Daily Mail, By ANDREW PIERCE, 18th December 2010
A senior Tory MP, who has opposed flagship reforms to laws on homosexuality, will tomorrow reveal he is gay.
Nigel Evans, who is a Commons Deputy Speaker, has decided to come out in a newspaper interview because he is fed up with living his life as a ‘lie’.
David Cameron has been informed of the decision of Mr Evans who has never been married and who does not have a long-term male partner.
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| Coming out: Nigel Evans, Tory MP for the Ribble Valley, has decided to reveal he is gay. He has opposed flagship reforms to laws on homosexuality |
The Prime Minister and Mr Evans’s constituency party have both pledged their full support to the MP, whose homosexuality has been an open secret at Westminster for many years.
Mr Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley, voted against lowering the age of gay consent from 18 to 16 in 1998.
Two years later, however, he voted in favour of the measure. The law was finally changed in 2001.
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The MP was also absent from a vote in 2001 which paved the way for civil partnerships.
But he backed the reform in 2004 after following an agreed party line laid down by then Tory leader Michael Howard.
He also abstained in a vote on gay adoption, but in this instance he was given a ‘night off’ by party managers who had imposed a three line whip against the plan.
It was only in 2003 that Mr Evans became more active in the fight for equal rights – voting for the repeal of Section 28 which banned local authorities from promoting homosexuality in a positive light.
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| Say cheese: Nigel Evans poses with dancers at the Houses of Parliament, where circus artists performed for MPs in 2008. His homosexuality has been an open secret at Westminster for many years |
He also began to attend events staged by Stonewall, the equal rights group which led the campaign for same sex equality.
One well-wisher said of Mr Evans: ‘He was a rather late arrival at the party.’
A spokesman for Stonewall said last night: ‘We are delighted people in public life now feel open about their sexuality in the way they did not before.
‘It is a pleasant surprise that there are now more openly gay Tory MPs than there are in all the other parties put together.’
There are 13 openly gay Tory MPs including Mr Evans out of a total of 22 at Westminster.
Mr Evans will celebrate his decision to go public by hosting a reception at the Speaker’s official residence on Monday evening to launch ‘Parliout’ – the first lesbian and gay network group to operate within the Palace of Westminster.
Colleagues of Mr Evans at Westminster privately expect him to use a weekend interview to declare his homosexuality.
One told the Daily Mail: ‘We have been trying to persuade him to do this for years.
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| Admission: The last Tory MP to come out as gay was Crispin Blunt |
‘He has seen the light after seeing how other gay MPs have been so much happier since they came out.’
There is speculation at Westminster that Mr Evans is being lined up as a potential replacement for the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, who has an increasingly fractious relationship with senior Tories.
As one of three Deputy Speakers Mr Evans, 54, who became the MP for Ribble Valley in 1992, would be ideally placed to run if Mr Bercow is ousted.
His declaration of his homosexuality will be seen by some as an attempt to ‘clear the decks’ over his private life ahead of a future campaign to become Speaker.
Mr Evans, who was born in Swansea and worked in the family supermarket business before he became an MP, could not be contacted last night.
However, his agent Michael Ranson said: ‘I think there was an understanding it might happen, that he might declare he was gay. He told me he had been to a newspaper and he was coming out.
‘I think probably in his position as Deputy Speaker he wants to clear the air and tell everyone what the situation is. I think he just thought it was the right time.’
Albert Atkinson, chairman of the constituency party, said: ‘It won’t come as any great shock. There have been hints, never been married, no girlfriends.’
The last Tory MP to come out as gay was Crispin Blunt. The Justice Minister revealed in August he had left his wife of 20 years to come to terms with his homosexuality.
Related Article:
About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channeled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”
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