The Conservative Case for Liberalizing Divorce
In October 2011, Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, announced that his government would legalize gay marriage. “Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other,” he told his party’s activists. “I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative.”
It was one of the most consequential political statements of the decade, reframing an issue of equality—traditionally a left-wing preserve—as one of commitment and stability, values that have traditionally appealed to the right. Cameron damped down a culture war rather than inflaming one, at a time when 22 percent of Britons thought gay relationships were “always wrong.”
Cameron is long gone, with Boris Johnson now leading both the party and the country, but the
