Conservative MP says 'yes' to gay marriage

Conservative MP says ‘yes’ to gay marriage

A Conservative MP has come out in support of gay marriage and changing the law on civil partnerships.

Chloe Smith, who represents the Norwich North constituency, expressed her support for a move to change the law in response to a direct question from the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Both were speaking at a question and answer event at Norwich Gay Pride on Saturday.

Ms Smith made it clear that she would support a move towards equalising the law so that straight couples could enter into civil partnerships.

‘I hope Ms Smith’s endorsement will embolden other Tory MPs to support full equality in civil marriage and civil partnership law,’ said Mr Tatchell.

‘She is one of the very few Tory MPs to support gay civil marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships. Boris Johnson endorses the right of gay couples to marry, but David Cameron, George Osborne and most Tory MPs are still resisting calls for equality.’

Ms Smith, 29, was briefly ‘baby of the house’ when first elected in July 2009. The seat covers a large student population and an active Green party is currently the official opposition on the city council. The Greens supported full marriage equality at the last general election.

Smith represents a new breed of Tories who are more socially liberal, although few have favoured full marriage equality. Her announcement comes in the same week that the Scottish Youth Parliament launched its ‘Love Equally’ campaign.

Its chair, Grant Costello said: ‘The core purpose of the Scottish youth parliament is to involve young people in deciding the future of Scotland.’

He called on Scottish young people to be the ‘messengers’ in explaining the difference between civil partnerships and marriage. ‘Our message to Scotland is that all laws regarding homosexual relationships, whether male or female, should be equal to those of heterosexual relationships.

‘The young people of Scotland have told us that two people who love each other should be able to get married and it is now up to us to lobby the government and ask politicians to listen to them and make their voice heard,’ he added.

About the Author

Paul Prentice

Paul writes about politics, mainly because he stays up too late to shout at Question Time. He's now a freelance journalist, and over a period of seven years worked in various communications roles in the public and voluntary sectors. As well as writing for So So Gay, he's written for the Guardian and worked freelance for Associated Press, as well as writing for many other magazines and blogs. He lives in south west London with his boyfriend and the cat.