LGBTQ conservatism

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
This article is about conservative politics among LGBTQ people. For the LGBTQ wing of the British Conservative Party, see LGBT+ Conservatives.

Part of a series on
LGBTQ people
      
Sexual orientation and gender
History
General
Identities
Culture
Rights
Health
Societal attitudes
Issues
Academic fields and discourse
LGBTQ portal
Part of a series on
Conservatism
Variants
Principles
Intellectuals
Politicians
Religion
Personal variants
National variants
Asia
Europe
Latin America
North America
Oceania
Related ideologies
Related topics

LGBTQ conservatism refers to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals with conservative political views.

History

[edit]
See also: LGBTQ conservatism in the United States § History

Before the Stonewall riots

[edit]

France

[edit]

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.

Portugal

[edit]

In 1852, under the government of the Duke of Saldanha, a Cartista, same-sex sexual intercourse was legalized throughout Portugal.[2]

Germany

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.[3]

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.[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 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.[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 Minister Margaret Thatcher.[5]

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.[6]

Robert Boothby, a Conservative politician, was known within political circles to be homosexual.[4]

Argentina

[edit]

In 1887, during the period known as the Conservative Republic (Spanish: República Conservadora), same-sex sexual intercourse was legalized throughout Argentina.[7]

After the Stonewall riots

[edit]

United Kingdom

[edit]

In 1975, the Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality (CGHE) was founded by Peter Walter Campbell.[8]

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.[9]

In 2007, Brian Coleman wrote in the New Statesman that many gay politicians in the Conservative Party became active during the Thatcher era.[10]

On 5 October 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron stated at a Conservative Party conference that he supported same-sex marriage.[11]

During the passage of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013, voting among Conservative MPs was divided.[12][13][14][15]

Ireland

[edit]

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, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern stated that equality for couples should be addressed while noting that legalizing same-sex marriage remained distant.[17]

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.[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, 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.[21]

Germany

[edit]

In April 2023, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria endorsed same-sex marriage.[22][23] In May 2024, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany expressed support for same-sex marriage.[24][25][26]

By country

[edit]

Australia

[edit]
See also: Liberal Pride

Brazil

[edit]

Clodovil Hernandes, a member of the Christian Labour Party and later the Party of the Republic, is regarded as the first openly gay member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies. He served until his death in 2009.

On January 16, 2017, Marcelo Crivella, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, appointed Nélio Georgini, an openly gay evangelical conservative, to lead the city’s LGBTQ council.[27]

In the 2018 Brazilian presidential runoff, according to Datafolha, 30% of LGBTQ voters supported right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro. The significant share of LGBTQ support for Bolsonaro drew attention in Brazilian media due to his socially conservative, anti-LGBTQ positions.[28][29]

Canada

[edit]

LGBTory was established in 2015 as an organization for LGBTQ supporters of the Conservative 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, including Scott Brison and Lorne Mayencourt. Other politicians, such as Keith Norton, Phil Gillies, and Heward Grafftey, disclosed their sexual orientation after leaving office, while Richard Hatfield was publicly identified as gay posthumously.[30] Many of these individuals have been associated with the Red Tory tradition, a moderate to progressive strand of Canadian conservatism. Brison left the Progressive Conservative Party to join the Liberal Party after the PCs merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

In 2015, LGBTory organized the first official participation by federal Conservative MPs and Ontario Progressive Conservative MPPs in Toronto's Pride parade.[31] In 2016, interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose became the first leader of the federal party to march in the Toronto Pride Parade, joined by other MPs.

In 2019, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Deputy Premier Christine Elliott, and cabinet ministers Caroline Mulroney and Stephen 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, and Melissa Lantsman became the first openly lesbian Conservative MP elected in 2021.

Chile

[edit]

In 2014, the doctrinal council of the conservative National Renewal voted 72.3% to reject a proposal that would have advocated limiting marriage and adoption to heterosexual couples.[32]

European Union

[edit]

Members of the European Parliament from across the political spectrum, including conservatives, have formed the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.

Denmark

[edit]

The previous leader of the Conservative People's Party in Denmark, Søren Pape Poulsen, was openly gay.[33]

France

[edit]

A 2013 IFOP survey found that the political preferences of LGBTQ people in France were broadly similar to those of the general population.

2013 IFOP survey on French LGBTQ people's political support by party[34]
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
 

Germany

[edit]

In Germany the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) since 2020 and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) in Bavaria since 2023 support Same-sex marriages. In 2020, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) published a political video supporting same-sex marriage and families,[35] and in 2023 the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) adopted a party platform supporting same-sex marriage.[36][37] As of 2023, the right wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) remains the largest party opposed to same-sex marriage and supports only civil partnerships. Conversely, the leader of the AfD Alice Weidel is an open lesbian and lives in a civil partnership with two children.[38][39][40]

Netherlands

[edit]

Much of the Dutch right wing (including figures such as Geert 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 the Pim Fortuyn List supported LGBTQ rights, and its leader and namesake Pim Fortuyn was openly gay.

Russia

[edit]
See also: Gays for Putin!

Sweden

[edit]

The Open Moderates is the LGBT-organisation of the Moderate Party in Sweden. 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, the national conservative Sweden Democrats party has softened its stance on LGBTQ rights and same-sex parenting with party leader Jimmie 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 spokesmen Bo Broman is homosexual.

The conservative Citizens' Coalition leader Ilan Sadé is openly gay.[41]

United Kingdom

[edit]

In April 2015, PinkNews found 26% of British LGBTQ people supported the Conservative and Unionist Party, a 5% increase from the last election in 2010, 26% support the Labour Party, a 2% decrease from the last election in 2010, 19% support the Liberal Democrats, a 21% decrease from the last election in 2010, 20% support the Green 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 the UK 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 LGBTQ Conservative 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 including Pride London, Pride Scotia, Leeds Pride, Manchester Pride, Doncaster Pride and Brighton 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 in Parliament.

LGBTory, now[when?] renamed to LGBT+ Conservatives, works to promote LGBTQ equality within the Conservative Party and generally across the UK, actively campaigning against the Gay Blood Ban and for marriage equality, regardless of sexuality or gender identity.[citation needed]

The UK Independence Party has an officially recognized LGBTQ in UKIP campaigning group which is active on the social media sites Twitter and Facebook. It has been represented at the party's annual conference.[43] Peter Whittle of the UKIP was the only LGBTQ candidate in the 2016 London Assembly election; afterwards, he was selected as the UKIP's deputy leader.

United States

[edit]
Main article: LGBTQ conservatism in the United States
See also: Gays for Trump

Notable LGBTQ conservatives

[edit]

Lesbian

[edit]

Gay men

[edit]

Bisexual

[edit]

Transgender

[edit]

List of organizations

[edit]

Some organizations include:

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Livre III ... du code pénal" Choix de rapports, opinions et discours prononcés à la tribune nationale (in French). VI. Paris: A. Eymery. 1819. p. 320. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  2. ^ "Sodomylaws.org". Sodomylaws.org. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  3. ^ "Archives reveal Churchill's Cabinet discussed gays". PinkNews.
  4. ^ a b c "UNITED KINGDOM: CONFRONTING CRIMINAL HISTORIES" (PDF).
  5. ^ Doran, Tom (April 8, 2013). "Margaret Thatcher's Legacy on Gay Rights". The Daily Beast – via www.thedailybeast.com.
  6. ^ "Edward Heath: Britain's Forgotten And Mysterious Prime Minister". International Business Times. June 21, 2013.
  7. ^ Lucas, Paoli Itaborahy; Zhu, Jingshu (May 2013). "A world survey of laws: Criminalisation, protection and recognition of same-sex law" (PDF). International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2013.
  8. ^ Aster, Tony (October 19, 2014). "The Dissident: Peter Campbell, the Conservative Party Paedophile behind Gay Marriage".
  9. ^ Taylor, Yvette; Snowdon, Ria (February 18, 2014). Queering Religion, Religious Queers. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-01376-9 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Coleman, Brian (June 25, 2007). "Thatcher the gay icon". New Statesman. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  11. ^ guardian.co.uk (October 5, 2011). "David Cameron's Conservative party conference speech in full". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  12. ^ "MP-by-MP: Gay marriage vote". BBC News. February 5, 2013.
  13. ^ "Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill — Third Reading — 21 May 2013". The Public Whip. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "Lords Divisions results". UK Parliament. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  15. ^ "Bill stages — Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2012–13 to 2013–14". UK Parliament. 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  16. ^ "FG proposes civil partnership rights". RTÉ.ie. June 24, 2004.
  17. ^ "'Better rights' for gay couples". November 15, 2004 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  18. ^ "Young FG Propose the Recognition of Marriage for Same Sex Couples". August 27, 2011. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^ "Fianna Fail Ard Fheis Supports Same Sex Marriage". GLEN. March 3, 2012. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  20. ^ "Government to call for Yes vote for gay marriage – Independent.ie". November 5, 2013.
  21. ^ "Amendment to end dismissal based on HIV status". September 9, 2010.
  22. ^ Stern, Henry (April 14, 2023). "Ehe für alle, aber keine Gender-Sternchen: So will die CSU Bayern vereinen". Augsburger Allgemeine (in German).
  23. ^ Stern, Henry (April 14, 2023). "Nein zum Gendersternchen, Akzeptanz der "Ehe für alle": Schweinfurterin hat großen Anteil am neuen CSU-Grundsatzprogramm". Main Post (in German).
  24. ^ "75 Jahre CDU: CDU entdeckt die Ehe für alle für sich". Süddeutsche Zeitung Jetzt (in German). June 27, 2020.
  25. ^ Queer.de: Neues CDU-Programm: Für die Ehe für alle, gegen "Identitätspolitik"
  26. ^ Schwulissimo.de: Klares Bekenntnis zur Ehe für alle und für LGBTI*-Gleichberechtigung
  27. ^ "Crivella nomeia gay "evangélico" para pasta em defesa de LGBT". lgbtbrasil.com.br. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  28. ^ Sullivan, Zoe (October 29, 2018). "LGBTQ Brazilians on edge after self-described 'homophobic' lawmaker elected president". NBC News.
  29. ^ Bulgarelli, Lucas (October 27, 2018). "Análisis | Por que 29% dos LGBTs votam em Bolsonaro?". EL PAÍS (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  30. ^ "Gay politicians come out of the closet and into the cabinet". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 2009.
  31. ^ Brennan, Richard J (June 29, 2015). "Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod rejects anti-Pride comments from Ottawa radio host". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  32. ^ "Consejo doctrinario de RN rechaza limitar idea de familia al matrimonio heterosexual".
  33. ^ "Conservative leader: 'I'm gay, so what?'". The Local Denmark. August 13, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  34. ^ "Google Translate". translate.googleusercontent.com.
  35. ^ "75 Jahre CDU: CDU entdeckt die Ehe für alle für sich". Süddeutsche Zeitung Jetzt (in German). June 27, 2020.
  36. ^ Stern, Henry (April 14, 2023). "Ehe für alle, aber keine Gender-Sternchen: So will die CSU Bayern vereinen". Augsburger Allgemeine (in German).
  37. ^ Stern, Henry (April 14, 2023). "Nein zum Gendersternchen, Akzeptanz der "Ehe für alle": Schweinfurterin hat großen Anteil am neuen CSU-Grundsatzprogramm". Main Post (in German).
  38. ^ Welt.de: Ein lesbische Kanzlerkandidatin, July 5, 2023
  39. ^ Kurier.at: Jung, lesbisch und sehr weit rechts, September 20, 2017
  40. ^ FAZ,net: Alice Weidel steht zu ihrer Homosexualität, September 20, 2017
  41. ^ "Varför portas Medborgerlig Samling från Pride" (in Swedish).
  42. ^ Rhoden-Paul, André (March 23, 2015). "Tories draw level with Labour in winning gay vote". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  43. ^ Roberts, Scott (September 25, 2012). "UKIP approves internal LGBT campaign group". PinkNews. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  44. ^ Rothon, Robert (July 1, 2009). "Remembering Radclyffe Hall". Xtra Magazine.
  45. ^ "Conservative writer Bari Weiss named editor-in-chief of CBS News". Al Jazeera. October 6, 2025. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  46. ^ "MAGA-Lite: What "Bari Weiss Conservatism" Is, and Why It's Dangerous". The New Republic. October 6, 2025. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  47. ^ Lybarger, Jeremy (April 21, 2021). "The Turbulent Life of Francis Bacon". The New Republic. 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.
  48. ^ Brown, Neal (May 5, 1998). "Francis Bacon". Frieze. 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.
  49. ^ Kelly, Jon (April 16, 2013). "What Liberace reveals about the march of gay rights". BBC News.
  50. ^ Roberts, Jeremy (March 15, 2022). "Roberts: Coming out while in politics has been both positive and liberating". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  51. ^ Lewak, Doree (June 15, 2019). "Former Democrat turned conservative gay rights activist slams Pride, sues LGBT Center". The New York Post. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  52. ^ Kauffman, Bill (July 7, 2022). "Who was the most right-wing member of the Beat Generation?". The Spectator. 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.
  53. ^ Kulawik, Chris (March 7, 2009). "Kerouac, the Unexpected Right-Winger". Columbia Daily Spectator. His New 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.
  54. ^ Jensen, Erin (February 19, 2016). "Caitlyn Jenner says she gets more 'flak' for being a Republican than trans". USA Today.