in the news
from November 2006

Wakefield Conservatives are in the news again for all the wrong reasons. We recently reported on their attempts to have lesbians and gay men barred from fostering children, and now one of the leading Young Conservatives in the city has resigned claiming homophobia in the party.

Nathan Garbutt, 21, stood for the Conservative Party in Knottingley at the last local election. He was hired by gay magazine Attitude for a photo shoot. Garbutt has stated that he was approached by leading members of the constituency party and asked to withdraw from the shoot as the photos were going to be topless. This was all too much for him - and he’s resigned from the party. He has stated that he was told repeatedly that he should keep quiet about his homosexuality.

Could the Conservatives be so traumatised by two male nipples and a belly button - or could the issue be that the photos would appear in a gay magazine?

John Rossington