On the issue of her record on equality for gay people, I am more alarmed. Her membership of Opus Dei is bad enough but her voting record in the Commons is not exemplorary on the issue. The new equality minister failed to support an equal age of consent after 1997 and missed votes on gay adoption and civil partnerships which came into law this year as well as the vote that overturned section 28, which banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools. Reports the Guardian. Asked twice today if she viewed practising homosexuality as a "sin", a belief firmly held by Opus Dei members, Ms Kelly twice refused to answer but told Radio 5 Live, "I don't think its right for politicians to start making moral judgments about people, it's the last thing I want to do. The questions is what are my political views and as a politician I think everyone should be free of discrimination. Is it possible to be a Catholic and hold a portfolio in government - the answer is emphatically yes. I am responsible for holding to the collective cabinet view on these matters but I firmly believe in equality and that everyone should be free of discrimination and I will fight to the end to make sure that's the case."
Asked why she had failed to support Labour's homosexual equality agenda in Commons votes, Ms Kelly told Radio 5's Nicky Campbell: "Everybody is entitled to express their views in free votes on matters of conscience and I've always made clear that as a member of parliament I've cast my vote according to conscience but I'm also a member of the government its my duty to see through equality and I'm passionate to see there is no discrimination."
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