Bringing back Thatcher in the name of LGBT rights?

With an increasing disengagement in politics across all ages and a million voters dropping off the electoral register, Student Pride has an unlikely champion to counter voter apathy in young people: Margaret Thatcher.

Since the last general election there has been a huge wave of pro-LGBT sentiment, with the right to marriage granted last year. Despite this, gay people are still as likely to be disaffected in society.

Gay men are still banned from blood donation, LGBT issues are routinely ignored in schools and HIV rates are at a record high. By voting in this year’s general election, Student Pride hope that this movement won’t lose momentum and the issues that matter to gay people are brought up in Commons.

While Thatcher may seem an unlikely face for gay rights, with her period in government characterised by an increase homophobic attacks and murders, the introduction of Section 28 and the vilification of gay men for the AIDS pandemic, her face is a poignant reminder of why politics matters in LGBT lives. In a video released as part of Student Pride’s #VotePride campaign, drag comic Margaret Thatcher, Queen of Soho neatly sums this up by comparing voting to ordering at Little Chef. “You simply have to choose which option is less likely to give you stomach cramps,” she quips.

We’re with Maggie on this one – we’re all about voter registration at Attitude, with our continuing partnership with the Bite the Ballot campaign.

Check out Thatcher’s hilarious video below:

-By Wangu Chafuwa