Actor and homosexual campaigner Sir Ian McKellen has revealed the level of influence ‘gay rights’ group Stonewall exerted on Tony Blair’s policies while he was Prime Minister.
Speaking at Stonewall’s annual ‘Equality Dinner’ fundraiser, Sir Ian recalled meeting Tony Blair on behalf of Stonewall three months before his election as Prime Minister.
“I reeled off Stonewall’s demands, and he nodded, wrote them down and put a tick by them all. Then he said we will do all that,” he said.
Also at the ‘Equality Dinner’, a prize of “tea with Tony Blair” was successfully auctioned for £20,000 to an undisclosed bidder.
A flood of ‘gay rights’ legislation was introduced during Mr Blair’s time in Downing Street.
Age of consent
The age of consent for homosexual acts was reduced from 18 to 16 in January 2001. The Government invoked the Parliament Acts to bypass opposition in the House of Lords.
Supporters claimed this would improve sexual health provision for young gay men. But in every year since the age of homosexual consent was lowered, the number of new HIV diagnoses among 16-24 year olds has been significantly higher than before the law was changed.
Section 28
In 2003, the Government succeeded in abolishing Section 28 in England and Wales. This part of the 1988 Local Government Act prevented local authorities spending public money on the promotion of homosexuality in schools or elsewhere.
Controversy over the promotion of homosexuality in schools has been increasing since the removal of Section 28. Just this month storybooks about homosexual relationships were withdrawn from primary schools in Bristol after protests from parents.
Tony Blair was responsible for numerous gay rights measures while he was Prime Minister.
Gay adoption
Joint adoption by homosexual couples was legalised in 2002 and came into force in 2005. Critics said the move used children as political trophies and was more concerned with an adult’s rights rather than a child’s best interests.
There have been at least two scandals at Islington and Wakefield where social services have ignored signs of abuse by homosexual carers for fear of being labelled ‘homophobic’. Meantime the press are reporting that Christians are being turned down as unsuitable adopters because of their religious beliefs.
Employment laws
In 2003 the Government introduced new regulations banning sexual orientation discrimination in employment.
Recently a Church of England Diocese was sued under these regulations and ordered to pay £47,000 in compensation to an openly gay man who was turned down for a job as a church youth worker.
Civil partnerships
Homosexual relationships gained legal recognition with the Civil Partnership Act 2004. ‘Gay marriage’ in all but name, the Act extended all the legal rights and privileges of marriage to homosexual couples.
Now some public authorities are erasing the word marriage from all official documents and replacing it with the ‘neutral’ word “partner”. Christian registrars are being put under pressure to perform civil partnership ceremonies by politically correct councils.
Goods and services
The Government’s Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) of 2007 outlawed discrimination in the provision of goods and services.
At the time Tony Blair was warned that the SORs enshrined discrimination against Christians and would put some faith-based social projects out of business.
Now religious adoption agencies with a proven track record in finding homes for hard-to-place children are facing closure because of their religious beliefs on parenting.
Hate speech laws
While Tony Blair is no longer Prime Minister, the Government’s homosexual legislative agenda retains the momentum he first introduced.
Stonewall is currently campaigning vigorously in support of the proposed “incitement to homophobic hatred” offence. Some homosexual activists want to use the law to silence their opponents but Christian groups are pressing for a free speech clause.