New government – what is the impact on equality?
Theresa May is the new Minister for Women and Equality, a role which will run alongside her role as Home Secretary. She may be one of the very few women to have a role in the new cabinet, but is she the right person for this particular job? 
To be fair, it must have been a challenge to find a suitable person to champion equalities and fairness within the Conservative party. Former shadow home secretary Chris Grayling, demoted to work and pensions minister in the new government, said he backed B+B owners turning gay couples away, former shadow defence minister Julian Lewis said gay sex was as dangerous as fighting on the frontline in a war zone, and a Tory candidate was suspended for saying homosexuality was ‘not normal’.
So, Theresa it is. Well, let’s look at her record in the field of equalities.
She voted against the Sexual Orientation regulations that she will be in charge of implementing.
In 1998 she voted against equalising the age of consent.
In 2000 she voted against the repeal of Section 28 (which banned schools from promoting any material that portrayed gay relationships as anything other than abnormal – introduced by Thatcher in 1988), thankfully repealed anyway.
In 2001 and 2002 she voted against gay couples adopting children.
In 2004, like much of the Conservative front bench, she did vote in favour of civil partnerships. But in the same year, she didn’t attend Parliament for any of the four votes that led to the Gender Recognition Act.
In 2008 she voted in favour of a defeated bill which said that IVF rights should require a male role model – effectively discriminating against lesbian fertility rights.
She did not attend the vote for the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexuality for the provision of goods and services including adoption. This is a key piece of legislation that she has the responsibility for administering.
Of course it is true to say that past performance is no guarantee of future performance, and it is to be hoped that she will take her role seriously and put aside her former views against gay rights.
But was she really the most suitable person they could find for the role of Minister of Equalities??
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Very pertinent blog, Jane. I think you should be sending it to the Cabinet for their opinions.
Maybe I'm talking bollocks, but I've always felt the Tories to be more interested in economics, whereas Labour have always been very keen on rights (strangely matched with a Nanny State attitude in recent years). We can't expect them to be experts from the off on all areas, but let's hope they will certainly take their role very seriously and learn something from it. And to be quite honest, for the next 4 years, I think we've got enough to be worrying about, fighting on the economic front, for now.
I've emailed Mrs May directly on this subject.
Do you have her email address please?
As your second sentence hints at (to me, anyway) could it just be that they felt they daren't give the job to a bloke?
Another thing, and again this might just be me, so I'm preparing to duck: Often when I see a lot of heated feelings about equality I see it as really referring to 'minority;' – am I the only one?
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
No, I don't think you are the only one Linda – equality is about everyone, not just minorities, but it's often not seen that way. My next blog, coincidentally, is about sexism against men.
I would have no objection to anyone taking on the role of Equalities Minister on grounds of their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability or any other factor. No one person can ever personally embody all the equlaity strands. But I would expect that person (whether straight, white able-bodied man or disabled black lesbian) to have an understanding of the various issues faced by different (minority and majority) groups, and a history of championing equality between different groups.
Twitter: evenbreak
I notice that today she has announced that she has very generously changed her mind on the issue of gay adoption. Well, that's either very reassuring, or very convenient, depending on your degree of cynicism!
Twitter: evenbreak
Gosh, a woman of her convictions and beliefs, then… not:-(
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
mayt@parliament.uk
I guess I'm not the only person to have contacted her about this!
Someone set up a Facebook page asking for her to be sacked from the position. The last time I looked they had something like 60,000 signatures on a petition. So I don't think we are the only ones with concerns!
Twitter: evenbreak
I like this article! Will come again next time for sure, thank again