We're here, we're queer, and... voting Tory, dear?

In what is a phenomenal milestone in the future history of LGBT politics in Britain, Conservative leader David Cameron has apologised publicly to the gay community for the Section 28 legislation of the late 1980's.

The ill conceived statute was brought in after hysteria grew following Daily Mail outrage over a book - Jenny Lives With Eric and Martin - about a young girl who lived with two 'dads'.

After liberal policies towards acceptance of the LGBT community grew - accompanied by tabloid horror stories - the then Conservative government introduced Section 28 which was meant to ban the 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools.

One thing that they managed to overlook was the fact that homosexuality is not something that people normally try due to an advertisement on the telly, so outlawing the 'promotion' of sexual attraction to one gender or another was somewhat remiss.

What the policy also overlooked was that a large percentage of people become aware of their sexuality during their teenage years. Unable to talk to their parents, some might have been more comfortable confiding in a school teacher that they felt they could trust.

However, many school teachers did not completely comprehend Section 28, so a blanket policy of not being able to discuss such an issue began to manifest.

This was coupled by a discriminatory age of consent and outrageous headlines in some of the tabloids accusing gay men of being 'perverts' destined to die of AIDS.

The fact that most lesbians, gay men and bisexuals left school with no safe sex education aimed at them did little to support them in the pursuit of safe sexual health practises.

The extent of mental health issues stemming from isolation and stigma may never possibly be known.

Of course, Section 28 was not responsible for all of the difficulties of prejudice encountered by the LGBT community. It was, however, another tool which contributed to the sense of alienation that many of our youth suffered while coming to terms with their sexuality.

History lesson over, David Cameron has now made an historic public apology for Section 28.

He told a gay pride event: "I am sorry for Section 28. We got it wrong. It was an emotional issue. I hope you can forgive us".

This is the second time in as many weeks that David Cameron has attempted to heal the wounds between some members of the gay community and the Conservative Party. He recently spoke of being 'proud' of Britain's LGBT and ethnic communities.

Democratically elected former Prime Minister Tony Blair won a lot of support for his determination and success in delivering an equal age of consent for gay men and for a whole raft of other measures which gave some equality to the LGBT community.

However, while Tony Blair continues to speak in favour of LGBT equality, his unelected successor seems to have a less equality favouring voting record.

In their report on Cameron's historic apology, the Daily Telegraph outlines Gordon Brown's failure to support equality throughout his time in Parliament and charts the voting records of Blair, Cameron and Brown in tandem.