David Cameron named LGBT ‘Ally of the Year’ for same-sex marriage

David Cameron has been awarded an “Ally of the Year” award for pushing through same-sex marriage.

The move to redefine marriage was highly controversial within his own party and in the country – over 669,000 people signed a petition against the plans.

PinkNews, a homosexual news website, gave the award to the former Prime Minister at an event which also saw Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn praise Mr Cameron.

Persistence

Accepting the recognition, Mr Cameron said he had played a “small role” in “helping to push it through”.

Theresa May welcomed the award for her predecessor and also praised PinkNews for the “fundamental role” it plays in “furthering the cause of equality”.

Jeremy Corbyn noted that without the former Prime Minister’s ‘tenacity, commitment, and persistence’, same-sex marriage would not be law today.

‘Embedded’

Mr Corbyn also reiterated his position on LGBT issues in schools, saying they needed to be “embedded into the heart of the school curriculum”.

The PinkNews ceremony, which also saw prizes given out in broadcasting, the public sector and advertising, awarded the BBC’s EastEnders for “decades of covering LGBT issues”.

In June this year, when Mr Cameron resigned as Prime Minister, he placed redefining marriage among his proudest achievements.

No plans

In 2006, David Cameron said marriage was important whether it was between “man and a woman, a woman and a woman or a man and another man”.

Three days before the 2010 General Election, David Cameron told Sky News he had no immediate plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

But the Coalition Government introduced a Bill to redefine marriage and in February 2013 it won a decisive vote on the issue.

More than half of Conservative MPs voted against Mr Cameron, with the Coalition Government having to rely on the Labour opposition to win. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act received Royal Assent in 2013.