Gay Politicians: Alan Duncan Rejoices in Coming Out

Too many politicians fear being outed. For Conservative MP Alan Duncan, outing himself was "the best thing I ever did".

From the Independent:

On 29 July 2002, I gave an interview in The Times stating un- equivocally that I was gay. It was the best thing I've ever done.

When I came out, I'd been an MP for 10 years. I'd always known that, one day, honesty was going to be the best policy. But I didn't want to make an announcement about my sexuality when I was a just a junior MP, because all I would have been remembered for was being "the Tory gay".

I wanted to make the announcement when I had established myself more, and when I could make my announcement more relevant to the direction I thought the party needed to take. As it happened, it worked perfectly. I decided to do it, and when to do it, although of course I did tell the party what I was going to do so they weren't caught by surprise.

I think it smashed a massive taboo, permanently. I was the first Conservative MP ever to come out of my own volition, and no one can take that away from me. My professional life has improved as a result. What used to bug me was that, after the announcement, people would say: "Oh, we always knew." I used to say: "How the hell did you always know? The cheek!"

(Biographical notes at Wikipedia)

Gay Politicians: UK Minister Nick Brown

In the UK, any public suggestion of homosexuality would once have been a kiss of death: no more.

Prime Minister now says that errors of judgement may be a "resigning issue", but orientation is not. The PM is standing by his Agriculture minister Nick Brown, who has revealed that he is gay.

From BBC News:

Cabinet rallies around gay minister

Cabinet colleagues have been quick to voice their support for Agriculture Minister Nick Brown, who has revealed he is gay. Their backing for Mr Brown closely follows the line set by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who declared he was standing by his minister. 

By lending Mr Brown its full support, the government's line appears to be that "errors of judgement" may be a resigning issue for ministers, but their sexuality is not.

Mr Blair's official spokesman said the prime minister was "satisfied" with Mr Brown's account of his relationship with a former male partner.

It was his former partner's attempts to sell a story about the relationship to the News of the World newspaper which forced Mr Brown to publicly declare his sexuality and to deny he had paid for sex with the man.

Once again, the lesson is clear: the simplest way to avoid blackmail over sexuality, is to out oneself.