The Queen endorses gay partnerships
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the UK and a multitude of other countries, symbolic head of the Anglican Church, head of the commonwealth, and a living embodiment of conservative and long-standing traditions stretching back many hundreds of years, has given her blessing to at least one gay civil partnership in a most personal and practical way.
Of course, in her inherited role as head of state of the UK she pretty much had no real choice about signing the legislation parliament approved recognising civil partnerships between gays and lesbians, so even if she had not approved, it would have been difficult for her not to sign it. And by avoiding making public political comments her opinions on a wide range of matters are not known to the general public. So up to now, her opinions on the matter have not been known.
But on Wednesday 21st December 2005 The Queen made a very real pragmatic and personal gesture that signified acknowledgement of at least one civil partnership between gay men: So that Elton John and David Furnish could get to their partnership registration in their Rolls-Royce more easily and discreetly, given some expected crowds and a fair amount of press attention, she allowed them to take a short cut to Windsor Guildhall by nipping through her back garden. And we aren’t talking any old back garden either: We are of course referring to the crown estates that ajoin Windsor Castle and Windsor Guildhall, one of the most magnificent and prestigious ‘back gardens’ in the world.
We should not be that surprised really. After all, The Queen grew up in a household when gay courtiers seemed to be represented out of all proportion to the percentage of gay people in the general population. During the 1970’s, when issues around the acknowledgement and acceptance of homosexuality came up for public discussion, The Queen Mother, a close friend of Noel Coward, was heard to say once, “We rather like them actually. And if we didn’t have any, we’d have to go self-service”. In later years when two footmen were overheard in heated discussion, the Queen Mother said, “When you two old queens have finished arguing, this old queen would like her dinner served”.
We find that some gay people seem to have inclinations that lend themselves to being excellent diplomats. It was after all the significant presence of gays in diplomatic roles in the home office, foreign office and security services that was a main reason for decriminalising homosexuality in the UK, to reduce the likelihood of blackmail by acknowledging homosexuality as being acceptable. Even going back to Biblical times, gay people were often prominent in palaces – often confusingly called ‘eunuchs’, because they did not have the ‘heat’ for women – Daniel and Ashkenaz, for example. So it is not surprising that parts of our establishment that most represent tradition are in fact the most tolerant of homosexuality – their familiarity causes realisation that there is nothing to fear.
That the Queen allowed Elton and David to nip through her back garden – an honour accorded to very few people indeed - has not received much coverage in the press. But it is often small and personal gestures which give away people’s real attitudes rather than the public gestures which are often dictated by protocol. So for the Queen to make such a personal gesture for one gay couple is a much louder message to the world about her acceptance of committed relationships between people of the same gender than her original signing of the legislation which brought it into reality. Perhaps it is time for the lower ranks in the Anglican church to take note of the example of the official head of the church.
Of course, in her inherited role as head of state of the UK she pretty much had no real choice about signing the legislation parliament approved recognising civil partnerships between gays and lesbians, so even if she had not approved, it would have been difficult for her not to sign it. And by avoiding making public political comments her opinions on a wide range of matters are not known to the general public. So up to now, her opinions on the matter have not been known.
But on Wednesday 21st December 2005 The Queen made a very real pragmatic and personal gesture that signified acknowledgement of at least one civil partnership between gay men: So that Elton John and David Furnish could get to their partnership registration in their Rolls-Royce more easily and discreetly, given some expected crowds and a fair amount of press attention, she allowed them to take a short cut to Windsor Guildhall by nipping through her back garden. And we aren’t talking any old back garden either: We are of course referring to the crown estates that ajoin Windsor Castle and Windsor Guildhall, one of the most magnificent and prestigious ‘back gardens’ in the world.
We should not be that surprised really. After all, The Queen grew up in a household when gay courtiers seemed to be represented out of all proportion to the percentage of gay people in the general population. During the 1970’s, when issues around the acknowledgement and acceptance of homosexuality came up for public discussion, The Queen Mother, a close friend of Noel Coward, was heard to say once, “We rather like them actually. And if we didn’t have any, we’d have to go self-service”. In later years when two footmen were overheard in heated discussion, the Queen Mother said, “When you two old queens have finished arguing, this old queen would like her dinner served”.
We find that some gay people seem to have inclinations that lend themselves to being excellent diplomats. It was after all the significant presence of gays in diplomatic roles in the home office, foreign office and security services that was a main reason for decriminalising homosexuality in the UK, to reduce the likelihood of blackmail by acknowledging homosexuality as being acceptable. Even going back to Biblical times, gay people were often prominent in palaces – often confusingly called ‘eunuchs’, because they did not have the ‘heat’ for women – Daniel and Ashkenaz, for example. So it is not surprising that parts of our establishment that most represent tradition are in fact the most tolerant of homosexuality – their familiarity causes realisation that there is nothing to fear.
That the Queen allowed Elton and David to nip through her back garden – an honour accorded to very few people indeed - has not received much coverage in the press. But it is often small and personal gestures which give away people’s real attitudes rather than the public gestures which are often dictated by protocol. So for the Queen to make such a personal gesture for one gay couple is a much louder message to the world about her acceptance of committed relationships between people of the same gender than her original signing of the legislation which brought it into reality. Perhaps it is time for the lower ranks in the Anglican church to take note of the example of the official head of the church.
posted by Mike Hersee at 11:39 am
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