Sexuality in Politics

Ian Dean, intern at ILO in Brussels

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland since February 2009, is not only Iceland’s first female head of government. Nor is she just another member of the small, but growing, club of female political leaders. She is also the first openly gay head of government in the modern era.

Are we right to claim this as a first? After all, two thousand years ago, Roman historian Suetonius questioned the character of Emperor Claudius, on account of the bizarre fact that his love-life was dominated exclusively by women. This was, however, not so much a reflection of liberal attitudes towards homosexuality in antiquity, but rather a reflection of the fact that the rules were different. Indeed, it would be very wrong to assume that same-sex relationships were accepted as a simple alternative to heterosexual relationships in Ancient Rome and Greece.

Things look very different today – at least in some parts of the world – where homosexual relationships are given legal status and accepted by society at large. Indeed, experience has shown that electorates across Europe are able to celebrate, tolerate or, at the very least, ignore a politician’s sexuality during election campaigns. Klaus Wowereit and Bertrand Delanoë, mayors of Berlin and Paris respectively, both fought and won election campaigns as openly gay men, and both are often touted as future national leaders.

This begs the question: just how important is a person’s sexuality in a life of politics? The case of disgraced UK member of Parliament Mark Oaten illustrates well the point that we can never truly know an individual’s personal leanings, and nor would we want to. But out and proud politicians do have a role to play in tackling the discrimination that still exists in everyday life. The recent campaign against Proposition 8, an amendment to the constitution in California which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, focused on presenting true life stories of loving couples and families, same-sex partners dispelling negative stereotypes of homosexuality, by emphasising their normality. The message was clear: homosexuality is nothing to be scared of, and gay people are just like you. Those that have taken the plunge and are living in long-term relationships, civil unions or marriages act not just as role models, but as positive images of the “gay community” and a reminder that gay politicians can be just as dreary as straight ones.

However, it is unfair to assume that gay politicians should be measured simply on the basis of their role in advancing gay rights – indeed, no-one would make the equivalent assumption that politicians from ethnic minority communities should be viewed only in terms of their contribution to racial equality, or that female politicians are there to follow a feminist agenda. Like all politicians, it is the job of gay politicians to act in the interests of their country, and to stand up for the issues they believe – whether they concern gay rights or not. Indeed, like straight politicians, gay politicians can do great good or they can attract a great deal of controversy entirely unrelated to their sexual proclivities. Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn’s views on Islam and immigration illustrated that not all gay politicians fit the traditional liberal democratic role that one might expect.

In short, we should move on beyond notions of gender and sexuality in both the political, and the social spheres. In many democracies progress is being made in this very regard: people remember Mrs Thatcher not simply for being the first female Prime Minister in the United Kingdom, but for being either the devil or a saint. Similarly, in Iceland, Jóhanna is judged not as a woman, nor as a lesbian, but for her record of decades serving her country. This is not to say that either her sexuality or her gender have not had an impact on her development as a politician, but that these impacts are no greater than the myriad of experiences that any individual can bring to political office. ■

Photo: wikipedia.org