Harriet Harman launched Labour’s LGBT Manifesto in London's Soho, last night, stating that marriage equality is a “developing area”.
Kick-starting the event by distributing Labour leaflets to the local community, Harman went on to deliver a keynote speech on the party's achievements - and hopes for the future.
When we asked for her response to the results of a recent PinkPaper.com poll, which showed that marriage equality was the most important issue for gay voters, she told us exclusively: “We have introduced civil partnerships against a background of great controversy and now it’s very broadly accepted.”
But when we pushed for her personal opinion on the issue of granting gay people the same rights as heterosexual couples, she was less committal, simply saying: “I think we’ve still got a long way to go with what we’ve done here. I think that this is a developing area where the boundaries are constantly being pushed forward.”
Despite the LGBT Manifesto promising to “root out” homophobia and discrimination from public services, to tackle homophobic bullying in schools and include same sex relationships in education, there is no mention of further developing marriage equality.
LGBT Labour co-chair Simon Wright, said: "Only Labour can be trusted on equality - the Tories haven't changed. Only Labour will build a future fair for all.”
National Treasurer and Membership Secretary, Daryn McCombe, said: “We’ve fundraised over £13,000 to give to LGBT candidates who are standing for the party across the country.”
The evening ended with a public screening of the Prime Ministerial Debate at Bar Soho.