Tories 'wrong' in the past on gay rights, Theresa May says

The Conservative Party has been "wrong" on gay rights in the past, but has "come a long way" on the issue, Theresa May has said.

The Prime Minister's comments marked the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act, which partially decriminalised homosexuality in England and Wales.

She said there was "much more to do" to achieve equality, as a poll showed many Britons hold anti-gay views.

"I am proud of the role my party has played in recent years in advocating a Britain which seeks to end discrimination on the grounds of sexuality or gender identity," said Mrs May.

But I acknowledge where we have been wrong on these issues in the past," she added, writing in the Website PinkNews alongside former prime ministers and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to mark the anniversary.

"There will justifiably be scepticism about the positions taken and votes cast down through the years by the Conservative Party, and by me, compared to where we are now.

"But, like the country we serve, my Party and I have come a long way."

A YouGov poll commissioned by PinkNews showed that 42% of Britons believe that gay sex is unnatural.

Another 48% believe that primary school children, aged five to 11, should not be taught about homosexual relationships in school.

The poll, conducted on 23-24 July, suggested that Conservative and Brexit supporters were more likely to oppose gay rights than Labour or Remain voters.

The PinkNews chief executive, Benjamin Cohen, said some of the results, 50 years after the Sexual Offences Act, were "depressing".

But he added: "It is gratifying though to know that for younger people, gay relationships are considered perfectly natural and they strongly support gay parents and teaching young people about gay relationships."

Mrs May has voted in the past against allowing gay couples to adopt children, and this year she faced criticism after she struck a deal at Westminster with the Democratic Unionist Party, which opposes gay marriage.

Her Conservative predecessor David Cameron legalised gay weddings in England and Wales, calling it one of his "proudest achievements" at Downing Street.

Mr Cameron has also apologised for this party's support of Section 28, a notorious piece of legislation which in 1988 banned the promotion of homosexuality in school. Section 28 was repealed in the 2000s.

In 2013, Alan Turing, the computer pioneer and mathematician who broke the German Enigma codes during the Second World War, was given a posthumous royal pardon after he was convicted in 1952 of gross indecency.

And more recently, a law granted posthumous pardon to thousands of men who were convicted for homosexuality.