From Jan Bridget

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

I am delighted the same-sex marriage bill has passed the House of Commons but it has still to get through the House of Lords. I would urge people to lobby members of the House of Lords to support this bill.
For me, the bill is much more than allowing those same-sex couples who want to marry either in religious venues or elsewhere, it is about ‘normalising’ same-sex relationships.

When young people come out to their parents/carers often the first response is ‘but you won’t get married, you won’t have children.’ Well we know that LGBT people can have children and, hopefully, we will soon be able to get married.

It is my belief that the longer term effect of this bill (if successful) will be to challenge homophobic attitudes, homophobic bullying, parental rejection which, in turn, will help young LGBTs develop positive identities and reduce the high levels of mental health problems and substance misuse amongst LGBTs.

As for our local MP, Craig Whittaker, voting against the bill: a leopard doesn’t change its spots. I hold him accountable for his homophobic views and the effects of this on LGBT people.