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LGBTQ conservatism refers toLGBTQ (lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender andqueer) individuals withconservative political views.
In 1791, Louis-Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau presented a new criminal code to the National Constituent Assembly.[1] 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.
In 1852, under the government of the Duke of Saldanha, aCartista, same-sex sexual intercourse was legalized throughout Portugal.[2]
On 25 June 1969, shortly before the end of aChristian Democratic Union-Social Democratic Party coalition government led by ChancellorKurt 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.
On 24 February 1954, Prime MinisterWinston Churchill stated during a Cabinet meeting that theConservative Party would not support making laws more lenient toward homosexual men, though he suggested an inquiry and limited press reporting of such cases.[3]
In 1957, following increasing prosecutions, the Conservative government commissioned the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (Wolfenden Committee). Itsreport recommended decriminalizing consensual homosexual acts between adults in private and strengthening laws against public sexual conduct and street prostitution.[4]
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 undercloseted homosexual Conservative MPHumphrey Berkeley and, after Berkeley lost his seat in the1966 United Kingdom general election, was taken up byLabourParty MPLeo Abse.[4]
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 MinisterMargaret Thatcher.[5]
In 2007,Brian Coleman wrote that London police in the mid-1950s were allegedly aware of future Prime MinisterEdward Heath's involvement incottaging 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.[6]
Robert Boothby, a Conservative politician, was known within political circles to be homosexual.[4]
In 1887, during the period known as the Conservative Republic (Spanish:República Conservadora), same-sex sexual intercourse was legalized throughout Argentina.[7]
In 1975, theConservative Group for Homosexual Equality (CGHE) was founded byPeter Walter Campbell.[8]
In 1980, during theFirst Thatcher ministry, theCriminal 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.[9]
In 2007,Brian Coleman wrote in theNew Statesman that many gay politicians in the Conservative Party became active during the Thatcher era.[10]
On 5 October 2011, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron stated at a Conservative Party conference that he supported same-sex marriage.[11]
During the passage of theMarriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013, voting among Conservative MPs was divided.[12][13][14][15]
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.[16]
In November 2004, TaoiseachBertie Ahern stated that equality for couples should be addressed while noting that legalizing same-sex marriage remained distant.[17]
During the2004Irish presidential election,Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and theProgressive Democrats expressed support for forms of recognition for same-sex couples.
During the2007Irish 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 inGay Community News.
In 2010,Ógra Fianna Fáil announced support for same-sex marriage. In July 2011,Young Fine Gael publicly supported same-sex marriage.[18]
On 3 March 2012, Fianna Fáil endorsed same-sex marriage.[19] On 5 November 2013, Fine Gael formally supported same-sex marriage.[20]
On 22 May 2015, theThirty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland (Marriage Equality) was approved by referendum. The referendum was held under a Fine Gael–Labour coalition government.
On 21 April 2003, following the removal of theBa'athist government, theCoalition Provisional Authority reinstated a revised 1988 penal code, resulting in the legalization of same-sex sexual intercourse.
In 2010, the government led by theBotswana Democratic Party amended the Employment Act to prohibit dismissal on the basis of sexual orientation or HIV status.[21]
In April 2023, theChristian Social Union in Bavaria endorsed same-sex marriage.[22][23] In May 2024, theChristian Democratic Unionof Germany expressed support for same-sex marriage.[24][25][26]
Clodovil Hernandes, a member of theChristian Labour Party and later theParty of the Republic, is regarded as the first openly gay member of Brazil’sChamber of Deputies. He served until his death in 2009.
On January 16, 2017,Marcelo Crivella, mayor ofRio de Janeiro, appointed Nélio Georgini, an openly gayevangelical conservative, to lead the city’s LGBTQ council.[27]
In the 2018 Brazilian presidential runoff, according toDatafolha, 30% of LGBTQ voters supported right-wing candidateJair Bolsonaro. The significant share of LGBTQ support for Bolsonaro drew attention in Brazilian media due to his socially conservative, anti-LGBTQ positions.[28][29]
LGBTory was established in 2015 as an organization for LGBTQ supporters of theConservative Party of Canada and provincial conservative parties. Prior to its formation, smaller informal groups existed in some Canadian cities and online.
Several openly gay figures have been associated with conservative parties at the federal or provincial level, includingScott Brison andLorne Mayencourt. Other politicians, such asKeith Norton,Phil Gillies, andHeward Grafftey, disclosed their sexual orientation after leaving office, whileRichard Hatfield was publicly identified as gay posthumously.[30] Many of these individuals have been associated with theRed Tory tradition, a moderate to progressive strand of Canadian conservatism. Brison left theProgressive Conservative Party to join theLiberal Party after the PCs merged with theCanadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada.
In 2015, LGBTory organized the first official participation by federal Conservative MPs andOntario Progressive Conservative MPPs in Toronto's Pride parade.[31] In 2016, interim Conservative leaderRona Ambrose became the first leader of the federal party to march in the Toronto Pride Parade, joined by other MPs.
In 2019, Ontario PremierDoug Ford, Deputy PremierChristine Elliott, and cabinet ministersCaroline Mulroney andStephen Lecce marched in the York Region Pride Parade, marking the first time a sitting conservative Ontario premier participated in a Pride event.Eric Duncan became the first openly gay Conservative MP elected in 2019, andMelissa Lantsman became the first openly lesbian Conservative MP elected in 2021.
In 2014, the doctrinal council of the conservativeNational Renewal voted 72.3% to reject a proposal that would have advocated limiting marriage and adoption to heterosexual couples.[32]
Members of theEuropean Parliament from across the political spectrum, including conservatives, have formed theEuropean Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.
The previous leader of theConservative People's Party inDenmark,Søren Pape Poulsen, was openly gay.[33]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2024) |
A 2013IFOP survey found that the political preferences of LGBTQ people in France were broadly similar to those of the general population.
| Affiliation | % of French LGBTQ people | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 100 | |
| Right-wing parties | 36 | |
| Gaullist parties | 21 | |
| Union for a Popular Movement | 14 | |
| Union of Democrats and Independents | 6 | |
| Other | 1 | |
| National Front | 15 | |
| Left-wing parties | 36 | |
| Socialist Party | 27 | |
| Europe Ecology – The Greens | 6 | |
| Other | 3 | |
InGermany theChristian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) since 2020 and theChristian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) in Bavaria since 2023 supportSame-sex marriages.In 2020, theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) published a political video supporting same-sex marriage and families,[35] and in 2023 theChristian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) adopted a party platform supporting same-sex marriage.[36][37] As of 2023, the right wing partyAlternative for Germany (AfD) remains the largest party opposed to same-sex marriage and supports only civil partnerships. Conversely, the leader of the AfDAlice Weidel is an open lesbian and lives in a civil partnership with two children.[38][39][40]
Much of the Dutch right wing (including figures such asGeert Wilders) has evolved to include LGBTQ rights platforms which do not conflict with the current status quo but also embrace an increased perturbation to supposed threats from minority religions (especially Islam) which, in their view, threaten to upend the vestiges of the liberalism and tolerance which has been associated with the Dutch social climate.
The former political party thePim Fortuyn List supported LGBTQ rights, and its leader and namesakePim Fortuyn was openly gay.
The Open Moderates is the LGBT-organisation of theModerate Party inSweden. The Open Moderates is an organization for everyone that shares the values of the Moderate Party and who believe that LGBT-issues are important political issues to work with from a center-right perspective.
The origin of the Open Moderates is the Stockholm-based club "Gay Moderates" that was formed already in the late 1970s. That club had mostly social activities and it was active upon until the mid-1990s. A new generation took over and reorganized the Gay Moderates as a new more political network to lobby the Moderate Party. In 2003 the name was changed to the current Open Moderates to signal that the organization is open to everyone regardless of sexual orientation that want to work with LGBTQ political issues.
In recent years, thenational conservativeSweden Democrats party has softened its stance on LGBTQ rights and same-sex parenting with party leaderJimmie Åkesson suggesting in 2018 that the party would rewrite its program for the first time to include LGBTQ related issues. One of the SD's legislators and spokesmenBo Broman is homosexual.
The conservativeCitizens' Coalition leaderIlan Sadé is openly gay.[41]
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2024) |
In April 2015,PinkNews found 26% of British LGBTQ people supported theConservative and Unionist Party, a 5% increase from the last election in 2010, 26% support theLabour Party, a 2% decrease from the last election in 2010, 19% support theLiberal Democrats, a 21% decrease from the last election in 2010, 20% support theGreen Party of England and Wales/Scottish Green Party/Green Party in Northern Ireland, a 16% increase from the last election in 2010, and 2% supported theUK Independence Party. This is the first time in the 10 years that PinkNews has polled the LGBTQ community that the Conservatives have led the survey of voting intentions.[42]
The first LGBTQConservative group was called CGHE (Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality). That group was reconstituted at the Conservative party Conference in 1991 and was renamed TORCHE (the Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality). This group was active until 2003. Some years later,LGBTory was formed. LGBTory has an active membership often organized using its Facebook groups and pages and attends vigils and LGBTQ Pride events across the UK includingPride London,Pride Scotia,Leeds Pride,Manchester Pride,Doncaster Pride andBrighton Pride.
LGBTory campaigned in seats throughout the campaign for the May 6, 2010, general election. There are now at least 12 openly gay and lesbian Conservative MPs inParliament.
LGBTory, now[when?] renamed to LGBT+ Conservatives, works to promote LGBTQ equality within the Conservative Party and generally across the UK, actively campaigning against theGay Blood Ban and for marriage equality, regardless of sexuality or gender identity.[citation needed]
TheUK Independence Party has an officially recognized LGBTQ in UKIP campaigning group which is active on the social media sitesTwitter andFacebook. It has been represented at the party's annual conference.[43]Peter Whittle of the UKIP was the only LGBTQ candidate in the2016 London Assembly election; afterwards, he was selected as the UKIP's deputy leader.
Some organizations include:
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Bacon was a conservative at heart—when drunk, he'd sometimes lambaste poor people for their supposed weakness—but his art, as channeled through his queerness, cast a critical, if oblique, eye on the prevailing culture.
Bacon's often very beautiful, grandee swirlings and sexualised skidmarks of paint are depictive of certain principal categories of subject. These are either other right-wing libertines like himself, or suicides and alcoholics – alcoholics, of course, just being suicides in slow motion.
The gentle Catholic-Buddhist Jack Kerouac, spontaneous-bop prosody prince of the Old Right, has the strongest claim. In 1952, shortly after finishing the novel that would be published five years later as On the Road, he argued for Robert Taft, "Mr. Republican," for president, while his pal Allen Ginsberg was puffing up Cold Warrior and son of a robber baron Averell Harriman.
HisNew York Times obituary recalls a man who had "no use for the radical politics that came to preoccupy many of his friends and readers." "I'm not a beatnik. I'm a Catholic," he mused as he directed the interviewer to a picture of Pope Paul VI. "You know who painted that?" Kerouac asked. "Me." Perhaps we've misunderstood him all along.