Jill Knight

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Jill Knight
Jill Knight (Joan Christabel Jill Knight, Baroness Knight of Collingtree, née Christie; born 1923) is a Conservative politician.

She was MP for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1966 to 1997. She was made a Dame in 1985, and a life peer in 1997.

She was largely responsible for introducing the Section 28 amendment to the Local Government Act 1988, which barred local authorities from promoting homosexuality.[1] She was also an opponent of abortion, and supported successive attempts to reduce the period during which the operation could be legally performed.

In June 2013, she opposed same-sex marriage, arguing that Parliament cannot change the fact that "marriage is not about just love. It is about a man and a woman, themselves created to produce children, producing children. A man can no more bear a child, than a woman can produce sperm, and no law on earth can change that. This is not a homophobic view. It may be sad, it may be unequal, but it's true."[2]

References

  1. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/section-28-anti-gay-law-was-not-devised-in-department-of-education Nicholas Billingham, "Section 28 anti-gay law was not devised in the Department of Education". The Guardian (Letters) 7 June 2015}
  2. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/06/03/baroness-knight-parliament-cant-help-blind-people-see-so-cant-help-artistic-gays-get-married Joseph Patrick McCormick, "Baroness Knight: Parliament can't help blind people see, so can't help 'artistic' gays get married'". Pink News, 3 June 2013