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LGBTQ conservatism

Movement within conservatism among LGBTQ people

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  • 4 chapters

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History

Before the Stonewall riots

France

In 1791, Louis-Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau presented a new criminal code to the National Constituent Assembly. The code did not list crimes associated with homosexuality, thereby removing criminal penalties for those acts.

In 1810, a new criminal code was issued under Napoleon which continued to exclude provisions criminalizing homosexuality.

Portugal

In 1852, under the government of the Duke of Saldanha, a Cartista, same-sex sexual intercourse was legalized throughout Portugal.

Germany

On 25 June 1969, shortly before the end of a Christian Democratic Union-Social Democratic Party coalition government led by Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Paragraph 175, which criminalized male same-sex sexual intercourse, was amended. "Qualified" offenses—sexual acts with a male under 21, homosexual prostitution, and exploitation of a relationship of dependency—remained.

United Kingdom

On 24 February 1954, Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated during a Cabinet meeting that the Conservative Party would not support making laws more lenient toward homosexual men, though he suggested an inquiry and limited press reporting of such cases.

In 1957, following increasing prosecutions, the Conservative government commissioned the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (Wolfenden Committee). Its report recommended decriminalizing consensual homosexual acts between adults in private and strengthening laws against public sexual conduct and street prostitution.

In May 1965, Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran introduced a bill in the House of Lords to decriminalize male same-sex sexual intercourse in England and Wales. Amendments added a more restrictive standard of privacy than for heterosexual behavior, including prohibitions on acts involving more than two people or occurring in public lavatories. The bill later entered the House of Commons under closeted homosexual Conservative MP Humphrey Berkeley and, after Berkeley lost his seat in the 1966 United Kingdom general election, was taken up by Labour Party MP Leo Abse.

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 passed under a Labour government, partially decriminalizing consensual same-sex acts between adults in private in England and Wales. A minority of Conservative MPs voted in favor, including future Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

In 2007, Brian Coleman wrote that London police in the mid-1950s were allegedly aware of future Prime Minister Edward Heath's involvement in cottaging and warned him due to potential career impact. Coleman also asserted that gay men held significant positions within the London Conservative Party during that era.

Robert Boothby, a Conservative politician, was known within political circles to be homosexual.

Argentina

In 1887, during the period known as the Conservative Republic (Spanish: República Conservadora), same-sex sexual intercourse was legalized throughout Argentina.

After the Stonewall riots

United Kingdom

In 1975, the Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality (CGHE) was founded by Peter Walter Campbell.

In 1980, during the First Thatcher ministry, the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 was enacted, legalizing same-sex sexual intercourse in Scotland.

In 1991, the CGHE reformed at the Conservative Party Conference as the Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality (TORCHE) and remained active until its disbandment in 2004.

In 2007, Brian Coleman wrote in the New Statesman that many gay politicians in the Conservative Party became active during the Thatcher era.

On 5 October 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron stated at a Conservative Party conference that he supported same-sex marriage.

During the passage of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013, voting among Conservative MPs was divided.

Ireland

On 24 June 2004, Fine Gael proposed legal recognition of civil partnerships for opposite-sex and same-sex couples, the first Irish political party to do so.

In November 2004, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern stated that equality for couples should be addressed while noting that legalizing same-sex marriage remained distant.

During the 2004 Irish presidential election, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Progressive Democrats expressed support for forms of recognition for same-sex couples.

During the 2007 Irish general election, the manifestos of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Progressive Democrats supported civil unions for same-sex couples, and all three parties advertised in Gay Community News.

In 2010, Ógra Fianna Fáil announced support for same-sex marriage. In July 2011, Young Fine Gael publicly supported same-sex marriage.

On 3 March 2012, Fianna Fáil endorsed same-sex marriage. On 5 November 2013, Fine Gael formally supported same-sex marriage.

On 22 May 2015, the Thirty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland (Marriage Equality) was approved by referendum. The referendum was held under a Fine Gael–Labour coalition government.

Iraq

On 21 April 2003, following the removal of the Ba'athist government, the Coalition Provisional Authority reinstated a revised 1988 penal code, resulting in the legalization of same-sex sexual intercourse.

Botswana

In 2010, the government led by the Botswana Democratic Party amended the Employment Act to prohibit dismissal on the basis of sexual orientation or HIV status.

Germany

In April 2023, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria endorsed same-sex marriage. In May 2024, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany expressed support for same-sex marriage.

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