Before the left gets too precious about David Davis’s reported comments on the ‘”Brokeback Coalition“, we should give our sluggish short-term memories something of a workout. Erudite and edifying though schoolyard slurs of this kind may be, they are neither new nor exclusive to the right.
Remember Harriet Harman’s cheeky suggestion, in her first speech as the acting leader of the opposition, that “while the happy couple are enjoying the thrill of the Rose Garden, the in-laws are saying that they are just not right for each other”? Remember all those headlines about “a very civil partnership” and “a man-date to govern”? Playground gay jokes have been employed across the political spectrum to cast aspersions on the new government from day one.
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