Petition against Theresa May holding the post of equalities minister

Ewe. What part of Someguys response was 'utterly bizarre'?

Does anyone really believe that a petition will do any good?

I do not know enough about Theresa May, and will read up a bit before commenting about her voting record, but I must admit to being bemused at a petition.

Write to her, ask her about her voting record, about her thoughts on equality for gays in UK.

And, for the record, if my DC were to be taken into care I would not care a jot about the sexuality of prospective adoptive parents, as long as they were decent people who would love, care and protect my DC.

I was quoting a website, which has assessed her as moderately against gay rights, the websites turn of phrase - not mine. They also then provided a link to every vote on the topic and an explanation of how they calculate and weight it.

I didn't argue that it was a lazy insult. Your point, that working class Scotland is against same sex adoptions more than the middles classes in England proves nothing. Was there actually a comparative study of some English counties?

Nobody on this thread has called her homophobic apart from someone mentioning the title of a Facebook group against her.

Well done for all your linking though it doesn't come across as at all patronising. Are you Mr Theresa May? It's the only reason I can think of to explain your utterly bizarre response here.

I hope that she fully embraces the role and puts equality at the top of her agenda, because it is important and we're nowhere near. The cabinet (and shadow cab) being excellent examples of how far away we are from equality amongst men and women let alone in terms of sexuality/disability etc.

She was Shadow Minister for Women so it's hardly surprising that she got the job.

'Our agenda for women' www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/08/conervative-policy-women

Leningrad. You have explained it all.........

but it's not true! Middle class middle England is more supportive of gay rights than working class Scotland.

It makes what you say look ridiculous, it's lazy to blame everything on the middle class.

It's not remotely similar to making a maths dunce Chancellor. 'Equality' is a nebulous concept. We are not all equal. 17-year olds cannot vote. French people cannot stand for Parliament.

Not all 'gay rights' are equal either. You can't just say 'Theresa May is against gay rights' because that's a meaningless statement, because one person's definition of 'gay rights' differs from anothers.

Rather than lazy labels let's actually consider what she has to do.

Clearly, despite the claim of morons on Facebook, she is not 'homophobic'.

As for gay adoption, that's now law anyway, and it's not going to be overturned, not a chance, whether or not it's a good thing.

Per the Guardian leader, www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/12/theresa-may-nobodys-stooge 'on women she is well-briefed and creative in areas like domestic violence' and 'nobody's stooge'. These are I think positive things.

I will confess to not being an expert on gay rights issues, so I don't know if there are current legislative issues in that area, but let us not write her off as 'homophobic' when plainly she is not.

It might be a lazy insult, sorry, should I be arsed and making a real effort to insult? It wasn't even aimed at you.

I don't really care what the survey says, we shouldn't have an equalities minister who has voted against gay rights. Regardless of whether they are male/female/lib dem/labour/conservative.

Are you being deliberately obtuse? It would be like making someone who failed maths GCSE chancellor of the exchequer.

ah, middle class middle England, what a lazy insult.

The reality is of course that support for homosexual [insert cause here] is higher among ABC1s than C2DEs, as per The Guardian article I already linked to.

The Scottish government did a study on this, [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/08/02131208] and despite couching the question in the most favourable terms:

"Think about two (men/women), both in their early thirties, who have been living together for 5 years as a couple. Should it be possible for them to adopt a child in exactly the same way as a married couple?"

Only 29% said that they should in respect of gay male couples, and 46% in respect of gay female couples.

These figures are of course lower than for the UK as a whole.

Neither middle class nor middle England in fact.

But please don't let the facts stand in your way.....

Theresa May is my local MP, wins here by a pretty big margin. (Though i didnt vote for her this time)

She is a pretty good MP wrt local issues, i was concerned that she wouldnt have time for her constituency now she is in the cabinet.

Leningrad. If your own children had to go into care, would you seriously want them to be adopted by two men rather than a couple of opposite sex? Childrens' needs should always come first and not the longing for children by same sex couples. Children who have been in care are very vulnerable, if at all possible these children need the best start, and that cannnot be provided by two men or two women. Why should adopted children be treated any differently than those that have natural parents?

Oh and someone who is now equalities minister being absent for key legislative votes on equality isn't good enough.

On theyworkforyou.com she is assessed as being "moderately against" gay rights. Her Stonewall rating is not good. She voted for further restrictions on abortion. No problem with giving her a job in the cabinet but it's laughable to give her minister for equality & women. I would rather a man with a better voting record!

Most people oppose same sex adoptions!? What utter tosh.

Unless, as I suspect, you live in a middle class middle England bubble and read the Daily Hate?

Leningrad. It is far too early. to see the results of say a child adopted by two men. In any case most people would not want their childrn adopted by either two men, or two women. Society has changed and it has become more accepting of homosexuals, the needs of children have not, in that they need a mother and a father, like their peers, who happily for them, most have biological parents.

No I am not accepting that the voting record is fact. The political activist has copied it from here:

www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Theresa_May&mpc=Maidenhead&house=commons&dmp=826&display=allvotes

fucked with the colours to make 'absent' appear the same as 'against' and wilfully omitted her vote in favour of civil partnership.

As for whether or not children should be raised by same-sex couples, I haven't studied the evidence, but to repeat what I said 'equality' is very divisive.

She voted in favour of civil partnerships, which are issues of individual freedoms, but against gay adoption and fertility treatment, areas where children have to be considered.

Obvious there are differing views on this, and to write her off as 'homophobic' is clearly nonsense.

Lets face it Labour didn't exactly push through work place equality laws with any vigour did it?

Backed off every time business objected. Maybe a Tory will be a bit less timid of business.