Cameron's Speech: The Morning After

This Dave Brown cartoon in The Independent kinda best sums up how I feel about David Cameron's speech yesterday - and his "gay-friendliness" in general.
It's hard not to suspect "Dave" keeps banging on about how much he Loves The Gays as a counterbalance to the cruelty and callousness of his party's other policies.
As The Times put it - albeit to make a very different point;
"The argument that the Prime Minister supports gay marriage because he is a Conservative, not despite being one, helped to describe his conservatism as centrist, tolerant and open."
He'll put his arm around you, while punching an immigrant in the face.
Ever had the feeling you're being used?
Of course, things like this can have a positive effect.
But how many gay relationships will break down under the strain of one of the men being thrown on the dole?
And how sincere is Cameron's "commitment" to protecting your rights when in the very same speech he'll so publicly piss over the Human Rights Act once again?
In today's newspaper leader columns there was a chorus of approval.
Inne bold! Inne brave!
It was "evidently heartfelt" (The Daily Telegraph), "laudable" (The Independent), "striking" (The Guardian) etc etc ad nauseum.
The Independent devoted a whole leader column to 'A Welcome Commitment To Equality'.
Tory gay man of the moment Michael McManus penned a puff piece for The Times; "This has been a victory not for political correctness but for basic decency, human consideration and simple good manners. Tory Pride has truly supplanted Tory Prejudice."
Get that? It's a victory for good manners!
Ladies wearing hats in Church on Sunday, people knowing their place, village greens, that sort of thing - the old-fashioned English way.
FFS!
Bar a few nutty and bitter archbishops, I haven't read one critical word - yet.
I bet editors are trying to commission a few - just for balance.
Which columnists will be angry?
Surprisingly few, I'll wager.
The unholy bilious trinity at the Daily Express; Nick Ferrari, Frederick Forsyth and Ann Widdecombe.
Maybe Norman Tebbit will blog his disgust at the Telegraph.
If he's not dead, yet.
The Mail's Richard Littlejohn? Even he supports civil partnerships, so we'll see...
The only party pooper was John Crace's satirical The Digested Speech in The Guardian;
"The Conservatives are a one nation party. We are all in this together. It's not just the poor we plan to put out of work, but the rich too. And the gays. Because we love gays and it would be wrong for them to be excluded. If Conservatives stand for anything it is gays..."
My favourite comment came when BBC Radio 4 went to a pub in Manchester to do a vox pop.
An old lady called Rosalyn was asked what she thought about all this new-fangled gay marriage malarkey.
The inflexion in the interviewer's voice suggested he thought she'd be appalled.
"I had to laugh," she told him. "Because when he said; 'I support gay marriages because I'm...' I thought he was going to say 'gay.'"
And then she giggled, ever so sweetly.

Update: "Cameron has chosen to pander to a perception that gay marriage is somehow a panacea to detoxify the Tory brand in the eyes of the liberal elite" Christian Today. Why is this charade so much more obvious to his supposed allies on the Right?

Tory Pride And Prejudice: Shouldn't "Prejudice" Come First?

This book - with its migraine-inducing cover - is published this week, to coincide with the Conservative Party conference. Obvs.
It's a fascinating subject and very timely, what with the Tories actually doing some good stuff for The Gays for the first time, instead of queuing up to give us all a good collective kicking.
Blood ban, parental registration on passports, gay marriage (possibly), slight change to old "homosexual offences" you can now get removed from your criminal records... the list is quite literally not endless.
And only a cynic would say they're just doing a bit of light dusting after someone else has cleaned the entire fucking house.
So what of Tory Pride And Prejudice - the book?
Don't ask me, I haven't seen a copy.
But as a dedicated gay journalist I'll only read the blurb on the back cover anyway.
"This is the story of how public opinion became steadily more accepting and progressive, and how the Tories caught up at last..."
Says it all, doesn't it?
It's written by a Tory, Michael McManus, who now runs Biteback (!) Publishing (so send me a free copy, bitch).
Here's Fagburn childishly picking holes in a piece he wrote for the Mail On Sunday last month; 'How The Tories Became The Gay-Friendly Party'
And, in the interests of balance, here's McManus talking about his book on Broadcasting House on Sunday.
Mr McManus used to run Ted Heath's office for several years - and ghosted researched and drafted his memoirs.
Which I hope you find as gigglesome as I do.
So let's cut straight to the gossip.
Was the bachelor PM gay?
McManus thinks he definitely was;
“Some people said he was just asexual, but I don’t believe anyone is asexual. They so often looked for other reasons, but to me it was clear. He sacrificed his personal life for his career.”
So now you know.

• Fascinating book fact! The working title for Tory Pride And Prejudice was Over The Blue Rainbow. Presumably until someone pointed out this made no sense.