Law, Sexuality and the Conservative Party

It seems likely that the next general election will see a Tory victory in the UK. Polly Toynbee points to a report by the ConservativeHome blog that the likely Conservative Party post election victory would be socially conservative and anti-gay adoption. This assertion is based on interviewing those prospective parliamentary candidates likely to make up the back benches. The story was also picked up by The Times earlier in the week.

The adoption assertion by Toynbee is a little more complex than simply being 'anti-gay adoption'. The question related to the measures the Government introduced to prevent adoption agencies discriminating against those who they offered their services to. According to ConservativeHome 71 per cent support “the right of Catholic or other religious adoption agencies to decline to place children with same-sex couples”. That doesn't make them anti-gay adoption, it makes them pro-religious freedom. Nonetheless, I find that troubling anyway and suspect given that position that many will be anti-gay adoption too (Alan Duncan, an out gay member of the shadow cabinet has already gone on the record saying he doesn't agree with it) but this is guess work rather than something derived by the survey (as Toynbee suggests).

All of this matters if the huge changes in law over the last ten years are to be translated into continued shifts in social attitudes. Having the Civil Partnership Act was one thing, our social acceptance and celebration of the ceremonies another.

ConservativeHome also revealed that a team Cameron insider has pointed to five themes that would emerge in the coming months in a bid to prove that 'new toryism' or 'compassionate conservatism' was still in the agenda and include the specific issue of outreach to gay groups. The full five themes are:

• Further promotion of women and ethnic minority Conservatives.
• Outreach to gay rights groups (see this).
• More emphasis on environmental policies. At Spring Forum in Cheltenham Greg Clark MP promised to make Britain the "Saudi Arabia of renewable energy."
• Loud trumpeting of the fact that the NHS and international development are the top two Tory spending priorities.
• More initiatives on social justice with a greater role for Iain Duncan Smith.

The now infamous Brown YouTube video (below) in which he displays his terrifying smile at utterly random moments (and also banned comments on YouTube) and the reaction to it suggests that Brown is not merely disliked but is now laughed at by the public at large. This is further evidence of a looming Labour disaster at the polls and provides a clear reason as to why we need to understand what the future for law, gender and sexuality is under a Conservative Government.

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