By Kevin Henry
At the time of writing over 7,500 people have signed a petition calling for the resignation of Minister for Health Edwin Poots, after it was revealed he has squandered over £100,000 of public money in attempt to maintain discriminatory measures against the LGBT community, something the Tory government in Britain have been forced to scrap. This includes spending £37,000 in ensuring gay men who wish to donate blood are denied from doing so – despite it being at complete odds with longstanding medical advice, and the ban lifted in Britain.
Poots crusade extends to ensuring that gay and unmarried couples are unable to adopt. To date he has spent £17,000 in an effort to prevent unmarried couples adopting. The High Court has clearly found that excluding some would-be parents solely on their relationship status narrowed the pool of potential adopters and could not be in the best interests of 2,500 children currently in care. Poots though continues his crusade which is looks likely to cost almost £40,000 challenging this right.
And of course this all against a backdrop of Poots wanting 56 care homes. The Socialist Party is happy to join with the thousands of other ordinary people that want to see Poots resignation. But it is not enough. Waiting in the wings to replace him is Jim Wells, who is on record of saying he thinks homosexuals are repugnant. We need not just a changing of the top decks of the ship but a fight for a real alternative to austerity and homophobia.
