Gay Tory MP Lee Rowley thinks some LGBT+ people are ‘looking for grievance’
Gay Tory MP Lee Rowley says he’s ‘one of those who doesn’t need to talk about it every five minutes’ (GB News/Screenshot)
Gay Tory MP Lee Rowley has implied that some LGBT+ people are “looking for grievance”.
In an interview with GB News, Rowley, 41, talked about his own experience with coming out and experiencing homophobia, insisting that he doesn’t “necessarily need to talk about [his sexuality] every five minutes”.
He told reporter Gloria De Piero that he is “proud of who I am” but that his sexuality is “not a big part of my political approach”.
“I realised who I liked, who I loved at a pretty early age,” he said. “But I’ve never really talked about it because it’s not a big part of my political approach.
“A lot of the gay community just get on with stuff, who don’t necessarily need to talk about it every five minutes and I think I’m one of those.
“I’m very proud of who I am and proud of who I love…. but ultimately, the other stuff is the thing I went into politics for, the ideas, the values, the trying to change the constituency and beyond.”
'There's a lot of the gay community who just get on with stuff, who just don't necessarily need to talk about it every five minutes. I think I'm one of those.'
Industry Minister Lee Rowley talks to Gloria De Piero about life as an openly gay MP. pic.twitter.com/DzvxpZ0hvl
— GB News (@GBNEWS) May 3, 2022
Rowley added that he has never experienced homophobia in his constituency of North East Derbyshire, “because we are warm, open, tolerant and inclusive”.
“But I don’t look for it,” he said. “There’s a tendency over the past few years where people are starting to look for grievance. They’re starting to look for problems.
“Life is full of things which don’t work out, where there are problems, where there’s even unfairness, and you should try and work on those but I don’t think you can build a society or build your life on grievance.”
Anti-LGBT+ hate crime has soared across the UK in recent years, with reports of homophobic hate crimes tripling and reports of transphobic hate crimes quadrupling between 2014/15 and 2020/21, according to police data obtained by Vice in October 2021.
The statistic referred only to crimes reported to police – officials acknowledge that the vast majority go unrecorded.
Though the pandemic was credited with a spike of violence in recent years, it does not explain the sustained increase in attacks.
However, a 2021 report by the council of Europe singled out the UK for its “baseless and concerning” anti-trans rhetoric in a damning report on rising hate against LGBT+ people in Europe.
