First openly gay MP says coming out in 80s was ‘scariest moment of life’ – Metro.co.uk
Chris Smith remembers walking out on stage in 1984, scared stiff and hands shaking.
He had written a ‘very boring’ speech on the train as he travelled to speak at a gay rights rally – but 10 minutes before he was due to speak, he made a snap decision.
Rather than make comments that would be forgotten within days, he was going to make history.
After walking up to the platform, he told his crowd: ‘Good afternoon. My name is Chris Smith. I’m the Labour MP for Islington, South Finsbury and I’m gay’.
With those words, Chris became the first-ever openly gay MP, and later the first gay cabinet minister – after Labour’s late Maureen Colquhoun confirmed herself as Britain’s first openly lesbian MP in the 1970s.
The bravery both politicians showed paved the way for others – with the UK having more LGBTQ+ lawmakers than anywhere else in the world after the last election.
Over the years, Chris, who served in Tony’s Blair’s government, has continued to fight against dangerous prejudice and became the first MP to announce he was living with HIV in 2005.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk about his place in LGBTQ+ history on Pride Month, the 70-year-old has told readers to ‘be proud about who and what you are’.
Chris, who now sits in the House of Lords, knew he was gay a decade before he was elected in 1983, but had never shared his sexuality with the world.
The right moment ‘had never presented itself’ – and the fear homophobia would lose him votes lingered uncomfortably in the back of his mind.
The right occasion finally arose when Rugby Council decided to withdraw protection for discrimination against sexual orientation in what was named a ‘ban on gays’.
Although the council denied discriminating, one councillor named ‘all homosexuals vile and perverted people’, while the leader said ’we are not having men turn up for work in dresses round here’.
‘I can remember sitting on the train to Rugby and writing this mundane speech’, Chris said.
‘But when I arrived at the hall, about 1,000 people were there and I remember just thinking, “if I’m going to do this, this is the moment”. It was one of the scariest 10 minutes of my life.
‘The wonderful thing though was that the audience got to their feet and gave me a five-minute standing ovation on the spot. It made me rather proud.’
Chris faced abuse in the street following his speech, while some colleagues ‘almost deliberately looked the other way in the corridor’.
But the overwhelming response was one of support – with many people across the UK sending ‘congratulations’ letters and others telling him ‘what you’ve done has made it easier for me’.
A few years after Chris came out, he was diagnosed with HIV, a virus haunted by misunderstanding and homophobia.
‘My first assumption was that I was going to die within a year’, he says. ‘The late 80s was the era of adverts of tombstones and icebergs and everyone thinking you could contract HIV from insects and people sneezing.
‘Since then, knowledge has advanced enormously, although there’s still stigma out there.
‘At the time, I didn’t want to make my HIV status public because health is very personal. It wasn’t affecting my ability to do my job.’
But Chris’ mind was changed in 2005 by remarks Nelson Mandela made at his son Makgatho’s funeral after he died of AIDs.
‘He made a very moving speech saying “we mustn’t hide it. We will only tackle this if we are open about it”. I just thought, perhaps now is the time to say something’, says Chris, who announced his diagnosis in a front-page Sunday Times spread.
He continued: ’I walked into my parliamentary office the Monday after and there was a note on my desk saying “please ring Mr. Mandela” with a telephone number.
‘At the other end of the line was Nelson Mandela saying “I wanted to say thank you, what you’ve done is important. It’s valuable, it’s made a difference”. That conversation almost made the whole thing worth it.
‘I hope I’ve been able to demonstrate that you can live worthily with HIV, you can make a really valid contribution to society.
‘You can work, you can fill roles, you can do things in order to change the world for the better. It’s very important that people living with HIV know that that’s possible.’
Known nowadays as a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ rights, Chris has criticised Boris Johnson’s government for his ‘blind spot’ when it comes to appointing LGBTQ+ people to his top team.
‘The government’s attempt to avoid going ahead with the ban on conversion therapy – an evil practice – was also not just foolish but wrong’, he adds.
‘The fact they are still excluding transgender people is made more shocking by one of their MPs recently coming out. Jamie Wallis was very brave to say what he did.’
While LGBTQ+ rights still have a long way to go, twenty-eight years after he told the world he was gay, Chris is proud of his place in history – and says he hasn’t regretted his decision ‘for a single moment’.
He said: ‘To anyone finding it difficult to come out, I would say first of all, be proud about who you are and what you are. There’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed about. Be proud.’
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