• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Tony Blair Did a Little Skip Upon Seeing Men Get Hitched

March 23, 2007 by Andy Towle

Tony Blair addressed the British gay rights group Stonewall yesterday at a dinner at the Dorchester hotel in London, and recalled the work he had done over the years as Prime Minister advancing gay rights in Britain.

BlairBlair told the crowd of the “pride” and “joy” he experienced upon seeing the first civil partnerships take place in the UK: “I was so struck by it, it was so alive, I remember actually seeing the pictures on television. It is not often that you sort of skip around in my job, I can assure you, But it really the fact that that the people were so happy and the fact that you felt just one major, major change had happened, of which everyone can feel really proud. And now I think we were just saying, was it 16,000 civil partnerships, and what is interesting now is that other countries in Europe are looking at this legislation, and it is very divisive still in Spain and Italy at the moment. But nonetheless it is happening…There are a whole load of different pieces of legislation, which I will not rehearse here, but what has happened is that the culture of the country has changed in a definable way as a result of it. And here is what I think is really interesting. The change in the culture and the civilising effect of it has gone far greater than the gay and lesbian community.”

Blair also reminisced about a speech he gave in 1994 regarding an amendment on equality on the age of consent in the UK:

“They had come together to move an amendment on equality on the age of consent. The thing that really struck me, re-reading the speech this evening, was just how a whole lot of things that nowadays we would more or less take for granted.

I mean, you had to start literally with the very, very first principles. including arguments like: “how do you stop people being persuaded to be gay?”

And I was thinking that is an interesting idea.

I have got five really good arguments in favour of being gay. And I remember saying to the guy who was on the opposite side afterwards: “You know, I am not gay and I wouldn’t be persuaded by five really good arguments.”

And he said to me: “No, no, of course not, of course not.” And I said: “But maybe it is the same the other way round?” He had never thought of it like that at all obviously.”

Blair’s comments come just as the House of Lords voted to pass an Equality Act forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, a measure that the Catholic Church has been up in arms about because, they said, the laws would require them to go against their religious beliefs in providing adoption services to same-sex couples.

Tony Blair’s Gay Speech in Full [pink news]
Blair Proud of Gay Rights Record [bbc]

Filed Under: News, Tony Blair Tagged With: gay marriage, gay rights, Great Britain, News, Tony Blair

Recent Posts

  • ‘Sex and the City’ Reboot, Miley Cyrus, Nicholas Cage Swearing, Dr. Birx, Ellen’s Mask, John Thune, Jerry Falwell Jr: HOT LINKS

    ‘Sex and the City’ Reboot, Miley Cyrus, Nicholas Cage Swearing, Dr. Birx, Ellen’s Mask, John Thune, Jerry Falwell Jr: HOT LINKS

    11 hours ago
  • How Many Christmas Movie Parodies Can You Count in Edmund Bagnell’s Holiday Classic? — WATCH

    How Many Christmas Movie Parodies Can You Count in Edmund Bagnell’s Holiday Classic? — WATCH

    16 hours ago
  • Palm Springs Gay Clothing-Optional Resort INNdulge is Up for Sale

    Palm Springs Gay Clothing-Optional Resort INNdulge is Up for Sale

    17 hours ago
  • Buffalo Gay Bar Open Since 1974 Facing Closure After Being Rejected for  COVID Relief Grant and Owner Wonders if LGBTQ Businesses Were Excluded: WATCH

    Buffalo Gay Bar Open Since 1974 Facing Closure After Being Rejected for COVID Relief Grant and Owner Wonders if LGBTQ Businesses Were Excluded: WATCH

    17 hours ago
Previous Post: « Joseph Gordon-Levitt: No Problem Kissing Dudes
Next Post: Towleroad Guide to the Tube: #104 »

Primary Sidebar

  • ‘Sex and the City’ Reboot, Miley Cyrus, Nicholas Cage Swearing, Dr. Birx, Ellen’s Mask, John Thune, Jerry Falwell Jr: HOT LINKS

  • How Many Christmas Movie Parodies Can You Count in Edmund Bagnell’s Holiday Classic? — WATCH

  • Palm Springs Gay Clothing-Optional Resort INNdulge is Up for Sale

Recent Posts

  • ‘Sex and the City’ Reboot, Miley Cyrus, Nicholas Cage Swearing, Dr. Birx, Ellen’s Mask, John Thune, Jerry Falwell Jr: HOT LINKS

    ‘Sex and the City’ Reboot, Miley Cyrus, Nicholas Cage Swearing, Dr. Birx, Ellen’s Mask, John Thune, Jerry Falwell Jr: HOT LINKS

    11 hours ago
  • How Many Christmas Movie Parodies Can You Count in Edmund Bagnell’s Holiday Classic? — WATCH

    How Many Christmas Movie Parodies Can You Count in Edmund Bagnell’s Holiday Classic? — WATCH

    16 hours ago
  • Palm Springs Gay Clothing-Optional Resort INNdulge is Up for Sale

    Palm Springs Gay Clothing-Optional Resort INNdulge is Up for Sale

    17 hours ago
  • Buffalo Gay Bar Open Since 1974 Facing Closure After Being Rejected for  COVID Relief Grant and Owner Wonders if LGBTQ Businesses Were Excluded: WATCH

    Buffalo Gay Bar Open Since 1974 Facing Closure After Being Rejected for COVID Relief Grant and Owner Wonders if LGBTQ Businesses Were Excluded: WATCH

    17 hours ago
  • North Carolina Wedding Venue Tells Gay Couple to Find Somewhere Else to Get Married: WATCH

    North Carolina Wedding Venue Tells Gay Couple to Find Somewhere Else to Get Married: WATCH

    17 hours ago
  • Amy Klobuchar Rips Trump Over Pardons for Criminal Cronies, Meddling in COVID Stimulus Relief: ‘This is an Attack on Every American’ — WATCH

    Amy Klobuchar Rips Trump Over Pardons for Criminal Cronies, Meddling in COVID Stimulus Relief: ‘This is an Attack on Every American’ — WATCH

    18 hours ago
  • Dominion Voting Systems Employee Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Newsmax, OANN, Michelle Malkin and More

    Dominion Voting Systems Employee Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Newsmax, OANN, Michelle Malkin and More

    19 hours ago
  • Trump Issues 20 Pardons Including Russia Probe Liars, Corrupt Former GOP Congressmen, and Military Contractors Who Shot Iraqi Civilians

    Trump Issues 20 Pardons Including Russia Probe Liars, Corrupt Former GOP Congressmen, and Military Contractors Who Shot Iraqi Civilians

    19 hours ago
  • Trump Calls COVID Relief Bill a ‘Disgrace’, Demands Checks Be $2000; Pelosi Cheers, ‘Let’s Do It!’ — WATCH

    Trump Calls COVID Relief Bill a ‘Disgrace’, Demands Checks Be $2000; Pelosi Cheers, ‘Let’s Do It!’ — WATCH

    19 hours ago
  • Alex Padilla, Trixie Mattel, John Mulaney, Jeopardy, Oreo Spam Burger, Trump Airport, West Point: HOT LINKS

    Alex Padilla, Trixie Mattel, John Mulaney, Jeopardy, Oreo Spam Burger, Trump Airport, West Point: HOT LINKS

    1 day ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2020 · Log in