Stonewall has launched its 2010 general election campaign encouraging  Britain’s 2.8 million gay voters to ‘use your vote’.
 
To help voters decide, Stonewall has published suggested questions to ask candidates and voting records of all current MPs on key equality issues since 2005.

Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said:
"Voters are still rightly anxious about which way candidates have recently voted on gay equality. Stonewall’s happy to provide voters with clear, impartial information on MPs’ voting records and assure them that every single pink vote can make a difference to the daily lives of nearly four million lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Britain."
 
Stonewall’s election demands:
 

    * Parties commit to full implementation of the new Equality Act to end second-class treatment for gay taxpayers by public services
    * Police forces across  Britain deal robustly with homophobic hate crime
    * Every local authority and school – including faith schools – takes steps to tackle the epidemic of homophobic bullying in our schools
    * The House of Commons starts to reflect the whole of modern  Britain – particularly the under-representation of out lesbian and gay people in parliament
    * Fairness is promoted globally so  Britain is a beacon to the world on equality.  

 
At a hustings arranged by Stonewall a number of MPs commented on gay issues.
Chris Bryant MP, Labour’s Europe Minister, said:
"Twelve European states recognise same-sex relationships yet fail to recognise  UK civil partnerships. This must be changed."
 
Nick Herbert MP, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, said:
"In my view equality should trump religion. However, gay people shouldn’t be treated as interest groups to be bartered for."
 
Lynne Featherstone MP, Liberal Democrat Equality Spokeswoman, said:
"There can’t be a blanket ban. I know gay people who are far safer in terms of giving blood than some heterosexuals."
 
Chris Smith, the Green Party’s leading gay parliamentary candidate, described his party as "the natural choice for progressive politics, we’ve got the strongest LGBT policies."
 
Stonewall will be asking all the main party leaders to sign up to a homophobia-free election campaign.

For more information view:
www.stonewall.org.uk/election2010