CUB Vote

Well the vote is today and a few development but nothing which should change the outcome.

Very pleased to see Deborah Coddington now supporting the bill. Better a late convert than none at all. Deborah does seem to have a history though of initially being against liberal legislation and then being persauded of its merits. Good to see lobbying works.

It has been interesting getting feedback from various MPs about the issue. I know many MPs who are voting against and are not at all homophobic. There are valid reason to vote against, even if I do not agree with them. However the anti-CUB debate has been characterised by such extreme statements from some people, that to be frank they make even those voting with them embarrassed. In fact I suspect if it were a secret ballot, there would now be more than 70 MPs voting in favour, as the way the anti-CUB campaign has conducted itself has been to be honest almost embarrassing, and people want to dissociate themselves from the symbolism of what a defeat would mean.

The infleunce of friends and family on how MPs vote has been interesting as related in this article. Brian Donnelly’s speech was verespecially moving.

I’ll blog this at length one day in another post, but having casual everyday contact with gay people has a huge effect on how people see issues such as this. I know my views on issues such as this have changed 100% from when I was younger and didn’t know any (openly) gay people

Almost everyone under 40 has been in a workplace where one or more colleagues are openly gay, had gay friends, and hence under 40s generally don’t see what all the fuss is.

The third and final reading should start at around 3 p.m. and I’ll live blog it again, rather than actually be at Parliament watching. I suspect there will be a big party afterwards to celebrate!