May 13, 2015
Opposite Day in the UK: Anti-Gay Pol Gets Equalities Post
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Fresh off the victory of his Tory party in this month's general election for parliament that retained his position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron has appointed a member of Parliament with an anti-gay voting record as the new Minister of Equalities.
RT.com reports Caroline Dinenage, who voted against marriage equality in 2013, was appointed by Cameron to serve as the Minister of Equalities at the Department of Education on Tuesday.
According to Gov.uk, the Minister for Equalities has overall responsibility for policy on sexual orientation and transgender equality and is responsible for cross-government equality strategy and legislation.
"I'm concerned that in the future, teachers may be forced to teach civil partnership and gay marriage whether it's in their religious belief to do so or not," Dinenage told Portsmouth News in advance of the 2013 marriage equality vote. "It seems that in some ways we're marginalizing some people's religious freedom in favor of sexual freedom."
Dinenage's is the second Cameron appointment to the position who voted against marriage equality. The first was Nicky Morgan who insisted she changed her mind about accepting the position.
"I hope that just like Nicky before her, Caroline will now announce that she has changed her mind," said Benjamin Cohen of gay news site Pink News.
The Mirror points out comments on social media have been predictably skeptical of Dinenage's ability to carry out her new duties.
"How can you get a job on equality when your (sic) against same-sex marriages," one person said.
"So Cameron has just appointed @cj_dinenage, who voted AGAINST gay marriage, as the minister for equalities. This is beyond a joke," another tweeted.
"I know that some people may be concerned about my voting record on same-sex marriage," Dinenage said In a statement sent to Mirror Online. "However, I want to be clear - I am fully committed to advancing the cause of LGB&T equality and support the law on same-sex marriage."
