March 25, 2010

Cameron’s Gay Rights Gaffe

Posted in Conservatives, Gay Rights, History, Media, Politics, Society at 8:00 am by Paul Sagar

David Cameron did himself no favours stumbling his way through an interview with the Gay Times:

The Guardian covers the story well, predictably condemning Cameron. The Independent does so too, and The Mirror agrees. It’s hardly surprising that these left-leaning papers are putting the boot in. They’re generally disposed to attack the Conservatives, and leftist publications tend to be more supportive of gay rights.

But it’s also interesting that Sky News and ITN covered the story, which originally broke into the mainstream via Channel 4. These news channels are hardly known for their pioneering pro-gay rights agenda – but they’re all carrying the story. Perhaps more surprisingly, the right-wing Telegraph is carrying the story on its news pages with a fairly critical angle, whilst The Times news blog declared “Cameron loses plot in gay interview”.

What’s especially significant here is both that the story is being widely covered, and that Cameron is being widely criticised. Not just for his indecision, but also for the fact Tory MEPs are apparently supporting homophobic actions in the European Parliament. This – as well as Cameron’s inability to answer questions about gay rights in a satisfactory manner – is being criticised across the political spectrum. That Cameron felt the need, post-interview, to re-iterate a Tory “commitment” to gay equality indicates that this was a major slip-up.

What does this tell us? Most importantly, that being homophobic is no longer publicly acceptable in our society.

As recently as 2003 Cameron supported the viciously homophobic Tory-introduced “Section 28″, which banned teachers from “promoting” (which in practice meant even discussing) homosexuality in schools. Yet since becoming Tory leader he has back-tracked heavily on this, apologising for Section 28 last year.

A cynical view would be that Cameron simply wants the “gay vote” – and it’s true that he has been courting it. But this goes deeper than short-term electoral tactics. The way that Cameron is being chastised – and described as committing a “gaffe” – across the media spectrum indicates that it is now deemed illegitimate for public figures to be homophobic and to fail to profess a robust commitment to gay rights. Twenty, or even ten, years ago it’s not clear that failing to answer questions on gay rights to a relatively obscure gay publication would have been seen as a major failing on the part of a public figure. Today it is.

This is what progress looks like. Public opinion is crucial in politics. As I’ve noted before, governments ultimately rest on little else. Insofar as homophobia is deemed increasingly illegitimate, politicians and those in positions of institutional power will be forced to acknowledge the importance of gay rights. This will increasingly create an environment in which those rights have to be upheld and made meaningful by private and public actors.

Of course there remains a long way to go. Most of the trash dailies did not carry this story. Predictably I can find nothing in The Sun, Daily Mail or Daily Express. The explanation why is complex, but the likelihood is that such newspapers don’t believe their readership are interested in gay rights (and may even be homophobic) so these papers don’t feed their readers stories about gay issues. More cynically, such publications may not want to paint Cameron in a bad light on this issue because they have no desire to stigmatize homophobia. (For a comparison here, think of Nick Davies’ claims that the Daily Mail routinely spikes stories about black people because such reports are not deemed “middle England” material). But also, let’s remember that as right-wing publications these outlets are not inclined to criticise the Conservatives two months before an election.

However, this simply indicates that the de-legitimisation of homophobia – and the need for public figures to take gay rights seriously – is not a universal attitude in our society. Yet. But given the scrutiny and criticism Cameron is coming-in for across the broadcast media and the higher quality press, this is indicative of how far we as a society have come. Remember that only 43 years ago having gay sex was a criminal offence in England – and astonishingly was only decriminalised in 1980 and 1982 in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

In these troubled times, we must smile and remember that some things do get better.

Permalink