David Mundell comes out ...

There have probably always been some gay people in the Conservative Party at all levels, but it is as recently as 2002 that Alan Duncan became the first Conservative MP to be open about the fact while he was still an MP.

David Mundell's announcement that he is coming out as gay on his website today at http://www.davidmundell.com/news/new-year-new-start makes him the first Conservative cabinet minister to do so.

It should not matter what people's orientation is, and anyone who wants to keep the matter to themselves has every right to do so.

But in a world where there are still barbarians like DA'ESH who think gay people should be thrown from the roof of the nearest five-story building, it is important to recognise that everyone should be free to make their own choices. That includes the right to say publicly what those choices are.

I respect the right of those religious believers whose views on this may differ from mine to hold those views as long as they don't try to enforce those views on everyone: and similarly nobody should try to enforce other views on them.

Nobody should be victimised because of their sexuality and nobody should be victimised because of their views as long as, in both cases, they respect the views and choices of others.

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