Tories show their party has changed by backing Civil Partnership Bill

The dwindling band of Tory MPs who think that homosexuality is an "unnatural" practice that some people indulge in out of choice will be given another chance to air their views in the Commons this week.

But they will get no support from their leader, Michael Howard. Although he has been accused in the past by gay activists of being a "homophobe", Mr Howard has made a point since becoming leader of trying to show that the Tory party as a whole is not anti-gay.

On Tuesday, he will join Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and about two-thirds of his own party to rescue a piece of government legislation that will give those who have lived together in long-term relationships legal rights similar to those currently enjoyed by married heterosexual couples.

To underline how the Tory party is changing its ways, Alan Duncan - the only openly gay Tory MP - will be their main speaker in the debate.

However, Mr Duncan will be opposed by fellow Tories who make no secret that they believe that homosexuality is "unnatural" and who believe that young men choose homosexuality, usually because they have been led into it by older men. Many also see it as the principle cause of Aids.

When the Civil Partnership Bill went to the House of Lords in the summer, it was drastically altered by a group of peers who claimed that it was unfair to give privileges to gay couples that are denied to others, such as close relatives who have lived together for years. They introduced an amendment to the Bill, which the Government interpreted as a wrecking amendment.

By allowing gays to register their relationship for legal purposes, the Bill is designed to wipe out the kind of legal anomaly under which, if two gays have lived together for years in the same house, but only one is registered as the legal owner, then if he dies, his partner has no claim on the property.

It has aroused vociferous opposition from religious groups and some Tory MPs, who claim that it is a coded way of giving legal recognition to gay marriages.

Christopher Chope, a former Tory minister, will lead a group of mainly Tory rebels in a rearguard action on Tuesday to preserve the amendment. But they face near-certain defeat.

The Tory party's attitudes to gays has emerged as one of the symbolic questions about how the party adjusts to changes in social attitudes. It featured in the 2001 leadership election, because one of the candidates, Michael Portillo, spoke of his youthful homosexual experiences.

Last week, the shadow defence minister Andrew Robathan shocked fellow MPs with a comment he made about the openly gay Labour MP Chris Bryant, whom he described as someone who "will never have children". Fellow Tory Douglas Hogg insisted that he apologise.

MPs » We name gay gainsayers in the Westminster village

David Blunkett

As an opposition MP, the future Home Secretary was one of the very few Labour MPs to oppose equalising the age of consent for gays. He once wrote: "I am not prejudiced against gays and lesbians but there is no point in trying to delude myself that I feel anything but revulsion at the idea of touching another male."

Andrew Robathan

During last week's debate on the Children's Bill, Robathan noticed the openly gay Labour MP Chris Bryant trying to intervene and remarked: "He will never have children so he will approach the matter differently." When his fellow Tory Douglas Hogg called for a apology, Robathan offered to buy Bryant a drink, but said: "I do not like people preaching to others."

Gerald Howarth

The Tory MP and ex- parliamentary secretary to Margaret Thatcher attacked the Civil Partnership Bill in the Commons last month, saying it would "encourage the proliferation of homosexuality". Four years ago, he said: "There is something less than natural about a relationship - anal intercourse - between two men."

Desmond Swayne

A Tory MP who does not believe that laws should apply equally to gays and heterosexuals. "Homosexuality and ordinary sexual behaviour are clean different, and not equal in any way. It is proper that the law should establish that inequality," he told the Commons four years ago. He added: "People feel profoundly that homosexuality is not equal. It is, I am afraid, gross and unnatural."

Julian Lewis

One of a number of Tory MPs who do not believe that people are born homosexual, but that it is something they learn by example. He once told a Commons committee: "My first experience of meeting a young boy who was gay was in my grammar school in Swansea. I remember his name and the great pity that I felt for him. I also remember asking him how it was that he got into that orientation. He told me that it was a result of the fact that an older youth had taken him to a bedroom, tied him to a bed and interfered with him."

Lord Tebbit

On a radio programme in May to discuss child obesity, the former Tory party chairman attacked the Civil Partnership Bill. "We not only have an epidemic of obesity, we have a huge problem of Aids and the Government's attitude is to do everything it can to promote buggery."

Lord Maginnis

Opposing the Civil Partnership Bill in the Lords in June, the former Ulster Unionist MP complained that it was all about "couples who want to indulge - I apologise; euphemism is not a strength of mine - in a relationship which most likely involves unnatural sexual practices".