Reply From Caroline Dinenage (And Her Colleague!)

So...Caroline Dinenage emailed me back after I sent her an open letter. This was her response:

Dear Tori,

Thank you for writing to me about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) equality and marriage of same-sex couples.

Let me reassure you that I fully support LGB&T equality and will work hard to continue the Government’s strong track record of tackling inequalities. 

I recognise that the way in which I voted on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has raised some concerns that I do not support equality or equal marriage. 

I want to make clear that my vote on this issue was one over which I deliberated very carefully.  As you will know, I inherited a constituency bruised by the expenses scandal meaning that many of my constituents had lost faith in MPs.  I was therefore conscious of the need to be directly accountable to them.  I received correspondence requesting me to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at a ratio of 100:1 in comparison to those in favour.  I therefore made the difficult decision to vote against the Bill – and my conscience – and instead represent the views of the many hundreds of constituents who had contacted me.  

Marriage of same-sex couples is now law, and I fully support this as an important step forward in the rights of LGB&T people. 

I hope I will be judged on my record in office rather than the past.  I am honoured to have been appointed as Minister for Equalities and look forward to building on the Government’s excellent track record in tackling inequalities and discrimination.  The UK has just been named the most progressive country in Europe for LGB&T rights for the fifth year running, which is a testament to the achievements that have been made.  But I recognise there is no room for complacency and I am committed to taking further action to support LGB&T equality, in particular, continuing the Government’s work on tackling homophobic bullying in schools and supporting LGB&T rights around the world.

I look forward to working with LGB&T organisations to understand the challenges that remain and to discuss this Government’s priorities for this Parliament.  Please be assured that I am absolutely committed to tackling discrimination in all its forms and to creating a fairer society for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

I hope this information is reassuring and thank you again for taking the time to write to me.

Kind regards

Caroline

And this was her colleague's response:

Dear Tori,

Thank you for your email of 13 May to Caroline Dinenage MP, Minister for
Women and Equalities and Family Justice, about lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGB&T) equality and marriage of same-sex couples.

I have been asked to reply on the Minister’s behalf.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to write to set out your concerns. Let
me reassure you that the Government fully supports LGB&T equality. It
has a strong track record of tackling inequalities and remains committed
to doing so. The UK has just been named the most progressive country
in Europe for LGB&T rights for the fifth year running, which is a testament
to the achievements that have been made.

The debate about marriage of same-sex couples was one about which
many MPs received a great deal of representations from their
constituents and which they will each have considered carefully before
voting on the legislation. The Minister received correspondence
requesting her to vote against the Bill at a ratio of 100:1 in comparison to
those in favour. She therefore made the difficult decision to vote against
the Bill, and represent the views of many of her constituents. As you
know, the Bill was passed by Parliament and is now law, and the Minister
fully supports this.

Despite the progress that has been made in advancing LGB&T equality,
the Minister recognises there is no room for complacency. She is
committed to taking further action to support LGB&T equality, in
particular, continuing the Government’s work on tackling homophobic
bullying in schools and supporting LGB&T rights around the world.

The Minister looks forward to working with LGB&T organisations to
understand the challenges that remain and to discuss this Government’s
priorities for this Parliament. Please be assured that the Minister is
absolutely committed to tackling discrimination in all its forms and to
creating a fairer society for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or
gender identity.

Yours sincerely

Alan Chapman

Government Equalities Office

General Election 2015 Conspiracy

So I believe that the General Election 2015 was rigged. Surely that many people could NOT have voted Conservative. It doesn't make sense. Do people really know what they are letting themselves in for?! Already, within a few days of having a Tory government there is talk of scrapping the Human Rights Act 1998 and replacing it with the 'British Bill of Rights' which sounds 1. Not half as good as it does not have the word 'human' in it, so are we going to be treated as animals rather than humans? and 2. Racist. 'British' bill of rights - sounds suspiciously racist to me! The new Conservative Ministers are also sounding absolutely amazing with:

• The new Tory Disabilities Minister Justin Tomlinson who voted against protecting disabled child benefits.
• The new Tory Equalities Minister Caroline Dinenage who voted against gay marriage.
• The new Tory Justice Minister Michael Gove (previously Education Minister) who supports hanging.
• The Tory Education Minister has stayed as Nicky Morgan which teachers aren't happy about.

So, so far Mr Cameron is doing very well.

Anyway back to the Conspiracy. This General Election was the first time I have voted in a General Election (or any election) due to now being old enough and I was very surprised, shocked and dismayed to see that the ballot papers were given out with pencils rather than pens to fill out. I smelt a rat. A huge, smelly, stinking rat. Why were we given pencils? Pencil marking can easily be rubbed out and replaced with (obviously) a cross in the terrible Tory box.

I used my girlfriend's pen so I felt better about my own vote (if it was even counted as it was in pen) but what about everyone else's'?

I've heard reasons why the ballot papers are given out with pencils, such as:

• It costs less to provide pencils rather than pens
• Pens run out but pencils don't (well, eventually they do!)
• Pen marking can run in wet weather but pencil won't
• It doesn't matter if they are marked in pencil as the paper is thin so if someone were to rub out the marking it would still be visible.....really?! (The paper wasn't THAT thin!)
• Don't worry - there are people keeping watch and making sure it all stays legal/unrigged. Like politics is all legal and fair. No, it is totally corrupt!

So I will end on the note that I believe there is some kind of Tory Conspiracy and the election was rigged and we are under rule of a deceitful government. Fun times! 

Why I'm Voting For The Labour Party

Because I believe in a fair and equal society. Because I believe in making the future safe for our country and because the young people of our generation deserve a happy and stable future. The Conservatives just cut down everything they could and if they stay in power for another 5 years then I believe we will no doubt lose our NHS as we know it. It has already leaked out that the Lib Dems and Conservatives would increase higher education tuition fees further, I don't understand how £9000 a year isn't enough! Higher education should be free or at least realistically affordable. I am going to be in about £40,000 in debt after my degree....how is this fair? I just wanted to go to university to build myself a more promising future. Most of my generation will never be able to own a house due to the extortionate prices. We have been set up to fail. Lib Dem and Conservatives have also admitted they will make cuts to welfare for the sick, young, poor and disabled. So that's everyone but the privileged few again. Labour created the NHS and they created the minimum wage which they want to increase. They will scrap zero hour contracts. Vote for a fair and equal society, vote for Labour. If you think your vote won't count and is just one more vote and doesn't really add up, think again, yours could be the one vote that determines whether we have a Tory or Labour government for the next five years. If you are women considering whether to vote or not, remember women died for your vote! You owe it to them to do so. Don't be lazy and shrug off politics and say "They're all the same, they all promise and never live up to their promises" but it is about voting for the lesser of the evils if you think of it in that way. Vote for Britain's equal and successful future, for our NHS, which let's face it - most people use it at some point in their lives, even the privileged few. Vote for the hope of the future.....vote for Labour.

David Burrowes MP: ‘I am a supporter of traditional marriage. Get over it!’

So, I got a reply from the homophobic bigot of an MP, David Burrowes. 

I was also contacted by a journalist for The Enfield Gazette, as David Burrowes in an MP for Enfield-Southgate, she wrote an article about my letter to him, his reply and my opinions on it, which was published in The Enfield Gazette.

When Sally Met Sally also published an article about David Burrowes' reply to my letter.

In my letter I stated that "Pro-marriage means you believe in marriage and want as many people as possible to participate in it; so how is excluding a whole group of people from the marital institution pro-marriage?"
Along with a lot of political waffle that didn't get to the point, he said "I am a supporter of traditional marriage. Get over it!"
Doesn't he realise what 'traditional' marriage means?
Women are slaves, if they're not virgins when married they can be beaten, fathers can sell their daughters for cows and goats, interracial relationships were illegal.
Does he support these archaic 18th century values?

Paraphrasing and playing on the LGBT charity Stonewall's famous 'Some people are gay, get over it' slogan seems to be rather childish. Couldn't he be more original?

He did not answer my question: "I would be extremely happy if you could explain to me how you believe you are not anti-gay".
Looking at his voting record, he seems to want to deny lesbian and gay people rights and does not think they should be protected against from homophobic hatred. As he voted against outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 2007 and to prevent lesbians from having access to fertility treatment in 2008. Then against outlawing incitement to homophobic hatred in 2009. He doesn't appear to have voted on the Equality Act 2010 (which consolidated and extended the various bits of legislation on discrimination). He voted against same-sex marriage in 2013.

Come on Burrowes, admit it, you just don't like the gays.

Pro-Marriage But Not Anti-Gay: I Don't Think So

So I click open my emails and find an email news update from PinkNews about the MP David Burrowes. He quoted that "I am not anti-gay just pro-marriage". I found this statement ridiculous and clicked onto the link to read the full article. Basically the MP was saying that he supported civil partnerships but did not approve of same-sex couples entering into marriage because it is 'for a man and a woman'. 

"I support civil partnerships so much so that I do not see the need to change marriage to encompass same-sex couples when it has always existed as a distinctive relationship between a man and a woman" David Burrowes.

Well I proceeded to argue with his point and sent him an email explaining why you cannot be pro-marriage but only for straight people and not anti-gay.

I researched his voting record only to discover he voted for/against:

• Against outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 2007
• To prevent lesbians from having access to fertility treatment in 2008
• Against outlawing incitement to homophobic hatred in 2009
• He doesn't appear to have voted on the Equality Act (which consolidated and extended the various bits of legislation on discrimination) in 2010
• Against same-sex marriage in 2013

So it appears that he doesn't want LGBT people to be able to get married or have children and he thinks that discriminating against them is fine but he is not anti-gay. This does not make any sense whatsoever. 

I emailed him my angry yet well-mannered composition of ideas and beliefs and then sent it to PinkNews. They said it was a "strongly written letter" and posted it on their website. 

I am now waiting for David's reply, may he send one. I looked him up on Twitter and discovered that he believes: "There must be safeguards for religious freedom in the Same Sex Marriage Bill. And a referendum".

I informed David that "I am 17 and I identify as lesbian. I am one of the future generation. I believe everyone should be allowed to marry if they desire to, including the LGBT community".

I went on to question: "How is their (LGBT people's) love any less deserving or real than straight people's? The only thing that undermines marriage is divorce, something straight people seem to be very good at".

I was annoyed by his use of the term 'pro-marriage'. Someone who is pro-marriage would believe strongly in the marital institution and want as many people as possible to take part it in, so how is excluding a whole group of people from the marital institution pro-marriage?

Using the 'I support marriage' argument in an equal marriage bill is not rational. If you support marriage you must believe it is best for everyone. Claiming you are 'pro-marriage' but not 'anti-gay' is like saying you are vegetarian but don't mind eating pork when it suits you. 

Come on David, think about it; are you really in favour of civil partnerships? Are you really not 'anti-gay'? I don't think so...you're just a bigot covering your homophobia with pro-marriage blankets.

I later found that When Sally Met Sally had published a similar article on their website and I contacted them and they have arranged to publish my blog posts/for me to write posts to be published on their website. Woo!