Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling is now saying that bed-and-breakfast Christian owners should not be allowed to act according to their conscience when they have to deal with homosexual guests sharing bed in their properties and that he supports homosexual adoption.
Earlier this month, Mr Grayling had faced calls for his demotion after saying he believed that consciences of Christian bed-and-breakfast owners should be respected when they have to deal with homosexual couples wishing to stay at their properties.
He was secretly recorded making the comments at a meeting of the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank. Although he said that hotels should not be allowed to discriminate against homosexuals, those individuals running B&Bs were a different matter. He said at the time:
‘I think we need to allow people to have their own consciences.
‘I took the view that if it's a question of somebody who’s doing a B&B in their own home, that individual should have the right to decide who does and who doesn't come into their own home.’
(See the CCFON report)
Some commentators suggested that the comments were a setback for David Cameron, Conservative leader, who has sought to make the party more accepting of homosexual ‘rights’ than in the past.
However, following the Mr Grayling’s saga, David Cameron wrote on Pink News, a homosexual on-line newspaper, that he supported homosexual ‘rights’ and promised to erase the criminal records of those who were convicted of homosexual sex acts, which were illegal in the past.
(See the CCFON report)
Mr Grayling has now changed his stance. In an interview with Channel 4, he said that he had voted in favour of civil partnerships, and that he had changed his view and now supports homosexual adoption of children.
On 11 April 2010, another senior Conservative politician said the Party would be ‘very happy’ to consider homosexual ‘marriage’ if elected on 6 May 2010.
George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor, had met homosexual ‘rights’ activists ahead of a protest outside Conservative campaign HQ by homosexual equality campaigners and said the modern Tories had changed, and ‘we have real policies to advance equality’.
(See the CCFON report)