mihangel
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Location: UK
Registered: July 2002
Messages: 192
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The papers here today carry lengthy items about Alan Duncan, the first gay Tory MP to come out (as opposed to being outed). For those who do not know the Tories, they are our nearest equivalent to the Republicans in the States. Quite a number of gay MPs in other parties are out; there've even been gay ministers in the government.
The Tory party hierarchy is being very supportive. But in the Tory rank and file, opinion is polarised, largely according to age. On the whole, Duncan's coming out seems an encouraging sign that things are moving in the right direction, even if slowly. But real success will come only when such revelations are no longer deemed headline news.
Of course I'm generalising, but there are parallels in the reaction to Duncan's coming out and to the discrimination shown by that hotel keeper. Those who support the hotelier's action seem to be the older conservative upper-crust element, the sort who patronise hotels of that kind. Those who condemn Duncan for coming out (or even for being gay at all) are broadly similar types. I suppose we have to patient and wait for that generation to fade away.
The Guardian's main feature on Duncan (there are others you'll find in the site index) is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4471933,00.html
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