Jeanette Winterson: Its Breaks My Heart That We Can Still Out Anyone As Gay

Talking to the Guardian at the 2010 Hay Festival, author Jeanette Winterson has said that “it breaks my heart that we can still out anyone as gay“.

Saying that she felt it made her feel sad that people still felt the need to hide their sexuality away because they didn’t feel it was acceptable in the society,  Winterson also spoke of how she this indicates there is still much to do to achieve equality in society.

Also speaking honestly about the fact that there are just as many “corrupt, unpleasant, nasty gay people” in the world as there are straight people, Winterson acted to distance the comment from being specifically about David Laws, the former Chief Treasury secretary who resigned this weekend after it was revealed he had claimed MPs’ expenses to sublet rooms in homes owned by his partner James Lundie, but did say that if your actions made you feel that you couldn’t trust the world and needed to be secretive then something must be wrong.

On the subject of being called a “lesbian author“, Winterson said she disliked not only it but all labels in general as they stop people having to make decisions or think beyond what they believe these mean.

You can watch the interview in full on the Guardian website.