Are Women-only Shortlists The Answer?

I'm anxious that it's usually four white males who write these political columns. That in itself shows how far we need to travel to ensure women �" and lesbians in particular �" are represented fairly in political life even in a minority group like the LGBT community. Even the Green Party, probably the most inclusive and welcoming of the main political partys to women, has more men in leading positions.

The problem is that heterosexual men have dominated
politics for so long that the culture is unwelcoming to anyone else. The
confrontational nature of the political process deters people, including many
women, who often prefer a more consensus-led approach in place of the juvenile
banter and macho behaviour frequently seen in the Commons.

Clare Short
MP, one of Labour's few remaining leading radical politicians and a strong
advocate for enhancing the role of women in politics wrote in the Independent in
December: “The Labour Party had tried rules to require one woman on every
shortlist and special training, but still it seemed there was always a favourite
son and he usually won. Because we did not select by party lists we had to be
inventive and pair winnable seats and insist one of each pair had an all-women
shortlist. It was this that delivered the breakthrough. The Daily Mail hated it,
and

when Tony Blair took over he very nearly dropped the system, but some
strong lobbying held his toes to the fire.”

So are women-only shortlists
the answer? They appear to have worked to an extent for Labour. My own view is
that they have a role to play but only as a last resort when all other ways to
ensure more balanced representation have been tried. All political partys need
to make women, and especially lesbians, feel more comfortable in the political
process. In a sense, women-only shortlists are an admission of failure. First
let's try harder to re-orientate the political process to make it less macho,
less about personalities and spin, and more about real issues �" including issues
of specific importance to women. Let's make it more respectful of people's
differences.

I think that gay men have a special role to play in this �"
we should learn about and advocate harder for the concerns of women. After all,
it was lesbians who rallied in support of gay men in the HIV epidemic in the 1980s even though they were one of the groups least likely to become infected. It's time gay men �" especially those in politics �" repaid that debt and started
to engage more fully on lesbian and women's issues.

If we succeed the
future will be brighter for all of us. Maybe, if women had formed the majority
of the government, we wouldn't have waged that cruel and illegal war against
Iraq.

Best wishes for the New Year.