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Same difference?
I was sad to read what a mess the, now former, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws managed to get into mainly, due to his sexuality.
Mr Laws, Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil had claimed expenses that reached into tens of thousands of pounds after falsely claiming that he was renting a room independently. He did not state that he was actually living with his partner or renting a room from his partner, something which falls foul of the parliamentary code.
The reason why he did this was to hide his homosexuality. But why, in this day and age is it necessary for someone to hide who they are and as a result lose what was a fantastic career?
David Laws was born in 1965. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967. In the 1970’s as a growing man, David Laws would have been more than aware of a Britain in which the police stated that they were too busy to investigate murders of gay men, a Conservative council leader who said, on record, that AIDS should be dealt with by gassing gay men, a gay hating media, a Tory party conference in which it was announced, “If you want a queer for your neighbour-vote labour” and of course, Section 28!
I don’t excuse Mr Laws behaviour but I do have a great deal of sympathy for him. Over the years, he slowly dug himself into a huge hole and it was always going to end the way in which it did.
The rights of LGBT people today are not perfect. But, to say they are better today than in the 1970’s would be a disgrace and an insult to people in this county who still have to be ‘closeted.’
PR guru Max Clifford has said that he knows of many gay footballers and sports personalities who he advises to be seen in public with attractive girls so that the press and public do not discover their homosexuality. Why? Because it would damage their careers, rugby player, Gareth Thomas showed amazing courage and dignity when confirming his homosexuality but he is one of the few and for good reason.
But there are many others out there who are still scared and still being forced, either by their environment or advisors, to keep quiet about their sexuality. They are building up a reluctant web of lies and getting deeper and deeper into them. Just like David Laws did.
I have every respect for rights to privacy, but as LGBT people we still do not have equal rights. We can have a Civil Partnership, but we can’t get married, well not in the official sense of the word.
Now, in the 21st century, we are just a bit more acceptable than we were in previous ones but, we are still suffering the shameful legacy of anti-gay attitudes of governments past.
Sarah Carmody
11/6/10
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