• 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

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Paid Alt-Right Pal Milo Yiannopoulos Nearly $50k For Consulting After Being Blindsided By $116k Bill
  • James Dean & Marlon Brando’s Alleged Affair Revealed After Casting Agent Exposes Rendezvous With Hollywood Stars
  • Unearthed: Late Lisa Marie Presley Blames Scientology For Michael Jackson Divorce — ‘They Made Sure That I Left Him’

Tony Blair Did a Little Skip Upon Seeing Men Get Hitched

Andy Towle March 23, 2007

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]

Topics: News More Posts About: gay marriage, gay rights, Great Britain, News, Tony Blair, Tony Blair

Related Posts
  • Former Roommate Indicted For Murder Of Florida LGBTQ Activist Jorge Diaz-Johnston, One of the Public Faces In State Fight For Marriage Equality
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Survivor Benefits Payments For Same-Sex Partners Are Being Paid Under Biden, But Many Don’t Even Know They Qualify
  • James Dean & Marlon Brando’s Alleged Affair Revealed After Casting Agent Exposes Rendezvous With Hollywood Stars

    James Dean & Marlon Brando’s Alleged Affair Revealed After Casting Agent Exposes Rendezvous With Hollywood Stars

    Published by Radar Online MEGA James Dean was claimed to be a mega-fan of fellow screen legend Marlon Brando before they allegedly engaged in an “S&M” relationship, so it may come as no surprise that other …Read More »
  • Unearthed: Late Lisa Marie Presley Blames Scientology For Michael Jackson Divorce — ‘They Made Sure That I Left Him’

    Unearthed: Late Lisa Marie Presley Blames Scientology For Michael Jackson Divorce — ‘They Made Sure That I Left Him’

    Published by OK Magazine MEGA Lisa Marie Presley is holding the Church of Scientology accountable even from beyond the grave. The late singer, who died at the age of 54 on Thursday, January 12, believed Scientology …Read More »
  • Lawsuit to take aim at Utah law banning transition care for minors

    Lawsuit to take aim at Utah law banning transition care for minors

    Published by Reuters By Brad Brooks (Reuters) – The legal director of a leading LGBTQ advocacy group on Monday said he is preparing a lawsuit to ask courts to block a new Utah law that prohibits …Read More »
  • U.S. court rejects J&J bankruptcy strategy for tens of thousands of talc lawsuits

    U.S. court rejects J&J bankruptcy strategy for tens of thousands of talc lawsuits

    Published by Reuters By Tom Hals, Mike Spector and Dan Levine (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court upended Johnson & Johnson’s attempt to offload into bankruptcy tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products, ruling the …Read More »
Previous Post: « Joseph Gordon-Levitt: No Problem Kissing Dudes
Next Post: Towleroad Guide to the Tube: #104 »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Seventh Memphis officer suspended, three firefighters sacked, over fatal beating

    Seventh Memphis officer suspended, three firefighters sacked, over fatal beating

  • Principal orders librarian to take down Holocaust survivor’s famous quote

    Principal orders librarian to take down Holocaust survivor’s famous quote

  • Former FBI official warns of right-wing violence akin to ‘violent Islamic jihad’

    Former FBI official warns of right-wing violence akin to ‘violent Islamic jihad’

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Stormy Daniels takes victory lap after Trump pens tirade about her on Truth Social

    Stormy Daniels takes victory lap after Trump pens tirade about her on Truth Social

  • ‘He Was Consumed With Sadness’: Lisa Marie Presley ‘Destroyed’ Ex-Husband Michael Jackson With Shock Divorce Filing

    ‘He Was Consumed With Sadness’: Lisa Marie Presley ‘Destroyed’ Ex-Husband Michael Jackson With Shock Divorce Filing

  • Jane Fonda ‘worried’ about Barbarella remake

    Jane Fonda ‘worried’ about Barbarella remake

RSS Partner Links

  • Rhiannon Ally and DeMarco Morgan May Replace Amy Robach And T.J. Holmes On “GMA3” And It’s Causing Drama
  • Every Superman Movie & TV Show, Ranked
  • Nia Long Tells Drew Barrymore That She Wasn’t Selected For The “Charlie’s Angels” Movie Because She Looked “Too Old” And “Too Sophisticated”
  • Morning Man Classic: James Franciscus!
  • Hot Killers + Rugby Vet: I'M GAY + Santos Quits Committees — What's Next? + NeNe's Son Teases Homosexuality, Homosexuals + Reminder That Paris Hilton Sucks + MORE! — 12-PACK
  • OMG send it back: Alan Cumming returns Order of the British Empire
  • Marvel's 'Agatha: Coven of Chaos' TV Series - 12 Big Stars Joining & Returning to Cast!

Most Recent

  • Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Paid Alt-Right Pal Milo Yiannopoulos Nearly $50k For Consulting After Being Blindsided By $116k Bill

    Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Paid Alt-Right Pal Milo Yiannopoulos Nearly $50k For Consulting After Being Blindsided By $116k Bill

  • James Dean & Marlon Brando’s Alleged Affair Revealed After Casting Agent Exposes Rendezvous With Hollywood Stars

    James Dean & Marlon Brando’s Alleged Affair Revealed After Casting Agent Exposes Rendezvous With Hollywood Stars

  • Unearthed: Late Lisa Marie Presley Blames Scientology For Michael Jackson Divorce — ‘They Made Sure That I Left Him’

    Unearthed: Late Lisa Marie Presley Blames Scientology For Michael Jackson Divorce — ‘They Made Sure That I Left Him’

  • Lawsuit to take aim at Utah law banning transition care for minors

    Lawsuit to take aim at Utah law banning transition care for minors

  • U.S. court rejects J&J bankruptcy strategy for tens of thousands of talc lawsuits

    U.S. court rejects J&J bankruptcy strategy for tens of thousands of talc lawsuits

  • Michael Jackson’s Son Prince ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ His Cousin Is Playing The Famed Singer In Upcoming Biopic

    Michael Jackson’s Son Prince ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ His Cousin Is Playing The Famed Singer In Upcoming Biopic

  • Judge blocks New Jersey ban on guns at beaches, casinos

    Judge blocks New Jersey ban on guns at beaches, casinos

  • Florida pastor clashes with DeSantis over Black history courses and vows to host them in his church

    Florida pastor clashes with DeSantis over Black history courses and vows to host them in his church

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×