Over the past ten days, two politicians on opposite sides of the globe have been outed in the press, in sad and embarrassing circumstances (aren’t they always?)
The UK example is the more recent, and involves a freshly minted and impressive cabinet minister.
David Laws, one of the Liberal Democrats who now finds himself in a high profile cabinet position as deputy to the chancellor of the exchequer, has a constituency home in Cornwall, in the South West. For parliamentary business, he has been staying with his long term partner in a South London flat. He says they are both “intensely private” people, so to keep their relationship out of the public eye, he paid rental for a “room” in the partner’s flat. Unfortunately this contravenes expense account regulations which expressly prohibit payments to partners. The widespread abuse of parliamentary expenses was a major scandal during the last parliament, so once the press established that Laws “rent” payments went not to a simple landlord, but to a male partner, it was inevitable that it would become front page news. “Lib Dem minister claimed £40K to live with gay lover”, The Sun screams this morning. So much for protecting their cherished privacy.
There is a double irony here. The first is that politically, Laws would have had nothing at all to lose in being open from the start. His party have always been the most supportive of all the three main parties of gay equality. British voters are no longer concerned about the orientation or marital status of our politicians. There are several others who are openly gay, or single, or living with opposite - sex “partners”. Socially approved, legally wed wives and kids are no longer a requirement for political success. The harm to his reputation is not in being gay, but in trying to hide it.
The second irony is that the money involved, which looks substantial as a lump sum, was over eight years, so was a very modest rental by London standards and is significantly less than he could have claimed had he been paying for an independent home of his own. But the subterfuge involved makes it look like he was simply trying to line his pockets. For someone whose job is in the front line of cutting government expenditure, this is damaging. Political commentators up to now had been impressed by Laws’ performance in the new coalition cabinet. Will he survive this? I hope so, but it’s too early to tell.(No. He has now resigned). Julian Glover has some sound commentary:
The story of David Laws has an uncomfortable echo: the downfall of BP’s former chief executive John Browne. Both men – for reasons their friends still don’t understand – tangled themselves in entirely unnecessary efforts to hide their sexuality. Browne fell. Laws may survive – he deserves to – but this looks bad……
How he must regret today not flipping: declaring his constituency home his second residence, claiming more in expenses to fund that, and paying Lundie out of his own pocket. Or just coming out, buying a house in London, claiming the mortgage and living in it together. Most MPs have used expenses to fund the cost of their partner’s accommodation – you still can under the new rules. But you have to pay the bills yourself, not line your partner’s pocket.
Instead Laws fell in love with his landlord, the moment their relationship moved from affection to partnership perhaps less clear cut in their own minds than in cold print on the front of the Daily Telegraph. No doubt he persuaded himself that he was claiming way below the Commons maximum. No doubt he feared the consequences of changing the arrangement: would someone spot their relationship?
Of course there was nothing to fear. But the human brain does not always work like that. And it is not hard to guess why. His mother is Catholic. Laws had a Catholic education.
(Laws went to one of the UK’s top Catholic schools, St George’s in Weybridge.)
As we all know here at “Queering the Church”, being Catholic and Gay are not mutually exclusive, not for the laity, and certainly not for the clergy. The next challenge is to persuade some of our bishops and cardinals to learn the same lesson as the politicians, and to show some honesty in outing themselves. That will be more difficult - but when involuntary outing arises, as it surely will, the scandal and embarrassment will be even greater.
In Australia, David Campbell was forced last week to resign his NSW ministerial post after he was photographed leaving a “gay sex club”. One interesting account of the subsequent press tracks some intitial attempts to strike a tone of scandal and righteous indignation, which then adjusted to match the public reaction of “What’s the big deal?” even though Campbell is married, and has two adult sons).
These extracts are from ABC News:
When Channel Seven broke the story of Campbell’s penchant for gay sex clubs last Thursday, it was greeted by the usual mix of perverse fascination ….and the inevitable Schadenfreude
By Friday morning, reactions to the story began to bifurcate….
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally took a hard line describing Campbell’s duplicity as “unforgivable”. Uncertain as to how this story was going to play out in the media, Keneally proceeded to criticise both Campbell’s use of his ministerial car to drive to gay sex club as “unacceptable” (which, as it turns out, he was entitled to do), and the media for pursuing a story that doesn’t “serve any great public purpose”.
Meanwhile talkback radio and ad hoc surveys on morning television - including Seven’s Sunrise program - were telling a different story. Those motivated enough to participate roundly condemned Seven for tabloid-style sensationalism, the vast majority denying that Campbell ought to resign as a consequence of his ‘private business’.
Saturday’s papers were kinder still to Campbell……….
Then, by late Saturday morning, the whole affair had seemingly come full circle. Speaking at the Sydney Writers Festival, Kristina Keneally repented of her erstwhile harsher self and expressed her deep sympathy for Campbell’s situation.
When will they ever learn? The Australian gay rights activist has proposed a national “coming out day” for Oz politicians. Why stop there? Make it international.
“We should have a National Coming Out Day for any politicians in the closet. They can all come out together and hold hands in Martin Place.”
