Ann Widdecombe’s track record on LGBTQ+ issues as she dies at 78
Ann Widdecombe’s LGBTQ+ track record. (Hugh Hastings/Getty)
Former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe has died aged 78. She became a pop culture figure after appearing on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother but has been regarded as an extreme opponent of LGBTQ+ equality.
“It is with great sadness that today we announce the death of The Right Honourable Ann Widdecombe, DSG,” a statement from her agents, Cloud 9 Management, said, the BBC reports.
“We send our deepest condolences to Ann’s family and friends,” they added.
Here is Widdecombe’s track record regarding the LGBTQ+ community…
Ann Widdecombe on same-sex marriage
Widdecombe has repeatedly used her platform to oppose same-sex marriage equality. During her time as an MP from 1987 until 2010, she took every opportunity to block gay rights, including the repeal of Section 28.
According to vote monitoring website Public Whip, Widdecombe opposed every single equality measure for LGBT people during her 23 years in the corridors of power.
When she was a Conservative Party member, she attacked Prime Minister David Cameron for introducing the law, saying she felt “alienated by gay marriage”.
She said: “I was very angry with the Conservatives, I was very alienated by gay marriage, not only by the issue but by the attitude of the party high command.
“David Cameron just bulldozed the whole thing through, though it had never been in any manifesto or tried or tested.”
Speaking to students at the University of Plymouth, Ms Widdecombe said: “Over 200,000 people marched on the streets of London when Labour wanted to bring in the fox hunting ban – how come there wasn’t that kind of reaction speaking out for our religious freedom?
“If we actually saw 100,000 Christians on the streets protesting like other organisations do then you might actually see us being listened to.
“The reason why governments keep on producing legislation which impacts heavily on Christians is because they do not think we matter very much.”
In 2020, Widdecombe also took issue with same-sex pairings on Strictly Come Dancing.
Speaking about lesbian Olympic boxer Nicola Adams dancing with a woman, she said: “I don’t think it is what viewers of Strictly, especially families, are looking for.”
Ann Widdecombe on ‘gay cure’ therapy
Widdecombe has publicly expressed her support for so-called ‘gay cure’ therapy, also known as conversion therapy. This is the discredited practice that aims to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Widdecombe has backed ‘gay cure’ therapists throughout her public career. In 2012, she questioned the lack of available therapy for “gays who do not want to be gay”.
In the article, she also wrote about the case of Lesley Pilkington, who was found guilty of malpractice by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2011. She further argued that support should be given to a person who wants to change their sexuality.
Furthermore, in 2019, during her Brexit Party stint, Widdecombe still believed that “science may yet produce” a cure for homosexuality.
Widdecombe also said: “I’ve never claimed that such science already exists… I’ve merely said that if you simply rule out the possibility of it, you’re denying people confused about their sexuality the chance [to change it].”
Ann Widdecombe on gay couples adopting
In 2002, Widdecombe claimed she could not support legislation allowing same-sex couples to adopt.
She claimed that only married parents should be allowed to adopt, and gay couples could not be legally wed.
She said the legal responsibilities that come with marriage guaranteed children’s “stability” and “security”.
“If two people really want to adopt, if they are looking at the interests and security of that child, unless there is an impediment, they should want to marry.”
In line with this stance, Widdecombe has claimed people should have the “freedom” to discriminate against gay couples. Furthermore, she claimed that gay laws threaten Christian freedom of speech.
Ann Widdecombe on transgender rights
Widdecombe isn’t particularly forthcoming about the LGBTQ+ community and she has also gone after trans folks.
In response to then-Prime Minister Theresa May’s pro-trans speech at the PinkNews Awards, Widdecombe said: “I think this is very, very bad news for a lot of confused young people and if I were the Prime Minister I would think rather long and hard about this.
“I don’t think you can have the sort of process which she envisages, which was set out by Justine Greening, a very simple process whereby you just say ‘I’m a man or a woman’.
“If you do that you get men in women’s prisons or men in women’s refuges.
“I think also you can confuse the young at that point because they think it’s a simple matter.”
In a 2018 column, she described trans-inclusive policies as a “prevailing lunacy”.
She claimed that the country has “suddenly gone mad over transgenderism” due to “a combination of grievance, political cowardice and a love of bandwagons”.
Ann Widdecombe’s Big Brother homophobia
In 2018, Widdecombe appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, where she repeatedly clashed with Drag Race icon Courtney Act over her “homophobic” views.
Widdecombe criticised Act’s “lewd” behaviour with fellow housemate Andrew Brady, calling the pair “disgusting”. Then, she told Brady that his mother and grandmother would be ashamed of him for the homoerotic flirtations.
Ofcom rejected 128 complaints about “sexual orientation discrimination” in the episode in which Widdecombe made the offending comments.
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