For LGBTQ people interested in British politics, Lord Smith is something of an icon. Given the state of contemporary British politics, it’s often hard to find a role model, but for me, Chris Smith is worthy of the label.
One of the standout moments of his career was his decision, in 1984, to come out as gay. “I’d already decided that at some stage I ought to say something publicly about being gay, partly because I thought it was the right thing to do, and partly because I didn’t want to be hounded by the press, and the obvious way of removing that sort of danger was to remove the story by being completely open. So I decided I was going to do it, and the moment came in 1984 when I went to speak at a rally in Rugby, protesting about changes in employment policy towards LGBT people from the city council. I thought, here’s the moment, because what I’m trying to demonstrate is that it’s possible to do every bit as effective a job as an MP being openly gay as it would be being an employee of Rugby council. So I did. I stood up in front of a room of 1,000 people and I said ,“My name’s Chris Smith, I’m the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, and I’m gay.”’
It is perhaps all too easy to perceive such an act through the lens of liberal Oxford, but such a groundbreaking accomplishment truly changed the face of British politics at a time when general public sentiment was firmly homophobic. Such attitudes only got worse in the 1980s. I asked Lord Smith about his response to the Thatcher government’s introduction of the homophobic Section 28 in 1987. “I was marching, making speeches, going to rallies and of course, speaking about it in the House of Commons. I’m pleased to say the Labour opposition opposed it officially, along with those of us who were on the back benches. It then took a Labour government to subsequently get rid of it.”
However, it has to be noted even by Labour party members such as myself, that the Conservative party of Section 28 is not the same party as the Conservative party of today. “I don’t want to be ungenerous – the Tory party has changed, enormously. Back in the 1980s, and early 1990s, the Conservatives were using lesbian and gay issues as a stick to beat the Labour party with. One of their famous posters was a photograph of the book Jenny lives with Eric and Martin which featured a child living with a gay couple, and beside it, “Labour’s Education Policy’. You don’t do that in a national election campaign unless you see this as ‘wedge issue’, as they call it in America, to try and motivate a particular portion of the electorate.” Such political discourse now seems alien to us millennials, and constantly throughout my interview with Lord Smith I was considering just how privileged I am, as a gay man now, interested in British politics now, when as recently as 25, 30 years ago, my very existence would have been the subject of national vilification.
On the topic of LGBTQ rights in general, Lord Smith commented that he thinks there is “still some progress to be made on transgender rights. I think most of the legislative change on LGB rights has been achieved. There’s still some bits of tidying up of old legislation that’s needed and there’s still quite a lot of administrative change that’s needed, but I think where the big issues are that there’s a huge job to be done in terms of overseas work, particularly in Commonwealth countries. Here in the UK, I think the big LGBT movement now has to be in relation to public attitudes, the way in which society views all of this rather than in specific legislative change”.
Another defining moment in Lord Smith’s career came towards the end of his time in Parliament, when he became the first MP in Britain to announce his status as HIV positive. “Announcing it was in many ways, more terrifying than coming out as gay,” says Lord Smith, “Largely because there’s still a lot of prejudice around, and because something relating to individual health is a very personal thing, it’s actually quite difficult to talk about in public.
“The thing that prompted me to do it was Nelson Mandela. When his son died of AIDs, he made this speech, saying one of the problems we have with HIV and AIDs is that we keep it a secret. We need to be much more open about it. And I just thought, perhaps I can do a bit of good, so I decided to talk about it. I had messages after that from huge numbers of people from around the country, saying this had given them hope, because one of the things I was saying was that it is perfectly possible to be HIV positive and lead a very full, very worthwhile, very active life as a contributing citizen. You don’t need to see this as the end of the world.”
Lord Smith then disclosed that shortly after announcing his HIV positive status, he received a message from Nelson Mandela asking him to telephone him, where Mandela then personally thanked Smith for being honest.
I asked Lord Smith, what his proudest achievement was during his impressive career, and he replied, “Undoubtedly, it would be the introduction of free admission to all the national museums and galleries when I was Culture Secretary. It has been incredibly popular, and you only have to go to the Natural History Museum on a Bank Holiday Monday to see parents and kids queuing up around the block to go in to enjoy what’s inside. The benefit that comes from all of that, is enormous.”
As our interview drew to a close, I reflected on my respect for a man who has been truly groundbreaking in smashing the ‘gay glass ceiling’ and helping to change the attitudes of this country. Progress that I now take for granted every day.
