First of all can I thank Richard Kirker for welcoming me to your annual conference earlier this year and John Bamford for inviting me to speak this evening. I hope you will forgive me, although we are a small group, for speaking from a script but also speaking to you from the heart.
By virtue of the subject matter – not something I have never previously talked about on a public platform – I decided yesterday, when pulling this together in my head as I cycled home, that putting words to paper might help clear an otherwise blurry lens.
For those of you that haven’t come across me previously, I was the Liberal Democrats’ parliamentary candidate in Brentford & Isleworth (West London) at this year’s general election. It was in this capacity that I attended your national meeting earlier this year.
In the final days of the election campaign my constituents received the following ‘Fact File’ about their Prospective MP. It read:
Andrew Dakers
Date of birth: 30 April 1979
Qualifications: MSc Development Management, The Open University
Professional experience: IT – BBC, Communications – United Nations, Communications & Business Change – GlaxoSmithKline
Other experience: Taught in a Ugandan secondary school; travelled and worked in developed and developing countries
Memberships: Brentford Independent Association of Supporters; United Nations Association UK; Friends of the Earth
Interests: Local development issues; theatre and cinema; hiking, cycling and scuba-diving.
Hopefully that is sufficient introduction and background. If you are wondering what happened on May 5, whilst I didn’t win, with 22% of the vote the Lib Dems achieved our best result since 1910 in Brentford & Isleworth. In 1906 we had our last Liberal MP, so as I keep reminding everyone, we simply have to rewind the clock another four years!
I will centre what I have to say this evening on how sexuality and religion influence me as a young politician. Unsurprising perhaps, considering the focus of your movement, but a bit different in that I am bisexual and a pantheist.
Bisexuality
To this audience I am sure my sexuality needs little definition. Needless to say, I was conscious of my bisexuality from a very young age and like many young people growing up bisexual often found it terribly confusing and challenging.
One of the best accounts I have come across of growing up ‘bi’ was written by a contemporary of mine at Hampton School in Surrey, Eddie de Oliveria. Published by Push and titled ‘Lucky’ it was Eddie’s first novel, and he’s definitely a writer to watch (even if I’m a little biased).
The lead character in the novel, Sam Smith is a young, sexually confused teen living in Surrey, England. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, Brenda and Pod, and is passionate about playing on the local football team. Then he meets self-confident Toby, another gifted player, who happens to be gay.
Toby introduces Sam to the contemporary gay scene in London, which includes Soho nightlife. Sam is intrigued and wonders if he might be gay, as well, especially after he notices mysterious and attractive “Him,” a young stranger who occasionally shows up at football games.
Eventually Sam comes to the realization that “These are the facts. I’m attracted to boys and girls…. I’m just Sam. I was born like this.”
Eddie peppers the novel liberally with raw language and slang (snogging, shagging, poof, cheeky git, etc.) throughout. Whilst I never had any interest in football, it is a fairly representative account of much of the confusion I experienced. I think the greatest challenge of growing up bisexual was not knowing who to speak to, and so it was something of a relief aged 18 to discover that one of my lifelong friends was also bi.
As it happens, today I am happily settled in a monogamous, heterosexual relationship with my girlfriend.
Personally I have never been in your face with people about my sexuality. There is no social expectation that heterosexuals should announce their sexuality, so my view has always been that in a socially progressive society the same should be the case for gay, lesbian and bisexual people. And to a great extent that is fortunately the freedom we have today, living in liberal Britain (or at least London). I have only ever told friends and family I am bisexual if they have asked me directly or if it has seemed directly relevant to a discussion about sexuality.
Contrary to my previous assertion about the progressive nature of modern Britain, I can’t be the first person within the gay, lesbian and bisexual community to find the whole notion of ‘coming out’ rather strange and perhaps regrettably divisive. Why do we have this default expectation that everyone is heterosexual, rather than starting with the assumption that we are all individual in our sexuality are all ‘out’ in our different ways? Does the term ‘coming out’ simply reinforce peoples’ prejudices about difference?
This is the first time I have spoken about my sexuality on a public platform and you may be wondering, why now?
I would never want fear of prejudice to be perceived as stopping me having been transparent about my sexuality and beliefs; neither would I want anyone to think I am not prepared to challenge the homophobia that remains in our communities – fortunately at ever lower levels.
The other factor in my deciding to ‘go public’ now is that whilst most of the media are fairly moderate these days, I do not ever want to give the more extreme elements of our media the opportunity of ‘sensational revelations’ should I ever be considered a target. Neither, as the race to win the Brentford & Isleworth constituency gets more marginal would I want prejudiced elements of other political parties to use my sexuality against me.
At the May election my local Labour party ended up putting spoof Lib Dem Focus leaflets out telling people to not risk voting Lib Dem, and included factually incorrect results from the last election!! You can imagine how the same tactics might be extended by an unscrupulous campaign manager.
Fighting prejudice
On a more positive note, if I talk to gay people – or turn to the pages of the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people – the list of rights issues does appear to be getting less. Today, the Lib Dems’ are committed to:
• Strengthen the fight against discrimination with a single Equality Act.
• Press public bodies to tackle inequality and discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender citizens.
• Outlaw incitement of hatred against people on the basis of their sexuality and homophobic exacerbation of offences.
• Equal treatment for same sex and heterosexual couples in pension arrangements.
• End the exemption in the UK’s implementation of the European Directive that allows religious organisations to sack, demote or fail to hire employees in non-proselytising posts on grounds of sexual orientation.
• Improve education on HIV – prevention is better than cure.
• Repeal provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act which discriminate against lesbian couples.
I understand LGCM’s principle concerns with the recent Civil Partnerships Act are:
- No right to celebrate the union.
- Individual local authorities will have the choice not to provide ceremonies to celebrate Civil Partnerships making it a divisive matter for local politicians and forcing couples to travel, possibly long distances, to find an authority that provides a service.
- The exclusion of all religious ceremony from the celebration of the union.
- The celebration, where permitted, will be devoid of any religious or culturally appropriate material that might have enhanced the signing of the contract giving it greater significance, weight and solemnity.
Pantheism
Before I wrap up I thought I would also touch upon my pantheist beliefs. For those of you unfamiliar with pantheism – it is the inverse of theistic religious philosophies such as Christianity and Islam. Encyclopaedia Britannica defines pantheism as the doctrine that the universe conceived as a whole is God and, conversely, that there is no God but the combined substance, forces, and laws that are manifested in the existing universe.
Pantheism was the dominant belief of many philosophers and poets from Wordsworth and Goethe to Hegel and Whitman. Many contemporary pantheists like myself take the universe and nature as their start and finish. When I say ‘the universe is divine’ I don’t mean that it has any supernatural powers or personality (that I have yet discovered!). I simply mean that because of its power and beauty I feel a profound reverence and awe for it, similar to the reverence that believers in a more conventional God feel towards their deity.
I’ll never forget how the headmaster of my primary school, Billy Howard, used to take the first year group for what was in those days called ‘Scripture’. In the first lesson he went around the class and asked everyone what their religion was. He got the usual mix of Christian, Jewish and not sure, but when he got to me (influenced by my parents) I said I was agnostic. Mr Howard responded “by the time you leave here, we’ll have changed that.” Well time did change that, but I’m sure never in the way he imagined.
Pragmatic politics
Against this back drop I am trying to shape a politic style that is both utilitarian and pragmatic. In this country I do not see gay rights as something that needs to be fought for as was required even just ten years ago. With continued pressure from many groups, including LGCM, New Labour can be justly proud of the legislation they have pushed though.
I do not believe religion should become a part of political life in this country either. The thought of religious leaders telling people how to vote from the pulpit as in America and some other parts of the world is a terrifying prospect. It neither encourages the development of secular political parties nor protects our society from the dangers some fanatical religious institutions/groups present.
However peoples’ individual religious/ spiritual beliefs and interests (for some sexual rights) will of course influence who they vote for. It is my un-institutionalised pantheist beliefs that inform and motivate much of my environmental campaigning.
Conclusion
So my conclusion as to “how sexuality and religion influences me as a young politician” is perhaps surprisingly, not very much (and I hope it stays that way). I do not expect my profile as a candidate in four years time to mention either my sexuality or my religious philosophy. I do not see either as relevant to the priorities and needs of most of my constituents.
Their primary concerns remain practical policy innovations in key areas such as health, education and policing. Their awareness is growing of the need for environmental policies to be given greater priority. Perhaps not unsurprising living under the Heathrow flight path and the growing impact of global warming.
In the years ahead I look forward to supporting LGCM members on the campaign issues mentioned earlier, alongside a broad range of other campaign themes. Amongst these is the NO2ID campaign’s civil disobedience campaign. If the government presses ahead with ID cards it will find it has me as one of 10,000+ refusniks. My priorities however will remain the environment and social cohesion, locally and nationally.
Thank you for listening and I look forward to a lively discussion.