Sheffield MP Clive Betts has come out of the closet,
declaring - "I am gay."
Betts, MP for Sheffield Attercliffe since 1992
and a former city council leader, added that the "time was right" for his
announcement.
Mr Betts said he felt he could do a better job as an MP
after being fully candid about "the person I am".
Talking about his
sexuality openly for the first time, Betts said
"I hope they will judge
me on my record as an MP. If people have got any genuine questions that they
want to raise with me, I am happy to discuss them with them. I think in the end
I am going to feel I am easier with myself, more comfortable, and will not have
to keep wondering whether people are speculating and whether any relationship I
do have now or in the future becomes the subject of prurient interest in a way
that is unhelpful to me doing my job.
"I think the fact that public
figures have `come out` shows the public that there are people in responsible
positions who are gay and helps perhaps to remove the stigmatisation. Making the
decision to do it was the most difficult thing. Actually doing it has been a lot
easier than I thought. No one has said it will affect their relationship with me
and how they work with me and I am extremely grateful for that. People have been
very supportive."
Betts intends to stand for re-selection by local Labour
Party members as candidate and MP at the next general election. He also
confirmed that he had been under no pressure to make a statement about his
sexuality.
Betts currently has a close friendship with a younger
man.
"We like each other very much. It may go no further than that. I
enjoy being with him. We don`t live together but we did go on holiday together.
People deserve a little privacy. It may be over in a month or two months`
time."
A senior gay Conservative has written to the editor of The
Sun newspaper condemning what he described as "a hysterical and misinformed
homophobic" front-page story which was splashed across the front page of The Sun
this morning. The story concerns Labour MP, Clive Betts who having made a
statement that he is gay, has applied for a security pass on behalf of his
boyfriend, who works for him as a parliamentary researcher.
David Gold,
who was the first ever openly gay man to be selected by the Conservatives to
fight a parliamentary election, has worked as a researcher at the House of
Commons and says that the suggestion of a security threat has been raised
entirely from the newspaper`s homophobia.
In a letter to the editor of
The Sun, David Gold said
"This story is a blatant gay bashing more
familiar to those of us who recall The Sun in the 1980s. Whether or not it is
true that the MP`s boyfriend and researcher has previously worked as a male
escort, there is no basis for the allegation that he will be a threat to the
security of the House of Commons. The story states that the MP has only known
the man for 2 months, as though that is enough to make this a crisis of
security. Yet when I started work at the House of Commons, I only met the MP for
whom I worked for a one hour meeting and submitted my security application the
same day."
David Gold accused The Sun of a growing trend towards
homophobia, and also raised questions about the Bizarre columnist Dominic Mohan,
who regularly uses material in his column, which can be construed as homophobic.
Gold also cited another senior columnist, Richard Littlejohn whose “homophobia
is almost a badge of honour”.
Gold acknowledged that it`s a matter of
choice whether or not to buy the newspaper, but said that as ”over 4 million
copies are sold daily, it is important that those who rely on it for news
receive accurate and responsible accounts rather than sensationalist
rubbish”.
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