THEGAYUK

Tag: Election 2015

  • Religious Political Parties Against Gay Rights Fail To Achieve 7000 Votes

    Two political parties that would have would have looked to undo equality for LGBT people in the UK have faired terribly in the UK general elections as fewer than 7,000 people voted in favour of religious based politics.

    The Christian People’s Alliance which was staunchly against the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples and would have looked to repeal women’s right to choose, by abolishing the 1967 Abortion Act has at time of publish just 3260 votes failing to declare any seats in Parliament.

    The Christian Party faired no better with just 3205 votes.

    According to the The Christian Party’s website it believes that there is a “homosexual agenda” and a “militant homosexual lobby” and they are alone in “opposing the redefinition of marriage to include civil partnerships”.

    The CP would have wanted civil partnerships to be redefined to a civil contract.

    On their official website the Christian Party suggest that the “homosexual agenda” is a moving one, which began with the campaign to decriminalise what two people do in the privacy of their own homes, toleration, equality and fairness, coming out and now it believes“, and it is now in the coersion phase; it plans to move on to the paedophilia phase soon”.

    Neither party managed to gain any seats in any of the constituencies they were standing for.

    Currently, the Conservatives have 325 seats with over 11 million votes, Labour has 228 seats with 9.2 million votes, and Liberal Democrats has 8 seats with 2.3 million seats.

  • Should Gay People Vote Purely On Parties’ Record On Gay Rights?

    I’ll jump straight in and start by stating the bleeding obvious, that I don’t think gay people should be voting purely on political parties’ record on gay rights.

    I believe there is a much bigger picture that needs to be looked at. Sexuality should not define us as individuals and although we have some way to go until things are really equal for us, I feel that there are more pressing issues that should be given consideration at this time.

    With just just under two weeks to go until the General Election, it’s looking like it will be a close battle between Labour and the Conservative Party, with losses likely for the Liberal Democrats and some gains for UKIP. The campaigning is ramping up a gear with each rise of the sun and the various political parties have been releasing their manifestos.

    As part of the manifestos, most of the political parties have mentioned LGBT rights and the Labour Party have a specific LGBT manifesto. It’s great that the parties are being mindful of LGBT rights and it shows what great progress has been made in recent times. However, it could also be seen as an attempt to win the ‘pink vote’ and I’m cautious of voting for a political party just because they have pledged to do the most for gay people.

    The last Labour government did a lot for gay people; lowering the age of consent, repealing the ban on gay people serving in the armed forces, repealing Section 28, introducing civil partnerships, and a whole host of other equality legislation. The current Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition has introduced marriage equality for gay people and set up a £2 million fund to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools.

    The Green Party have always been supportive of full equality for gay people. Then there’s UKIP, who despite having some truly awful characters in their ranks and being the only main political party not to address LGBT rights in their manifesto, have an LGBT network.

    In fact, at this year’s Warwickshire Pride festival, which I organise, so far UKIP are the only political party to book a stall there.

    Now I’m by no means a UKIP supporter, but the point I am making is that all of the political parties have aspects that could appeal to a gay voter. But as mentioned previously, there is so much more to take into consideration.

    If you cut me open, my blood is red (take from that what you will). I know exactly who I’ll be voting for on May 7th. The issues that matter to me are the economy, protecting the NHS, and supporting the most vulnerable in our society. The state of the country and our society as a whole is more important to me than my individual rights. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one (fans of Star Trek will recognise that quote).

    It would be wrong of me to tell you who you should be voting for. Ultimately you will know what your values are and where you stand on certain issues. What I will plead though, is that you at least exercise your right to vote. You never know; it could be your vote that counts the most.

     

    by @MrDanielBrowne

     

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  • Third Of Christians Will Not Vote Cameron Over Gay Friendly Stance

    A new survey has revealed that people who identify as Christian have condemned David Cameron’s statement that same-sex marriage was “among his proudest achievements in 2014”

    The poll by ComRes for Premier Christian Radio asked 2,000 potential voters what they thought about gay marriage and how it might affect their decision on voting Conservative in the next general election.

    More than thirty-three percent agreed with the statement, “I would have considered voting Conservative but gay marriage has put me off doing so”. The coalition government, led by David Cameron was instrumental in bringing forward same-sex marriage in his first term as prime minister.

    Same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales in 2014 in a landslide victory.

    80 per cent of those asked lambasted the Prime Minister’s statement that same-sex marriage was “among his proudest achievements in 2014”. The claim was made by  the Prime Minister during a Q&A in Wirral, when he said that same-sex marriage had a personal impact. He said, “I did get a lot of letters from men who said, because of the changes you made, I have been able to marry the person I love. That was great.”