As a gay MP, I support PM’s equal rights assurance.
Veteran Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes: Damien Moore, the newly-elected openly-gay MP Conservative for Southport, has today welcomed an assurance from Prime Minster Theresa May that any government arrangement with the DUP will not affect LGBTI rights.
The pledge came after a meeting between the PM and gay Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
Miss Davidson, who plans to marry her partner in the near future, was concerned because the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) opposes same-sex marriage and it is illegal in Northern Ireland.
Thirty-seven-year-old Mr Moore, who last Thursday took the Southport seat from the Liberal Democrats, pushing them into third place, said: “I am pleased Ruth Davidson was given an assurance from Mrs May that gay rights would not be eroded in return for DUP support.
“Ruth was told by the PM that any deal between the Conservatives and the DUP would see absolutely no rescission of LGBTI rights in the rest of the UK.”
Mr Moore, who has quit his job as a manager with supermarket giants ASDA to concentrate on his new parliamentary career, said his sexuality had not been an issue in the campaign.
“I would never deny being gay if asked, but I never flaunt it. The issue was not raised either in this campaign or the one in 2015. In fact I was never asked.”
Mr Moore has already started house-hunting in the town and is busy setting up a new constituency office and appointing staff. He said he intends to quit as a Preston councillor in the near future.