Video: Lord Chris Smith comes @Out4Marriage – without marriage we are ‘not going to be equal’
Labour life peer and Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority, Lord Chris Smith, is standing in solidarity with the ever-growing list of people who have filmed a video for the Out4Marriage Campaign.
Lord Smith made history as the first openly gay MP and Cabinet Minister, coming out publicly in 1984.
In his Out4Marriage video, he says: “All my life I have fought for the equal rights and equality for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people and it seems to be that marriage is a very simple matter of making sure that we get equality and until we have the right to marry then we are not going to be equal. That’s a very simple proposition.
“We have gained so much over the past ten or fifteen years and civil partnerships were a major step forward but they were not full equality. That’s why I think this is a very important campaign.
“There’s a personal reason too. As a gay man, I’d like to be able to marry too. A civil partnership is great, wonderful but it’s not the whole thing and I’d like to have the choice if I wanted to marry. And that’s why I’m coming Out4Marriage.”
His video comes as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating complaints received about adverts produced by the group opposing the changes in marriage law, the Coalition for Marriage.
The ASA has said they are not at the decision-making process stage yet, but they are assessing whether the Coalition for Marriage’s adverts are misleading, or likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
Lord Smith joins a list of high profile figures who have come Out4Marriage, including Richard Branson, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Minister for Equality Lynne Featherstone, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, PinkNews contributor and Lib Dem councillor Sarah Brown, and Green Party leader Caroline Lucas.
To come Out4Marriage, simply email a video to [email protected]. The best videos will be shared on PinkNews.co.uk
