Thursday 6 May 2010

UK Conservatives make LGBT asylum commitments

By Paul Canning

The Conservative Party launched an 'Equalities Manifesto' 3 May which makes a number of commitments on LGBT rights.

Under the section headed 'Fight for LGBT rights around the world' it says (my emphasis):
Unfortunately there are still far too many countries around the world that discriminate against gay and lesbian people. We would use our relationships with other countries to push for unequivocal support for gay rights. For example, shadow Cabinet Minister Nick Herbert will attend the EuroPride rally in Warsaw as part of our commitment to making  the case for gay equality in Eastern Europe.
We would also use our influence in international groups like the Commonwealth to put pressure on countries where gay people are persecuted, such as Uganda, and we would change the rules so that gay people fleeing persecution were granted asylum. At the moment gay asylum seekers are often returned to countries with homophobic regimes and told to keep their sexuality a secret.

This means that of all the major parties only Labour has gone into the election making no commitments on LGBT asylum.
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2 comments:

  1. I dont believe they are committed to this for one minute.
    What about their "alliance" with homophobic parties in new Europe? They may be standing around at Europride but when it comes to actively supporting gay rights their record is atrocious. I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt this year, until all these nasty people kept coming out of the woodwork, you know who i am talking about.
    To believe they will do anything in favour of asylum-seekers- gay or straight is naieve at best.

    Lets face it, Labour has done the most to advance gay rights in this country, and though definitely far from perfect, is certainly a better option for any asylum-seeker than these retrograde Conservatives ever will.

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  2. Dear anonymous

    Labour has had years to 'do something' for LGBT asylum seekers. They didn't and they have nothing in their manifestos on the subject.

    You may not believe the Tories but there is ZERO evidence to believe Labour. The Tories (and LibDems) have made manifesto commitments. Labour=big fat zero.

    On asylum Labour has gone in one direction. What suggests they would change direction?

    Read your leader spit on gay Iraqis and tell me Labour is a "better option".

    ReplyDelete

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