Sandi Toksvig talks about politicians and gay rights...
Sandi Toksvig - a bright and highly entertaining British comedian and presenter - has this to say about the upcoming civil partnerships bill:
About three years ago I asked a member of the Labour NEC why the government, with its huge majority, was taking so long to get rid of the iniquitous section 28. The white, middle-aged, middle-class man said: "You have to understand Sandi, we're all middle-aged, white, middle-class men and actually we don't give a damn about gay rights."
If the government had truly cared, the legislation would have started in the Commons and the Parliament Act could have been used to push the law through. Sadly it is a way of doing business which is reserved for foxes and not human beings.
Thanks to thegayvote.co.uk for that one. I find the world extremely depressing sometimes. Extremely. Extraordinarily.
Comments
Please stay on-topic, informative and polite. I reserve the right to remove comments for whatever vague capricious reasons seem reasonable at the time.
On the other hand, in this week's debate we had Charles Hendry, the very epitome of a middle-aged, white, middle-class straight *Conservative*, standing up in the Commons and giving one of the best speeches arguing for full equality that I've heard in a long while. And then, come the vote, more Tories voted in favour of the civil partnership bill than against (just).
As I said in my blog post, I try to be optimistic :) Mind you, whatever the outcome, civil partnerships will *still* come in way before I find a partner to be civil (or otherwise) with...
→ Posted by: Scott Matthewman at October 15, 2004 11:08 PM
As you say, Sandi Toksvig is bright and highly entertaining, but not British I'm afraid (at least by birth, and I'm happy to be corrected if she is British by "legal" marriage). Not that it really matters but I'm one of those pedants who also writes to the Guardian on a weekly basis.
R
→ Posted by: Rachel at October 18, 2004 12:10 AM
You can't be serious?
Sandi Toksvig "a bright and highly entertaining British comedian"?
→ Posted by: Martin at October 18, 2004 9:57 AM