NCF director Peter Whittle in this month's Standpoint
Consider this: an openly gay man works as a teacher in a state school in an area with a large Muslim population — say, Tower Hamlets in London's East End. Most of his pupils are Muslims. Some of the parents of these children decide that they're not keen on having their kids taught by a gay man. There is a stand-off. Should he stay or should he go? The Guardian's leader-writers scratch their heads. Whom should they support in such a "sensitive" situation?
The scenario is my invention. It is, as far as I know, still hypothetical, but it has the ring of feasibility. It throws into sharp relief the dilemma which has petrified the Left and its fellow-travellers within the social, educational and cultural establishment. When two parts of your worldview collide, when your traditional support for gay rights conflicts with your staunch and uncritical support of ethnic minority cultures, what do you do? Relativism has tied your hands. You conjure the possible intellectual somersaults you could perform to justify your reasoning. And then you stay silent.
The growth of Islam in Europe has consequences for gay men. But you wouldn't know it from a cursory perusal of the issues which preoccupy at any one time what is known as the "gay community". Civil partnerships, gay adoption or problems with Christian bed-and-breakfast owners and the allegedly latent homophobia of the Conservatives are all up there on the list. But, with a few honorable exceptions, such as the consistently principled activist Peter Tatchell, few voices are raised about the possible future problems for gay men in a rapidly changing demographic landscape.