Peter Mandelson, Baron Mandelson of Foy and Hartlepool, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Many people on this list hate being described as a gay or lesbian politician, but unfortunately we do not yet live in a society where sexual orientation is an irrelevance.ġ. Of those respondents who are party supporters, 71% of Conservatives, 46% of Labour and 28% of Lib Dems thought they would face barriers if they wanted to stand for Parliament. It found that respondents thought they would get worse treatment on the grounds of their sexuality in employment, political representation, housing, health, education, the police and the criminal justice system.Ĩ9% of those polled think they would face barriers from the Conservative party if they wanted to be selected to run for Parliament.Ħ1% said the same about Labour and 47% about the Liberal Democrats. For those who ask why such a demonstration is needed in 2009, we point to a Stonewall survey of more than 1,600 gay, lesbian and bisexual people published last year.
