Are James Purnell Gay Smear Allegations Gay Smears in themselves?
James Purnell sleazy gay smear allegations may lead you to the shower
Have you showered yet today? Why? Because after reading this post you’re going to feel like you need one.
According to the Mail on Sunday ’sources’ close to James Purnell alleged the government spread rumours that the ex Work and Pensions Secretary was gay. These shadowy sources say this was after James Purnell and Gordon Brown had a big bust-up at a Cabinet Meeting just weeks before he quit his job.
Downing Street denied the rumours, and James Purnell was not available for comment - unless of course, he already had said all he wanted to say through his ‘close’ sources.
So just another petty storm in a teacup, right? Anonymous sources close to an aggrieved MP accuse No 10 of fighting dirty. No 10 deny it. Who knows what really happened? Gossip, rumour, backstabbing and tittle-tattle. Time to move on?
Just another storm in a teacup? Or sinister homophobic undercurrents?
No. Hang on a minute. Let’s take a closer look.
First of all, is James Purnell gay? Well, who cares? If he is gay then great. If he is straight then great. If he is bisexual then great. Great, great, great - this is the wonder of human sexuality. Whatever his sexual orientation is, he should celebrate it.
As for the gay smear allegation, did No 10 spread rumours saying that James Purnell was gay? No 10 denies this. The accusers are anonymous. However, this wouldn’t be the first time someone had a disagreement with Gordon Brown and then experienced some kind of backlash. Ask Peter Tatchell.
James Purnell - so what if he's gay?
However, on the face of it, it does seem unlikely that our elected government would make time from the running of the country to actively smear a minister who was falling out of favour. For now, let’s just say the gay smear allegation is false (we’ll come back to this later).
So that leaves the anonymous people making the gay smear allegations, the mysterious ’sources’. Isn’t their accusation homophobic in its own right? Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, one of them said
“It is laughable, but deeply unpleasant.”
Well, why is it unpleasant? Why is it laughable? What’s wrong with being gay? Why is being gay such a terrible thing? Isn’t the subtext behind these allegations as bad as the alleged gay smears themselves? Like Jason Donovan’s notorious ‘I am not gay’ court case? It didn’t matter whether the Ozzie actor and pop star was gay or not, what mattered was that he went to such extremes to demonstrate he wasn’t gay - heaven forbid!
Contrast this with Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe who recently said:
“It’s wonderful. I grew up around gay people my entire life, basically, that’s possibly why I’m quite camp, and some people think I’m gay when I meet them, which I think is awesome.”
Was James Purnell a victim of gay smears for crossing Gordon Brown?
Why didn’t James Purnell’s sources say ‘James was flattered to be paid such a compliment’? or ‘The extraordinary thing is, why do No 10 consider being gay so bad?‘ But they didn’t say that, did they? Instead they went along with the underlying assumption that being gay was a bad thing.
This underlying subtle anti-gay attitude for me is the most pernicious kind of homophobia. I know society’s attitude to gay people has dramatically improved in the last 20 years. I grew up in a time when being gay was seen by many as perverted and dirty, and when I came out I was pitied as much as I was reviled. I am delighted that society rightly treats gay people much more equally than it did.
No more homophobia would mean no more closets
However, homophobia still exists. Civil partners are still not taken as seriously as married couples (and civil partnership itself is still not marriage). Every day on Mothership Gay Dating I see guys saying they are still in the closet, or are struggling to come out - if there were truly no homophobia, then there would be no more closet, and no more ‘coming out’. I see people close to me who may not like it if their children turn out to be gay. And here we have an example that may illuminate this very attitude spectacularly, coming from the heart of our own government.
So, returning to the gay smear allegations against no 10 themselves. As I’ve already said, they may well be untrue. However, what if our elected government did actually go out of its way to spread rumours that one of its ministers was gay?
If that did happen then not only do they fight really dirty, but it shows the government consider being gay a detrimental human state and an insult. Leading on from that, it would mean that the government cannot be sincere in their support of gay rights, and makes a mockery of recent Downing Street receptions for the gay press, and Sarah Brown marching at Pride London.
I hope these James Purnell gay smear allegations are not true. Unfortunately, too often, there’s no smoke without fire.
By David Abrehart
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
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What do you think? Please comment below:
August 25th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Purnell is a bum boy. He’s been to clubs in his leathergear and everything and likes rimming. Of course he’s gay. He’s a screaming, mincing queen truth be told.
August 9th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Hi John
You know what, on the face of it I’d like to agree with you about the government, but I’m torn.
On one hand we see how preposterous it would seem - that the government actually went out of their way to spread what they meant to be derogatory rumours about a minister as a way of punishing/warning a minister out of favour with the PM.
It does seem very unlikely (although the PM is known to bear personal grudges and also people very close to him like Damien McBride have maliciously spread rumours about other MPs in the recent past)
But look at the alternative - that an unnamed source, presumably with James Purnell’s knowledge, would actually make up a lie as far fetched as this - ‘Oh I know, let’s say that that nr 10 have been spreading rumours that James Purnell is…oh I know…gay’
It just seems too far fetched to be a lie. To me, it sounds like the person who said it (and there are much longer quotes in the Mail on Sunday) believed it to be true at the very least.
I do agree with you he is quite cute though…
August 9th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Before his resignation from the government(which I thought ill-advised), along with some of my friends, I’d remarked on James Purnell’s good looks, but never seriously thought of him as being gay. If he had come out as gay, instead of resigning, I’ve no doubt he would have been an electoral asset and boosted Labour’s fortunes. I see muck-raking by the press here, because Gordon Brown’s support for gay people has been unwavering and solid and there are far more pressing matters to concern him than some juvenile bid to smear Purnell. As the writer says, the issue here is the fact that straight journalists still see being gay as a bad thing - and that’s sheer ignorance, not intelligent reporting.
August 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Hi mumma
Who knows they could be, but from the tone I doubt they are somehow.
…the main thing is that they (and maybe Downing Street too) considered it a smear for James Purnell to be described as gay - no matter what his actual sexuality.
August 9th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Downing Street denied the rumours, and James Purnell was not available for comment - unless of course, he already had said all he wanted to say through his ‘close’ sources.
‘close’?I take it you meant ‘Closet’?