It is ten years since being gay or lesbian in the Armed Forces ceased being an offence punishable by dismissal. It is six years since the introduction of civil partnerships; six since transgendered people could change their legal sex; seven since Section 28 was repealed (ten in Scotland); and ten since the age of consent was equalized for heterosexual and homosexual couples. In light of these legal advances it could well be argued there has never been a better time to be gay than in modern Britain. In this, the year that the Labour government that has made such progressive constitutional changes for gays and lesbians is surely to be ousted from Westminster, how far has homosexuality been normalized by the British mainstream? If Obama’s America is a country that has now moved ‘beyond race’, is it possible to assert that Britain in 2010 is now a country which has gone ‘beyond gay’?
Legally, gay and lesbian people are now all but equal to their heterosexual counterparts. Anti-discrimination laws that promote respect to individuals regardless of their sexuality have formed a legal base that makes anti-gay sentiment decidedly last century. As recently as last year however, the Metropolitan Police reported a rise of 14 per cent in homophobic violence in the Capital, a trend mirrored nationwide. The reality for Britain’s gay, lesbian and transgendered people therefore lies not in the power of the new, politically correct legislation to come out of Whitehall in recent years, but rather in the power of social attitudes and cultural norms, which remain far more resistant to modification.
At the end of the last century, as Tony Blair coasted into office, the gay and lesbian presence in the media was still largely delivered through stereotypes. Camp Graham Norton was risqué on Channel 4, Julian Clary reigned king of innuendo, and boy-haired Sue Perkins made witty one-liners weekday lunchtimes. Gender theory (Eagly et al.) tells us that stereotypes are safe; that gender roles are stereotypes based on societal expectations, what in anthropological terms is called ‘the Other’. Fast forward ten years and Queer as Folk has caused controversy for its euphemistically termed “uncompromising” portrayal of gay sex, whilst a gay Muslim’s closet-outing is the main draw of EastEnders on New Year’s Day. So far, then, so socially progressive and successful in moving away from the gay stereotype beamed into living rooms which, for some, represents their only knowing interaction with gay people. A glance however at the (derisible) Independent on Sunday’s ‘Pink List’ reveals only one person under the age of thirty in their top thirty (a heavily set American female singer), hinting that the alterity of the gay presence in the mainstream media remains, political advancement or not. The IoS list also features only one openly gay sports person — at number 60. Could this leave gay youths looking to replace a stereotype with a positive role model with anything other than despair? (Peter Mandelson, arguably the most powerful openly gay man in British history, does not inspire.)
Away from the halls of Westminster and White City, away from the bright liberal lights of the Capital, (where, it should be noted, it was only last October that 62 year old Ian Baynham was beaten to death in Trafalgar Square for remonstrating with a woman who leveled homophobic abuse at him) the reality of anti-gay sentiment remains widespread, any trickle-down effects of the anti-discriminatory legislation largely unseen. A Home Office report from 2005 found that homophobia was ‘endemic’ in the Police Force, with homophobic comments and attitudes continuing in “every area of police work”. The same report also concluded, however, that use of ‘racist language’ in the police force has almost disappeared, because officers know it will lead to disciplinary action. Even within Britain’s institutions then, anti-gay sentiment remains a societal norm. In playgrounds across the UK, a racial slur will be considered intolerable and merit a firm response and sanction, but Ofsted reports show that slurs about sexual orientation are permissively allowed as a daily occurrence, tacitly accepted without reprisal. According to LGBT charity Stonewall, almost half of lesbian and gay people think they are at greater risk of being physically assaulted than a heterosexual, whilst a third of lesbian and gay people alter their behaviour so as not to ‘appear homosexual’ and be made a victim of crime. For all that has been done for the advancement of equality and legal goodwill propagating anti-discrimination, the base societal expectations of the country remain largely unaffected.
If, as surely will happen, Labour is ousted come the next general election, and everyone’s chum David Cameron takes residency at Downing Street, how likely is it that the Conservatives will attempt to match the progressive legal Arcadia that Labour’s new legislation has created? Historically, the majority of the gay bloc (standing at 3.6 million if estimates are to be believed) has always been left-leaning. It remains to be seen if the push by Cameron’s Conservatives for civic responsibility to fix the unruly and discriminatory behavior of ‘Broken Britain’ will be enough to champion the requirements of the gay corner.
David Cameron personally voted against the provision of IVF facilities to lesbian couples, twice voted against giving gay couples the right to adopt, and was a staunch supporter of Section 28, the 1988 amendment to the Local Government Act which prohibited schools from “promoting” homosexuality. Only last year the Conservative party supported the Waddington amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill, an amendment to the law against incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation added by Tory peer Lord Waddington, a former Home Secretary under Margaret Thatcher, which effectively diluted the government’s gay hate legislation. Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has claimed that the Conservative party is “still plagued by homophobia”; whilst Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant has suggested that “the very DNA of the Tory party is anti-gay”.
The truth remains that in this age of stygian economic news and international power struggles, gay issues will probably be largely superfluous to gay voters when they go to the ballot box later this year; but nonetheless, in the coming months there is likely to be a great deal of mud slinging between the main parties in attempts to hook the ‘gay vote’. Already David Cameron has apologised for his vehement support of Section 28, stating “we got it wrong. It was an emotional issue. I hope you can forgive us”. In a joint poll taken last summer by Channel 4 and the gay dating website Gaydar, the Conservatives held a 12 point lead over Labour when it came to gay votes. In an election of such closely contested rhetoric it will be up to voters to decide where the spin meets sincerity.
The current Labour government have progressed the rights of gay people dramatically over the last twelve years, and regardless of whether the Conservative Party’s professed changing of heart is skin deep or not, these gains will continue as bolsters of political equality. In spite of legal advancements though, Britain still has a long way to go before sexual orientation ceases to be a divisive issue for certain members of the community. The question remains whether the Conservatives, with their stoic membership of old-time backbenchers, have the political will to try and bring the power of societal norms in line with the country’s new anti-discriminatory legislation. This surely is where any gay battles of the next decade lie.
