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I swear recently, I’ve talked about politics more than anything else, at home at least. It’s probably because of the upcoming general election. Well, one of the hottest topics right now is Gay Rights. I was surprised to hear David Cameron saying how “We do need good sex and relationship education. That education should teach people about equality, that we treat people the same whether they are gay or straight, I think that is really important that we embed that in the ethos of our education.”

Well, okay. That’s a good start. I was extremely impressed – I mean, a party which wears its heart on its sleeve (read: Conservative) has suddenly changed its tune rather dramatically. For a little while there, I debated voting Tory. Needless to say, that didn’t last long. Cameron has just quickly backtracked and, despite there being the ‘LGBTory’ branch, and is even refusing to accept homophobic bullying as an occurrence:

“He says he doesn’t understand why homophobia would be worse in faith schools. But I ask: Is it so odd? Some of these religious groups – not all – believe homosexuality is a sin. For the only time in the interview, Cameron looks irritated. “That’s so wrong,” he snaps, his brow furrowed. “My daughter goes to a church school and it’s not like that.” He angrily says, “A lot of what you’ve read in the newspapers is actually a lot of tosh.” With a firm glare, he says he will put in place “ground rules” to make sure new religious schools “teach equality”, and that’s that. He gets up to turn down the radiator next to him. “ (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lets-talk-about-sex-johann-hari-grills-david-cameron-over-gay-rights-1888688.html)

Uh-huh. I see. Just read the article. You’ll see that Cameron is trying is hardest to be seen as fair and modern, but he just can’t shake his own beliefs, it would seem. 30% of David Cameron’s cabinet have voted against gay rights, including the repeal of Section 28 (which Cameron himself voted against), adoption by gay parents and lowering the age of consent for gay men. Which brings me nicely to Labour, where NO party members voted against any of these laws.

I’m not defending the Labour party, or Gordon Brown for that matter. But don’t forget that they did bring us the Civil Partnerships. No, it’s not quite marriage, but you have to admit that it’s a big step in the right direction. Labour’s LGBT group also seems to be a driving force behind passing a law against homophic hatred, which the Conservatives House of Lords have constantly been opposing. That having been said, other than their promised extension of the Equality Bill, there are no other remarks about homosexuality. I guess you could that settling, a compromise.

The Liberal Democrats, however, seem to be living up to their name. The Independent recently published details of a political conference, in which Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg made some bold statements and drilled Cameron into the ground. Clegg stated that he ensure that schoolchildren are brought up knowing that homosexuality is normal, and gay relationships (sexual and romantic) would be discussed in lessons. Also, he Clegg would ensure that homophobic crime is recognised and treated the same way as any sort of hatred or discrimination. PLUS, he would finally equalise all orientations. Gay men and women would be able to get MARRIED, and would have all of the same rights and benefits etc etc. I emailed Clegg’s office about why none of his more recent statements are on the party’s website and I received a satisfactory reply. I’m hoping to see this information on their page very soon indeed.

I’m about to turn twenty, and so I’ve been doing a lot of research into this as it will be the first time that I’ve voted in a general election. Unfortunately, the Liberal Democrats are unlikely to succeed – it’s neck-and-neck between the Tories and the BNP. I know that gay rights is not the only thing that I should be looking at when deciding on who to vote for, but people need to choose a party that speaks to them, that will do what they want. The Lib Dems haven’t been in power for a very long time (most likely because people always switch between only Labour and Conservative). Perhaps we ought to allow these lads to muck about in Number 10 for a while. If they don’t get voted in, then I’ll just have turn into a renegade Parliamentary candidate.