladder, and now he sees that a different persona is required.
"As long as the Tories are hung up on gay issues, people will think they're weird."
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/19/ugay.xml
(Filed: 19/03/2005)
Britain could one day have an openly gay Prime Minister, Tony Blair has suggested in an interview for the gay magazine Attitude.
The magazine's feature also carries an interview with Michael Howard, the Tory leader, who said he had changed his mind about the controversial and now repealed Section 28, which banned councils from promoting homosexuality.
And Charles Kennedy, Liberal Democrat leader, claimed that many gays are switching to his party because of their disenchantment about the "unfinished agenda" on gay rights.
Mr Blair, asked if he could foresee an openly gay Prime Minister, told the magazine: "Yes. Personally, I don't think people would reject a Prime Minister simply on the basis that he was gay."
Mr Blair - who noted that there are "plenty" of gay ministers just below Cabinet level - urged the Church of England to resolve its differences over homosexual bishops.
He said many people in the Church shared his view that the fundamental Christian principle is one of equality.
In his interview, Mr Howard was challenged on his track record on gay rights, and in particular why, when an environment minister in the Thatcher government, he brought in Section 28.
In the 1980s, he had suggested that it was wrong to teach homosexuality as a normal family relationship.
Mr Howard said: "I've changed on that. I've changed my mind on that. I was wrong."
He added: "I thought, rightly or wrongly, there was a problem in those days. That problem simply doesn't exist now.
"It's not a problem, so the law shouldn't be hanging around on the Statute Book."
But Mr Kennedy expressed scepticism about Mr Howard's change of heart.
He said: "Maybe he adopted this tough persona because that seemed the best way to make his way further up the career ladder, and now he sees that a different persona is required.
"As long as the Tories are hung up on gay issues, people will think they're weird."
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/19/ugay.xml
posted by JimG at 3:48 PM
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