Another controversial step in chasing ‘pink vote’ was made by a senior Tory politician as he stated that 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 on 11 April 2010, ahead of a protest outside Conservative campaign HQ by homosexual equality campaigners. He said the modern Tories had changed, and ‘we have real policies to advance equality’.
The BBC reported that a number of campaigners converged on Conservative headquarters in protest at remarks by shadow home secretary Chris Grayling, who last week sparked a row when he said people who ran bed-and-breakfast in their homes should have the right to exercise their conscience when it comes to homosexuals staying overnight in their homes.
Mr Osborne was joined by shadow environment secretary Nick Herbert, a homosexual Tory politician, and shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May when they met homosexual activists.
A Conservative spokesman confirmed that Mr Osborne had told them:
‘David Cameron and I are very happy to consider the case for gay marriage.’
Mr Osborne’s remarks did not satisfy the activists as they said that the meeting showed Mr Osborne had ‘good intentions’ but was still ‘weak on coherent policy’. But Mr Herbert, who is in a homosexual civil partnership, said it had been a ‘good’ meeting.
He said he recognised that some people ‘might have got the wrong impression’ about the Conservatives, but ‘we have made huge changes as a party’.
Mr Osborne also said the Conservatives were committed to do more to stop ‘homophobic bullying’ in schools by giving teachers and heads the power to ‘keep order and set clear standards of behaviour in their schools’.
A Conservative spokesman added:
‘Under Labour, homophobic bullies excluded from schools can be returned to the classroom by a bureaucratic appeals panel, and teachers are often unable to break up violent homophobic bullying because of ‘no touch’ policies that prevent them from intervening.
‘The Conservative Party will give head-teachers the final say over the exclusion of homophobic bullies and give teachers the power to stop violent homophobic incidents.
‘We would also change government guidance on behaviour and exclusions to make it clear that bullying aggravated by prejudice – including homophobic bullying – should result in tougher punishments. And in order to improve the level of information we have, we would include a new category in exclusions data specifically for 'homophobic abuse’.’
At the beginning of March 2010, Conservative leader David Cameron said promised that homosexuals who are registered in civil partnerships would receive extended paternity and maternity leave if the Conservative Party is elected to govern the country.
Giving an interview to Attitude, a British homosexual magazine distributed worldwide, he said that the party’s proposal to extend paternity and maternity rights would apply to same-sex couples who adopted children or used artificial insemination.
(See the CCFON report)
In February 2010, in an interview with the same magazine, Mr Cameron criticised the Church of England over its attitudes to homosexuality, calling for it to accept equal rights for homosexuals.
(See the CCFON report)