Boris Johnson refuses to apologise for insulting lesbian and gay people
The sharp exchange took place over Boris Johnson's comments on legal recognition of lesbian and gay civil partnerships, where he said: 'if gay marriage was ok - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog' (Friends, Voters, Countrymen)
Johnson was also questioned about his record on opposing the repeal of the so-called 'Section 28' legislation, introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, which outlawed proper education about gay relationships in schools, fuelling the prevalence of ignorance of homophobic bullying.
Mr Johnson had written in the Daily Telegraph in 2000 saying that 'the essence of that Tory case is unchanged...it is more sensitive to spare parents anxieties, than to allow left wing local authorities to waste taxpayers money on idiotic and irrelevant instruction'.
Mr Johnson refused to apologise and gave no indication that his views on Section 28 had changed even while asking lesbian and gay Londoners to vote for him.
Mr Johnson was also asked which was the first gay pride march he had attended. Johnson admitted he had never attended a Pride march and, indeed, had no idea when they take place.
Ken Livingstone was cheered by the audience for his long record of supporting lesbian and gay rights many years before it became fashionable. Ken voted against Section 28, introducing the first civil partnership register for lesbian and gay couples in Britain and officially supporting Gay Pride as an important London parade and festival
The event was enlivened by three men posing outside with a dog.
Ken Livingstone said:
'My commitment is to continue to make London one of the most lesbian and gay friendly cities in the entire world. The job of the Mayor is to help take on and defeat every manifestation of bigotry and homophobia, not legitimise it with sentiments like those expressed by Boris Johnson in the past. Given what he has said about lesbian and gay people, as well as ethnic minorities, it is frankly astonishing that he should be coming to ask them to make him Mayor of this wonderfully open and tolerant city.'
Notes
Click here to download Ken's manifesto for Lesbian and Gay Londoners>>>
Boris Johnson quotes
‘Labour's appalling agenda, encouraging the teaching of homosexuality in schools, and all the rest of it.' (The Spectator 15 April 2000)
‘The essence of that Tory case is unchanged... it is more sensitive to spare parents' anxieties, than to allow Leftwing local authorities to waste taxpayers' money on idiotic and irrelevant homosexual instruction.'
(Daily Telegraph 3 August 2000)
‘Slowly Labour is winning the battle it really cares about, the Kulturkampf, adjusting what can be said, and what cannot be said... Homosexuality is to be taught in schools.'
(The Spectator 29 April 2000)
‘I first met the Bishop [of Liverpool] a few weeks ago at a
gloomy convocation of top clergy and journalists in Windsor Castle. The
hacks were thin on the ground... I can say that the clerics gave us a wigging
for being so mean to the Church of England... Why did we draw attention to
tricky subjects like homosexuality, aka the Pulpit Poofs issue?' (The Spectator
16 December
2000)
'If gay marriage was OK - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog.'
(Friends, Voters, Countrymen p96)
‘When the [hunting] ban is blocked in the Lords, as it surely will be, Blair will have his excuse for another attack on the Upper House. If Labour wins the election, Blair will invoke the Parliament Act to sweep aside the opinion of the peers, as he did over homosexual sex at 16, making a mockery of the Lords and consolidating his elective dictatorship.
(Daily Telegraph 18 January 2001)
‘More important, I am not sure how widespread this new right-on mood really is. Metropolitan opinion was wrong-footed over Section 28, where the public thought differently from New Labour; and three days after the event it was clear that the country did not agree with the editorialists on the verdict passed on Tony Martin. You can say that William Hague is opportunist to see the gap between the polite view and the public view. But you can't deny that he is right to go for it.'
(The Spectator 29 April 2000)